State & Local
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June 27, 2024
Conn. Lawmakers OK Tax Changes For Cars, Insurance Biz
A Connecticut proposal to retool the state's motor vehicle tax regime in a bid to head off a potential tax increase, as well as change assessments on insurance companies, was passed by the state House on Thursday and next goes to the governor.
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June 27, 2024
Mich. Lawmakers OK Flexibilty For Remote Tribunal Hearings
The Michigan Tax Tribunal would be allowed to hold remote hearings for residential property and small-claims matters at one party's request under a bill passed Thursday by the state Legislature.
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June 27, 2024
Mich. Senate OKs Fix For Potential Double Tax On Deliveries
Michigan would allow certain marketplace facilitators of deliveries to deduct sales tax that they paid to sellers to avoid potential double-taxation issues under a bill approved by the state Senate.
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June 27, 2024
Ex-Skadden Tax Head And M&A Pro Joins Freshfields In NY
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has added the former head of the tax practice at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP as a partner this week, who brings to the role experience in deals like 21st Century Fox's $71 billion acquisition by Disney and the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint.
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June 27, 2024
Fla. County Owes Tax To Other County, Fla. Justices Rule
The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that counties are not immune from being taxed on properties they own in other counties, affirming a decision that said Pinellas County cannot claim sovereign immunity to duck taxes on property it owns in neighboring Pasco County.
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June 27, 2024
Ind. Tax Doesn't Apply To Practice's Supplement Purchases
An Indiana medical practice should be refunded sales tax paid on purchases of dietary supplements because the practice was able to prove the purchases were made for resale, the state Department of Revenue ruled.
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June 27, 2024
Ind. Biz Wrongly Taxed For Sales To Leasing Co., Dept. Says
An Indiana furniture retailer was wrongly assessed additional tax for sales it made to a leasing company, the state Department of Revenue said in a letter of finding.
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June 26, 2024
Conn. Senate OKs Changes To Tax On Cars, Insurance Cos.
Connecticut would change how it values and taxes motor vehicles, exempt some businesses from interest on certain tax underpayments and change the calculation of assessments on insurance companies under emergency-certified omnibus legislation the state Senate passed Wednesday at the start of a special session.
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June 26, 2024
Repatriation Tax Ruling May Sway State Wealth Tax Debates
The U.S. Supreme Court's upholding of the federal repatriation tax could indirectly affect state tax policy discussions, including by influencing consideration of wealth taxes and encouraging states to keep potential due process issues in mind when enacting tax legislation.
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June 26, 2024
Fiserv Co. Challenges Fla. Tax Sourcing Rules
Fiserv entity Checkfree asked a Florida state court to throw out a $4 million corporate income tax assessment, arguing that revenue from its payment facilitation services should be sourced out-of-state where the services are performed.
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June 26, 2024
5th Circ. Affirms Block On ARPA Tax Rule For Texas, La., Miss.
A Texas federal judge properly ruled that the federal government could not enforce a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act that prohibits states from using pandemic aid to offset tax cuts, the Fifth Circuit said.
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June 26, 2024
Maine's Revenue Through May Lags Estimates By $50M
Maine's revenue collection from July through May missed budget estimates by roughly $50 million, according to the state Department of Administrative and Financial Services.
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June 26, 2024
Wis. Revenues Through May Outpace Last Year By $232M
Wisconsin general revenue collection from July through May was $232 million higher than the same period last fiscal year, according to the state Department of Revenue.
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June 26, 2024
Idaho Tax Revenue Through May Down $36M From Forecasts
Idaho's revenue collection from July through May was $36 million lower than predicted, according to the state Division of Financial Management.
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June 26, 2024
Neb. Gov. Signals July Start To Property Tax Special Session
Nebraska's governor announced his intent to call the state's unicameral Legislature into a special session starting July 25 to focus on what he described as a worsening property tax crisis.
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June 26, 2024
Ariz. General Revenues Through May Up $314M From Forecast
Arizona's general revenue collection from July through May was $314 million higher than was forecast, according to the state Joint Budget Committee.
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June 26, 2024
Ore. Tax Court OKs Deduction For Horse Boarder's Biz Costs
The owners of an Oregon horse boarding facility that lost money for eight years operated it with a profit motive, the state tax court ruled, allowing the couple a tax deduction for the business expenses sustained.
