"The sector is so strong," Edgerley said. The tax "may have a slowing effect" on growth, he said, "but I think the market in our region is so strong that it will continue to grow and be a force."
Greater Baltimore Committee head Donald C. Fry said that position betrays a naivete about the uniqueness of the computer services industry: "Whenever the business community raises concerns about taxes and talks about the possibility of leaving, the state government leaders seem to believe that that's just not going to happen because there are other compelling reasons for them to stay."
The computer services tax is different, Fry argues, because the high-tech industry is "much more mobile. ... You don't have to bring in moving vans. You can do it electronically."
Complicating the issue for both the business community and lawmakers is uncertainty about which companies will be subject to the tax and exactly how it will be enforced.
Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat who supports repealing the tax, is charged with writing the regulations. Joseph Shapiro, his spokesman, said the rules would likely be out in April, at the tail end of the legislative session or even after it's over.
By that point, Epstein might be looking to relocate farther away.
"This whole Maryland issue has made me re-look at the whole landscape," said Epstein, a lifelong Marylander who moved his corporate headquarters from Virginia a few years ago in order to support the state. "I'm talking to some outsourcers in India. ... This computer tax might help me make more money."
gadi.dechter@baltsun.com
