An Expanded Cloud Tax Passes House
The Vermont House has passed S.53, which includes adding the sales tax to all Cloud Computing services. This so-called “Cloud Tax” will not just tax online versions of canned software such as TurboTax, which had been the focus of earlier iterations, but all forms of online software and services: Software-as-a-Service, Platform-as-a-Service, and Infrastructure-as-a-Service. The committee used a Vermont Senate bill that would exempt the sales tax on feminine hygiene products as a vehicle to add the cloud tax, as well as other provisions, including changes to the corporate tax. With an effective date of June 1, 2022, the cloud tax is estimated to raise approximately $36 million from Fiscal Year 2023 – 2025.
The VTTA opposes the addition of this tax and its expansion into all areas of cloud computing. While tech businesses are often significant purchasers of cloud computing services, it will likely impact all businesses, since nearly every Vermont business uses and depends on Internet services. And it will likely affect individual Vermonters as well. The tax impact could range from individuals buying iCloud storage or Gmail storage to large businesses using Amazon Web Services or other cloud-based computer infrastructure.
We intend to weigh in with the Senate Finance committee, where this bill would go next. We appreciate the comments that have been made by some committee members questioning the tax, and the Senate has traditionally been more understanding of the tech industry’s concerns with the cloud tax. If you would like to share how this will impact your business, please let us know at policy@vtta.org. If you would like to contact members of the Senate finance committee you can find the members here. You also can find your senator here.
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Technology Law Webinar
The landscape for technology law has been changing rapidly, and it can be difficult for businesses to stay up to date with the latest developments. The Vermont Technology Alliance presents a free “Let’s Tech Together” webinar April 28 on Hot Topics in Technology Law for Small and Medium Businesses, exploring two legal areas of importance to small and medium businesses: data privacy & security law, and intellectual property law. Representatives from the Dunkiel Saunders law firm will discuss what organizations need to know and do around protection of personal information, including data security, and their protection and use of intellectual property. We hope you can join us.
As always, we encourage individuals and businesses of all sizes to become a member of the Vermont Technology Alliance.
Jeff Couture
Executive Director
Vermont Technology Alliance
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Burlington Code Academy UX Design Demo Day
(April 22, 2021)
The Burlington Code Academy hosts its UX Design Bootcamp Demo Day, where the UX Design Bootcamp students are wrapping up their 12-week intensive program and will show their capstone projects and take questions. This event is open to the public, but local employers are encouraged to attend as Demo Day is a recruiting opportunity for companies to meet the next generation of skilled UX/UI designers.
Find more information and register here.
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A Discussion with Senator Patrick Leahy on the Economic Future of Vermont
(April 26, 2021)
The Vermont Chamber of Commerce presents a discussion with Senator Leahy and members of his staff to discuss previous and future pandemic response legislation, and the Senator’s other priorities as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
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Hot Topics in Technology Law for Small and Medium Businesses
(April 28, 2021)
The Vermont Technology Alliance presents a free “Let’s Tech Together” webinar on data privacy & security law, and intellectual property law, with insights into what businesses need to know about both.
Find more and register here.
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Southern Vermont Economy Summit
(May 12-14, 2021)
The 2021 Southern Vermont Economy Summit is a virtual learning and networking event for municipal, community and business leaders that focuses on the long-term development of Southern Vermont’s economy.
Find more and register here.
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PCC (Physician's Computer Company) is a privately held Benefit Corporation with over 40 years of industry experience working exclusively to meet the needs of independent pediatricians. Since 1983, it has built tools, provided consulting, and offered support to pediatric practices that seek to improve the health of their patients and improve their bottom lines.
Located in Winooski’s historic Champlain Mill, PCC is an active member of a vibrant, eclectic community that boasts a variety of popular shops and restaurants, an active arts culture, and attractive public spaces. PCC maintains a community flower garden, hosts monthly company-wide meetings, and provides annual days out of the office to have fun and learn something new.
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Senate Unlikely to Support Cloud Tax or Higher Corporate Minimum Tax
(April 20, 2021 – VTDigger)
A sprawling tax bill passed by the Vermont House of Representatives is unlikely to make it through the Senate, according to President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham.
The bill, S.53, began in the Senate as a sales tax exemption for menstrual products. In the House, lawmakers added on a slew of major tax changes: restructuring corporate taxes, enacting a sales tax on cloud-based software and services, and establishing exemptions for military pensions.
The House voted 96-44 in favor of the bill on Friday and sent it to the Senate, where it faces a grim future. The Senate has long opposed a cloud tax and carveouts for service members’ retirement pay.
Balint underscored that, in the past, Senate leaders have not supported a 6% sales tax on internet cloud services. “I don’t believe our position has changed, although we have not yet surveyed the chamber,” she said.
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Consolidated Communications Rolls Out New Fiber Network to 5,000 in Montpelier and Brattleboro
(April 20, 2021 – Consolidated Communications)
Consolidated Communications recently completed the first 5,000 network upgrades in Brattleboro and Montpelier, as part of the company’s five-year plan to expand its fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network. It is part of Consolidated’s plan to upgrade 50,000 locations in Vermont to symmetrical, gigabit fiber this year. The company will expand FTTP service to more than 200,000 Vermont locations by 2026. Of those, 50,000 locations are expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
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Home Sales to Out-of-State Buyers Spiked in 2020, Data Show
(April 19, 2021 – VTDigger)
Sales of Vermont homes to out-of-state buyers jumped 38% in 2020 over the year before, suggesting that the pandemic drove newfound interest in Vermont real estate.
