Senate Budget Proposal Keeps Data Center Sales Tax Exemption, Adds New Tax for Industry

Senate budget proposal keeps data center sales tax exemption, adds new tax for industry

On Tuesday, the Virginia Senate released its latest budget proposal that preserves a sales and use tax exemption for the data center industry, the major hangup that has gummed up negotiations between both legislative chambers. The revamped proposal also adds…

Data center debate takes new turn in Virginia budget negotiations

Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, on Tuesday offered an "alternate path" to a potential budget deal that she said would not break current state commitments to data centers for exempting their purchases of computer equipment from the state sales and use tax. Instead, the state would hit data centers with a new "impact fee" on backup power generators that have become a major source of concern for Virginians who live near them.