H.B. 599, the Ohio Video Tax Fairness Act, is up for passage in Columbus. Currently, the estimated 980,000 Ohioans who watch television by satellite pay a 5.5% sales tax for those services. Meanwhile, cable consumers are exempt from this tax, putting satellite companies at a distinct disadvantage. H.B. 599, sponsored by state Representative Louis Blessing, would end this discriminatory sales tax.

Even if H.B. 599 passes, though, there are at least five other states with this type of legislation in place: they include Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah. With that said, the House Judiciary’s Commercial and Administrative Law subcommittee voted eleven days ago in favor of H.R. 3679. This State Video Tax Fairness Act mandates that if a state taxes television service providers then it must tax them equally.

Read NTU’s information about H.B. 599 here, and its letter about H.R. 3679 here.