According to data collected by the state Department of Taxes and newly analyzed by the Vermont Center for Geographic Information, home sales to out-of-staters reached their highest level in years, despite a slowdown in early 2020. Such sales peaked in late October of that year. The analysis covers sales between January 2017 and January 2021.
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Tech Sector Criticizes ‘Cloud Tax’ in House Bill
(April 15, 2021 – VTDigger)
The Vermont House is poised to vote on a sprawling tax bill that includes changes to corporate taxes and exemptions for military pensions and menstrual products. But one section of the bill is drawing particular criticism from Vermont’s tech sector: a proposed sales tax on “cloud” software and services.
The bill, S.53, would remove an exemption for software programs stored and accessed by users over the internet, thereby levying a 6% sales tax. It would also impose the tax on cloud “infrastructure” services, such as data storage, networking and website hosting.
Among the products that would be taxed under the proposal are those offered by TurboTax, Dropbox, Mailchimp, and website hosts such as Squarespace and WordPress.
“I think pretty much any online transaction or app will likely fall under this tax if they don’t already,” said Jeff Couture, executive director of the Vermont Technology Alliance, which represents 200 tech companies in the state. Couture said he’s concerned the tax would be a burden on the tech sector.
Robbie Adler, co-founder of Burlington-based Faraday, which produces consumer behavior prediction software, estimates a levy on cloud services could cost his company $40,000-$50,000 a year. That’s because it spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on cloud data storage and software use.
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Beta Technologies Inks Deals with UPS and Blade
(April 14, 2021)
Beta Technologies (BETA) has recently announced the sale of its electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft to UPS and Blade Urban Air Mobility (Blade).
UPS announced it had signed the option to buy up to 150 aircraft, with the first arriving in 2024, to augment its air service for select small and mid-size markets. These aircraft will take off and land on-property at UPS facilities in a whisper-quiet fashion, reducing time-in-transit, vehicle emissions, and operating cost.
Blade announced it will purchase up to 20 of BETA’s electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft called ALIA, that can carry up to six people or three standard cargo pallets. Blade becomes BETA's first passenger service partner, with delivery scheduled to begin in late 2024.
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Report: Tech Growth in Vermont Expected to Resume After Challenging 2020
(April 6, 2021- Vermont Business Magazine, CompTIA)
Technology-related employment in Vermont is poised to accelerate in 2021 and could surpass 22,600 workers by year’s end, according to CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the information technology (IT) industry and workforce.
CompTIA’s Cyberstates 2021 report shows that at the end of 2020 net tech employment in Vermont totaled 22,509 workers, 6.8% of the state’s overall workforce. The estimated median wage of $75,828 for tech workers is 71% more than the median wage for all occupations in the state. Vermont is home to more than 2,000 tech businesses and the tech sector has a direct impact of $2.6 billion on the state’s economy, 8.3% of the total.
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Tilson Broadband Brings Up to 10 GBPS Internet to Northeast Vermont Communities
(April 5, 2021- Tilsono)
Tilson, a national network development and information infrastructure professional services firm, is deploying a fiber to the premise (FTTP) network to bring Tilson Broadband’s fiber optic internet service to the towns of Danville, Lunenburg, and St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
With a regional office in downtown St. Johnsbury, Vermont, Tilson Broadband customers in the three new locations will benefit from fiber internet speeds ranging from 500 Mbps to up to 10 Gbps, no data caps, and better reliability in harsh New England weather. Tilson has also opened a new office and edge data center in St. Johnsbury, and created several local jobs.
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Vermont Leaders say Federal Money for Broadband Could Help Close ‘Digital Divide’
(April 7, 2021 – VTDigger)
The influx of federal dollars Vermont will soon receive will be the key to connecting tens of thousands of rural homes to the internet. “You’re poised to make very serious inroads in connecting every corner of Vermont,” U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told participants in a roundtable discussion about broadband expansion.
Vermont expects $2.7 billion in federal money from the American Rescue Plan that was signed into law last month, including $1.25 billion that state officials have discretion to spend on Covid-19 relief measures and infrastructure projects.
Lawmakers and Scott already proposed using $150 million to expand internet service. The House has already passed that proposal, and the Senate is working on it now.
The day before the roundtable, the governor unveiled a plan for spending $1 billion of the federal money, including an even larger $225 million investment in broadband.
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Vermont Technology Alliance Membership Update
The Vermont Technology Alliance works on behalf of its members and is able to carry out its mission through the support of its membership.
New members: New members include individuals Kristen Blodgett (Cox Automotive), Michael Corey, Rick Gibbs, and Jesse Metruk (National Business Technologies).
Not a vtTA member yet? Then why not join now? Find more information here, or sign up at our new member registration page here. You can also contact us at admin@vtta.org.
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Useful Information & Links |
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Sole Proprietor Stabilization Grant Program
Applications for a second round of sole proprietor grants from Vermont Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) are now being accepted. This additional funding will offer grants of between $1,500 and $10,000 to qualifying sole proprietors on a first come, first served basis. The application for this new round of funding opened on Monday, April 5th. Businesses can find technical assistance resources at the grant program website.
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vtTA Career Center
Vermont Technology Alliance member companies are hiring, and when you visit the Career Center on the Vermont Technology Alliance website you can browse and search for these job openings and subscribe to updates. The Career Center has 100+ tech and non-tech jobs with Vermont Technology Alliance member businesses and organizations. Jobs available from vtTA members are listed at no charge in the Career Center as a member benefit.
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The vtTA Thanks Its Member/Sponsors |
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