State & Local
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June 25, 2024
La. Board Finds Part Of Water Levies To Be Illegal Tax
A portion of a conservation district's charges for pumping water is an unconstitutional severance tax, the Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals ruled, saying the charges weren't allowed to be used to fund a metering program.
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June 25, 2024
Ex-DOJ Atty Among New Trio At Chamberlain Hrdlicka
Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Aughtry has strengthened its tax controversy and litigation practice with the addition of three attorneys in Atlanta, including a former senior trial attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice for more than three decades.
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June 25, 2024
Tax Pros Worry Credit Sales Could Raise Substance Issues
Tax professionals are concerned that deals involving a new way to sell clean energy tax credits for cash could face IRS scrutiny after the agency scored a high-profile win over a telecommunications company by deploying an aggressive interpretation of what's known as the economic substance doctrine.
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June 25, 2024
Ore. Tax Court Affirms $13M Valuation For Lowe's Retail Outlet
The Oregon Tax Court affirmed the $13.4 million tax valuation of a Lowe's home improvement warehouse, rejecting the company's argument that the property should be valued as if it did not have a lease in place.
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June 24, 2024
Conn. Gov. Calls Special Session To Address Tax On Cars
Connecticut's governor called on the state Legislature to convene a special session Wednesday to consider legislation affecting taxes imposed on motor vehicles and other provisions governing assessments on insurance companies and interest payments imposed on certain businesses that kept employees on payroll during the pandemic.
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June 24, 2024
MTC Modifies Draft Rule On Sourcing Trucking Receipts
The Multistate Tax Commission released a tweak to its draft alternative trucking sourcing rule that would strictly source receipts from ground transportation companies to the state of delivery during a meeting Monday.
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June 24, 2024
La. To Provide Sales Tax Rebates For Data Center Purchases
Louisiana will provide state and local sales and use tax rebates for taxes paid on the lease or purchase of eligible data center equipment and the development, acquisition or repair of qualified data centers under a bill signed by the governor.
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June 24, 2024
Ex-Chicago Alderman Gets Two Years For Boosting Law Firm
An Illinois federal judge on Monday sentenced former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke to two years in prison and fined him $2 million for using his official position to steer tax business to his personal law firm, closing what prosecutors called "another sordid chapter" in the city's history of public corruption.
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June 24, 2024
Hawaii Lowers Pass-Through Tax, Allows Credit Carryover
Hawaii cut the rate of tax it imposes on pass-through entities that elect to be taxed at the entity level and will allow pass-through tax credits to be carried forward to subsequent years under a bill signed by the governor.
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June 24, 2024
Tax Preparers Win Recommendation For Class Cert. In OT Suit
A group of tax preparers have met the requirements to form a class in a suit accusing their former employer of failing to pay overtime, a New York federal magistrate judge said, rejecting the employer's argument that their request for class status came too late.
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June 24, 2024
NM Sued Over Sustainable Building Credit Award Process
A New Mexico apartment complex alleges that the state violated its due process rights after it was denied sustainable building tax credits for most of its units, according to a complaint filed in federal court.
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June 24, 2024
Mass. Tax Board Won't Trim Home Value Over Area Conditions
A Massachusetts homeowner's testimony of the poor condition of nearby properties was insufficient to lower his home's assessed value, a state tax panel said in a decision released Monday, upholding the value found by a local assessor.
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June 24, 2024
Ariz. Includes New Jet Fuels In Definition For Excise Tax
Arizona expanded the definition of jet fuel subject to the state's 3.05-cent-per-gallon excise tax under legislation signed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
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June 24, 2024
La. Cuts Severance Tax Rates On Certain Oil, Gas Production
Louisiana will temporarily reduce its severance tax rates on production from inactive and orphan oil and gas wells under a bill the governor signed.
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June 21, 2024
Supreme Court Leaves Lifeline For Billionaire Income Tax
The U.S. Supreme Court narrowed but did not entirely block the path to billionaire income tax legislation when the majority's opinion declined to weigh constitutional questions about taxing unrealized gains in its decision to uphold a mandatory repatriation levy.
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June 21, 2024
Vt. Lawmakers Override Veto Of Short-Term Rental Surcharge
Vermont legislators overrode the governor's veto of legislation that imposes a 3% surcharge on short-term rentals.
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June 21, 2024
Ore. High Court Affirms Tax On Out-Of-State Tobacco Co.
An out-of-state tobacco company is liable for Oregon's excise tax, the state high court said, agreeing with the Oregon Tax Court that the company's in-state sales activities nullified protections in federal law against triggering state taxation.
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June 21, 2024
Texas Justices Say Settlement Doesn't Bar Oncor's Tax Fight
A settlement agreement doesn't preclude Texas power company Oncor from seeking to correct the value of its electric transmission lines on county appraisal rolls, the state's high court ruled Friday, weighing in on a dispute that divided two lower appeals courts.
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June 21, 2024
Ohio House Bill Would Tax Car Condos As Residential Parcels
Ohio would classify car condominiums as residential property for property tax purposes under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
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June 21, 2024
Ex-Chicago Alderman Burke Can't Delay Sentencing
Former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke can't postpone his Monday sentencing on charges of racketeering, extortion and bribery to await a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the scope of federal bribery law, an Illinois federal judge ruled Friday, saying that decision will have "little or no impact" on Burke's fate.
