State & Local
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June 18, 2024
Missouri Atty's Departure Dooms 2 Sales Tax Protests
The Missouri Court of Appeals denied two businesses' attempts to revive their sales tax protests Tuesday, saying the state Administrative Hearing Commission correctly dismissed the cases for failure to file status reports after the companies' attorney didn't provide notice that she had changed firms.
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June 18, 2024
Ariz. Developer Stuck With $467K Bill For City's Builder Tax
An Arizona developer who built 22 homes qualifies as an "owner-builder" for purposes of Phoenix's speculative builder tax and is liable for $467,000 in tax, interest and penalties, the state's tax court said.
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June 18, 2024
Va. General Revenue Through May Beats Last Year By $1.48B
Virginia general revenue collection from July through May was $1.48 billion higher than in the same period last fiscal year, according to the state Department of Accounts.
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June 18, 2024
Short-Term Rental Laws And The Litigation They've Sparked
Short-term rentals are a contentious topic in the U.S., disrupting the hospitality industry and sometimes the neighborhoods where they’re located. Here, Law360 Real Estate Authority rounds up the state and local policies involving short-term rentals and the ongoing cases challenging them.
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June 17, 2024
Kansas Pols Agree On Tax Cuts Ahead Of Special Session
Kansas would reduce its income tax brackets to two and exempt Social Security income from tax under a compromise proposal reached between state House and Senate Republican leaders and Gov. Laura Kelly, announced during a joint committee meeting Monday.
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June 17, 2024
Pa. House Panel OKs Sales Of Net Losses, R&D Tax Credits
Pennsylvania would create a program to allow emerging biotechnology and technology businesses to sell their net operating losses and unused research and development tax credits to other companies under a bill advanced by the state House of Representatives' Finance Committee.
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June 17, 2024
Pa. General Revenue Collection Through May Up $610M
Pennsylvania's general revenue collection from July through May was $610 million ahead of last fiscal year's total for the same period, according to the state Department of Revenue.
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June 17, 2024
Calif. General Revenues Up $2.4B Over Revised Estimates
California's total receipts from July through May were $2.4 billion more than projected in revised estimates, according to the state Comptroller's Office.
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June 17, 2024
NJ Revenue Through May Down $182M From Last Fiscal Year
New Jersey collected $182 million less in general revenue from July through May than it did in the same part of last fiscal year, according to a report by the state's Department of the Treasury.
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June 17, 2024
RI Allows Unrestricted Property Tax Rates In Providence
Rhode Island is authorizing the city of Providence to adopt a classification system that allows unrestricted tax rates for residential, commercial, industrial and tangible personal property under bills that became law without the governor's signature.
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June 17, 2024
Mich. Justice Wants Tax-Break Filing Options After Mail Fiasco
A Michigan Supreme Court justice called on the state Legislature to give taxpayers more flexibility in claiming property tax exemptions after a company lost out on an exemption because the U.S. Postal Service never delivered its paperwork.
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June 17, 2024
Ark. Bills Seek Income Tax Cuts, Homestead Credit Expansion
Arkansas would reduce its income tax rates and increase its homestead property tax credit under bills introduced in both the state House of Representatives and Senate for a special legislative session at Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' request.
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June 17, 2024
NJ Tax Court Upholds Town's $1M Valuation Of Residence
The New Jersey Tax Court affirmed the township of Montclair's roughly $1 million valuation of a single-family residence, saying the homeowners failed to account for differences in other properties that they argued warranted cutting the assessment.
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June 17, 2024
NJ Power Broker, Firm CEO Brother Accused Of Racketeering
Powerful New Jersey businessman George E. Norcross III and his brother who is the chief executive officer of law firm Parker McCay have been criminally charged alongside others in a scheme to acquire waterfront property in the distressed city of Camden using threats of economic and reputational harm.
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June 14, 2024
The Tax Angle: More GOP TCJA Teams, Nonprofit Hospitals
From a look at efforts by the Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee to prepare for next year's expiration of the 2017 tax overhaul law to a new call for nonprofit hospitals to provide more charity care, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few of the week's developing tax stories.
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June 14, 2024
IRS Says Ariz. Lacks Standing To Fight Taxation Of Rebates
Arizona did not have standing to lodge its claim that its 2023 income tax rebates should be exempt from federal tax, the Internal Revenue Service told a federal court, arguing the taxes paid by Arizonans did not amount to harm to the state itself.
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June 14, 2024
Mich. Bill Would Clarify Tax On Delivery Network Sales
Michigan would clarify that vendors selling through an online marketplace are liable for collecting and remitting sales tax and that delivery networks can deduct amounts paid to sellers from their tax liability under a bill introduced in the state Senate.
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June 14, 2024
Conn. Panel Backs Woman's Exemption From Bank Execution
A woman is entitled to an exemption from a financial institution execution served by an entity that collected taxes for a Connecticut city to satisfy a business's outstanding personal property tax assessment, the state's appellate court said in an opinion released Friday, affirming a trial court's ruling.
