State & Local
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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.
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June 25, 2024
DC Council OKs Tax Hikes On High-End Property, Payroll
Washington, D.C., would impose a special tax rate on high-end residential properties, boost the premium for the district's paid leave program and make other tax and spending changes under legislation passed Tuesday by the district council.
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June 25, 2024
Ariz. Court Slashes Value Of Low-Income Housing Complex
An Arizona housing complex subject to restrictions related to federal low-income housing tax credits was overvalued by a local assessor, the Arizona Tax Court said, slashing the valuation of the property by about three-fourths.
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June 25, 2024
T-Mobile Settles Gross Receipts Tax Dispute With Ohio
T-Mobile reached a settlement with Ohio over the company's claims that the state tax agency incorrectly sourced certain receipts and double-counted others when it issued a $775,000 commercial activity tax assessment, according to a state Board of Tax Appeals order issued Tuesday.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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How Cannabis Rescheduling May Alter Paraphernalia Imports
The Biden administration's recent proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana use raises questions about how U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement policies may shift when it comes to enforcing a separate federal ban on marijuana accessory imports, says R. Kevin Williams at Clark Hill.
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Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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Ohio Tax Talk: The Legislative Push For Property Tax Relief
As Ohio legislators attempt to alleviate the increasing property tax burden, four recent bills that could significantly affect homeowners propose to eliminate replacement property tax levies, freeze property taxes for longtime homeowners, adjust homestead exemptions annually for inflation, and temporarily expand the homestead exemption, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.
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Looking South With A Smile: SALT In Review
From Mississippi's long walk toward repealing its personal income tax to a welcome stroke for open government in Kentucky, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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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.