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June 21, 2024
Kansas Adopts Fewer Tax Brackets, Reduces Bank Tax
Kansas will go from three to two income tax brackets, reduce the state's bank privilege tax and make other tax changes under a bill signed Friday by Gov. Laura Kelly, who previously had resisted shifting to two brackets.
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June 21, 2024
Ex-Mass. Pol Hit With New Charges In COVID Fraud Case
A former Massachusetts state senator already accused of pandemic-related fraud has been charged alongside his sister with attempting to cover up a scheme to make him eligible for unemployment benefits, the U.S. attorney's office announced Friday.
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June 21, 2024
Ohio Board Says Zoning Change Doesn't Cut Properties' Value
The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals rejected on Friday arguments from an owner of five parcels that changes to their zoning that occurred within a year of when they were purchased warranted reducing the properties' values below their sales prices.
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June 21, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Travers Smith, Potamitis Vekris
In this week's Taxation With Representation, RSK Group Ltd. gets a £500 million ($632 million) investment, Boston Scientific Corp. acquires Silk Road Medical Inc., Masdar takes a part of Terna Energy SA, and Tate & Lyle PLC buys CP Kelco from JM Huber Corp.
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June 20, 2024
Trump Calls For Engoron's Recusal In Civil Fraud Case
Former President Donald Trump and other defendants fighting a $465 million civil fraud judgment called on New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron to recuse himself Thursday in light of a once-suspended real estate attorney's recent judicial misconduct claims, which have since sparked a judicial investigation.
Expert Analysis
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How To Avoid A Zombie Office Building Apocalypse
With national office vacancy rates approaching 20%, policymakers, investors and developers will need to come together in order to prevent this troubling trend from sucking the life out of business districts or contaminating the broader real estate market, say Ryan Sommers and Robyn Minter Smyers at Thompson Hine.
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Ohio Tax Talk: Building On Federal Affordable Housing Credit
Ohio's soon-to-be-implemented low-income housing tax credit could significantly affect the state's affordable housing landscape and influence tax-credit deal financing for these projects, though Senate changes may have dampened the new credit's immense potential, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.
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Holding These Truths Incontrovertible: SALT In Review
RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news, beginning with "almost irrefutable" observations delivered at a recent tax seminar.
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LA's High-Value Real Estate Transfer Tax Should Be Scrapped
Los Angeles’ recently implemented high-value property transfer tax has chilled the real estate market, is failing to meet revenue expectations and raises significant constitutional concerns, making it a flawed piece of legislation that should be invalidated, says attorney Paul Weinberg.
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Avoiding Negative Tax Consequences In Loan Modifications
Borrowers who may be caught in the dramatic uptick in nonperforming commercial real estate loans should consider strategies to avoid income and capital gains tax that may be triggered by loan modifications, says Aman Badyal at Glaser Weil.
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Chapter 100 Incentives Can Offer Relief For Mo. Solar Projects
Although the Missouri Supreme Court's decision last year in Johnson v. Springfield Solar 1 overturned the state's tax exemption for solar energy systems, solar developers may still be able to use other mechanisms, like Chapter 100 incentives, to offset project costs, say Lizzy McEntire and Anna Kimbrell at Husch Blackwell.
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Now Is The Time For State And Local Sales Tax Simplification
In the five years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, state and local governments increasingly rely on sales tax, but simple changes are needed to make compliance more manageable for taxpayers, wherever located, without unduly burdening interstate commerce, says Charles Maniace at Sovos.
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Connecticut Tax Cuts And Missouri Movies: SALT In Review
From income tax cuts in Connecticut to film tax credits in Missouri, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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What To Make Of IRS' New Advance Pricing Guidance
Recent guidance on the IRS' goals for its advance pricing agreement system provides helpful insight into review and decision-making procedures for advance pricing agreement requests, but it also raises questions about the IRS' objectives, say Richard Slowinski and Stefanie Kavanagh at Alston & Bird.
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For NY Wind And Solar Projects, Some Tax Assessment Clarity
Recent legislation, which moots a challenge to New York’s discounted cash flow method for assessing solar and wind project real property taxes, lifts a cloud of uncertainty and brings new considerations for developers, investors and lenders, say attorneys at Hodgson Russ.
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The Reciprocal Tax Bill Is A Warning Shot At Pillar 2
A bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives to reciprocally tax countries deemed to have imposed discriminatory taxes on U.S. citizens and businesses takes aim at countries implementing the global minimum tax treaty known as Pillar Two, with which the U.S. has not complied, says Alan Cole at the Tax Foundation.
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Cost To Gov't Means Justices Must Review NC Sales Tax Case
The U.S. Supreme Court should review and overrule the North Carolina high court’s decision in Quad Graphics v. North Carolina Department of Revenue — an anticipatory overruling of precedent that expands the state sales tax base and imposes a stealth tax on the federal government, says Richard Pomp at the University of Connecticut Law School.
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Potential Risks And Benefits Of NY Cannabis Crop Rescue Act
Though proposed legislation in New York would help struggling cannabis farmers by allowing them to sell their crops directly to consumers, it poses numerous challenges for retailers and the state’s regulatory framework — and striking the right balance here will be crucial to shaping a sustainable, equitable industry, say Meaghan Feenan and William Wolfe at Harris Beach.