Virginia Sales Tax Law Friendly To Facebook

Jun 12, 2012 | Susan McLain

Virginia recently passed Senate Bill 112 which:

Expands the sales and use tax exemption for the purchase or lease of computer equipment or enabling software by data centers by extending it to tenants of the centers, and by including jobs created not only by the data center operator but also by the tenants of the data center in collectively meeting the level of new jobs required for eligibility for the exemption.

In comes Facebook, who is “…continuing to invest in third-party data center space…in Silicon Valley and northern Virginia.” According to a report by datacenterknowledge.com, Facebook “…said last week that updated data center tax incentives in Virginia open up ‘new opportunities’ for investment in the state, where Facebook leases data center space from two large players in the wholesale space.”

The sales tax break (exemption) means Facebook may invest “hundreds of millions of dollars” in the coming years. Virginia’s incentives, plus the fact that Virginia is “…home to dozens of data centers where networks converge."

In addition to Facebook, "...Amazon, Google and Microsoft all have data centers in the state." The sales tax exemption was also cited as a "...critical factor in DuPont Fabaros Technology's decision to invest $100 million in expanding its Ashburn, Va., facility...."

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Sales tax rates, rules, and regulations change frequently. Although we hope you'll find this information helpful, this blog is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal or tax advice.

Avalara Author

Susan McLain

Avalara Author Susan McLain

Susan McLain began her career as a technical writer in technology industries such as satellite networking and medical devices. Her skills encompass technical and marketing writing, usability engineering, verification and validation testing and protocol writing, requirements development, business analysis, technical illustration/graphic design and marketing. She has owned her own business providing service to small to medium sized business and in other positions, she has been in project management, documentation and marketing. She is currently the content specialist for Avalara helping to “make sales tax less taxing.”