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June 14, 2024
Mich. Co.'s Former Head Liable For Biz's $229K Unpaid Taxes
The Michigan Tax Tribunal correctly assessed the former president and controller of a now-defunct automotive coating company with $229,000 in unpaid withholding taxes because he was in control of the company's financial operations, a state appeals court panel ruled.
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June 14, 2024
St. Louis Agrees To Return Tax Paid By Remote Workers
St. Louis has agreed to return income taxes paid by remote workers outside the city after a Missouri appeals court ruled it could not impose the tax, the parties said Friday.
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June 14, 2024
Ark. Gov. Calls Special Session To Cut Tax Rates
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders called a special session of the state Legislature to amend the state's top income tax rates and increase the homestead tax credit.
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June 14, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Arnold & Porter
In this week's Taxation with Representation, Noble Corp. PLC buys Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc., Cognizant buys Belcan, AlphaSense raises funding to buy Tegus, and Matador Resources Co. acquires a subsidiary of the EnCap Investments portfolio company Ameredev II Parent.
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June 13, 2024
Staffing Hurdles Could Slow Impact Of IRS Audit Boost
The Internal Revenue Service's intended ramping up of enforcement on wealthy people, large corporations and complex partnerships may not have a meaningful impact in the short term because of challenges in hiring and training people to do the work.
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June 13, 2024
NYC Dance Club's Tickets Freed From $2M In Sales Tax
A New York City dance club isn't on the hook for a $2 million state sales tax bill on its admission charges because its techno music shows qualified as a tax-exempt live music performance, a state administrative law judge determined Thursday.
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June 13, 2024
Mich. Bill Seeks Income Tax Credit For Home Down Payments
Michigan would create an income tax credit for homebuyers who purchase a single-family residence that would equal a portion of the down payment amount as part of a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
Expert Analysis
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Justices' MoneyGram Opinion Could Spur State Legislation
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision that federal law governs the escheatment of over $250 million in unclaimed MoneyGram checks provides clarity for some issuers, but aspects of related common law remain uncertain and states may take the opportunity to pass multistate escheatment legislation, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Justices Leave Questions Open On Dual-Purpose Atty Advice
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury on grounds that certiorari was improvidently granted leaves unresolved a circuit split over the proper test for deciding when attorney-client privilege protects a lawyer's advice that has multiple purposes, say Susan Combs and Richard Kiely at Holland & Hart.
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Biz Purchases In Nebraska, Lobsters In Maine: SALT In Review
From a proposed tax exemption on business purchases in Nebraska to an attempt to punish lobster boycotts in Maine, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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High Court Ax Of Atty-Client Privilege Case Deepens Split
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury as improvidently granted maintains a three-way circuit split on the application of attorney-client privilege to multipurpose communications, although the justices have at least shown a desire to address it, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.
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Comparing NY And NJ Reverse False Claims Statutes
Michael Horn and Lilli Wofsy at Archer & Greiner examine the New York and New Jersey False Claims Acts that give private parties a right to file suits alleging failure to pay the government money, and important distinctions between these state statutes and the federal law that could protect companies facing lawsuits amid substantial incentives for private litigants.
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Ohio Tax Talk: Amnesty Or Voluntary Disclosure?
Ohio's governor recently signed legislation to allow a two-month tax amnesty if the revenue is needed, but considering Ohio's current tax surplus and the fact that many taxpayers would be precluded, those owing back taxes should consider whether voluntary disclosure remains a better option, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.
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Property In Pa. And Corporate Income In Mo.: SALT In Review
From the latest attempt to do away with Pennsylvania's property tax to an assault on Missouri's corporate income tax, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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The Forces Defining Sales Tax Policy And Compliance In 2023
In the coming year, expect to see tax policymakers grapple with the complexity of state and local tax compliance, cryptocurrency, metaverse transactions, and more, says Scott Peterson at Avalara.
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Start The Revolution Without Me: SALT In Review
From a sweeping push toward taxing the rich to a proposed tax review board in Indiana, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Atty-Client Privilege Arguments Give Justices A Moving Target
Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case regarding the scope of the attorney-client privilege appeared to raise more questions about multipurpose counsel communications than they answered, as the parties presented shifting iterations of a predictable, easily applied test for evaluating the communications' purpose, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.
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States Must Align Distribution Age Rules With Secure 2.0
To prevent unintended escheatment of retirement benefits, states will need to undertake legislative efforts to amend unclaimed property standards that conflict with the Secure 2.0 Act's required minimum distribution age increases, says Michael Giovannini at Alston & Bird.
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Va. Tax Nixed, NJ Shoplifter Targeted: SALT In Review
From a tax declared unconstitutional in Virginia to a New Jersey prosecutor's attempt to include sales tax in a shoplifting charge, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Midterm Cannabis Results Remind That Progress Is Not Linear
It may appear odd that the majority of state proposals for adult-use cannabis failed in November’s midterm elections when legalization is polling at an all-time high, but history moves in fits and starts, and there are clearly still some blind spots and hidden variables affecting voter perceptions, say Whitt Steineker and Mason Kruse at Bradley Arant.