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June 25, 2024
Hawaii Adopts Fines For Excise, Rental Tax Reporting Failures
Hawaii will impose fines for failures to comply with the reporting requirements of the state's general excise tax and transient accommodations tax laws as part of a bill signed by the governor.
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June 25, 2024
Hawaii Allows Tax Dept. To Serve Subpoenas Outside State
Hawaii authorized its Department of Taxation to serve administrative subpoenas outside the state under a bill signed by the governor.
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June 25, 2024
Newsom Defends Calif. Tax Policy In State Of State Speech
Gov. Gavin Newsom vigorously defended his state's fiscal policy Tuesday, declaring that California is not a high-tax state despite having the nation's highest overall individual income tax burden and highest gas tax.
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June 25, 2024
Bristol-Myers Fights NJ City's $4.6M Fee On Campus Upgrade
Bristol-Myers Squibb asked the New Jersey Tax Court to reverse the state's upholding of a $4.6 million nonresidential development fee on renovations to buildings on a 91-acre campus, arguing the improvements were excluded from the levy.
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June 25, 2024
Hawaii Conforms To Fed. Code For Income, Estate Tax
Hawaii conformed its income tax and estate and generation-skipping transfer tax laws to the federal tax code as amended through 2023 under a bill signed by the governor.
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June 25, 2024
Ohio Floats Rules Outlining Administration Of Cannabis Taxes
The Ohio Department of Revenue published a proposed regulation outlining how the state will administer cannabis taxes, including assessment processes and recordkeeping requirements.
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June 25, 2024
Pa. Biz Group, Top Senate Tax Writer Oppose Biz Income Reg
A proposed Pennsylvania regulation outlining what constitutes apportionable business income improperly suggests that the state could enforce combined reporting and ignore precedent limiting the taxation of multistate corporations, a business advocacy group and chair of the state Senate's tax-writing committee have argued.
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June 25, 2024
Minn. Tax Court OKs Dept.'s DuPont Apportionment Method
The Minnesota tax department correctly applied an alternative method of apportionment to manufacturing company DuPont that better represented the company's taxable income in the state following transactions involving forward exchange contracts, the state's tax court ruled.
Expert Analysis
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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Tax Assessment: Recapping Georgia's Legislative Session
Jonathan Feldman and Alla Raykin at Eversheds Sutherland examine tax-related changes from Georgia’s General Assembly — such as the governor’s successful push to accelerate income tax cuts — and suggest steps to take before certain tax incentives are challenged in the state's next legislative session.
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Geothermal Energy Has Growing Potential In The US
Bipartisan support for the geothermal industry shows that geothermal energy can be an elegant solution toward global decarbonization efforts because of its small footprint, low supply chain risk, and potential to draw on the skills of existing highly specialized oil and gas workers and renewable specialists, say attorneys at Weil.
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Bad Ideas That Won't Go Away: SALT In Review
From California's latest move toward a digital ad tax to Kansas' proposed tax credits for film production, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Trump Hush Money Case Offers Master Class In Trial Strategy
The New York criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump typifies some of the greatest challenges that lawyers face in crafting persuasive presentations, providing lessons on how to handle bad facts, craft a simple story that withstands attack, and cross-examine with that story in mind, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Kentucky Tax Talk: Budget Focus Cools Tax Reform Efforts
There were some noteworthy tax developments during Kentucky’s legislative session — like the revival of local tax reform and enactment of another tax amnesty program — but major tax initiatives, like those seen in recent years, were largely tabled as legislators focused on establishing the state’s two-year budget, say attorneys at Frost Brown.
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NY Tax Talk: Primary Function Is Key Analysis For Sales Tax
Two sales tax cases recently decided by New York's Appellate Division illustrate why both taxpayers and the state's Department of Revenue subscribe to the primary function test, a logical way to determine whether business transactions are subject to sales tax, say Elizabeth Cha and Jeremy Gove at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Time To Fix NYC's Broken Property Assessment System
A New York appellate court's decision to revive Tax Equity Now New York v. City of New York may force the city to revamp its outdated and unfair real estate tax assessment system, which could be fixed with a couple of simple changes, says Seth Feldman at Romer Debbas.
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Strange Notions Bubble Up: SALT In Review
From an assault on North Carolina's phaseout of its corporate income tax to a court ruling on the taxability of sparkling water in Pennsylvania, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert
As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.