State & Local
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August 09, 2024
Mich. Court Says Tax Cap Voided By Law Firm's New Roof
A new roof installed on the office of a Michigan law firm was an addition to the property, allowing its taxable value to increase beyond a statutory cap, the state Court of Appeals ruled, upholding a state tax tribunal finding.
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August 09, 2024
What Books Tax Pros Recommend For This Summer
As practitioners monitor the tax implications of the U.S. presidential election as well as what might come out of the next European Commission, they may want to take a break with a good book. Here, Law360 takes a look at tax specialists' summer reading recommendations.
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August 09, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Latham, Freshfields, Wachtell
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Quantum Capital Group agrees to a roughly $3 billion deal for Cogentrix Energy, Apax Partners LLP is acquiring Thoughtworks for roughly $1.75 billion, and Mallinckrodt inks a $925 million deal for Therakos.
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August 08, 2024
Meta Tells Court Md. Digital Ad Tax Unlawfully Discriminates
Maryland's tax on digital advertising unlawfully discriminates against electronic commerce and violates the commerce clause and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Meta told the Maryland Tax Court during oral arguments Thursday in one of several related cases pending before the court.
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August 08, 2024
Dish, DirecTV Say New Laws Show Mo. Fees Never Applied
Two Missouri bills signed into law last month were meant to clarify that streaming and satellite TV services were always exempt from video service provider fees, not change the law to newly exempt the services, Dish and DirecTV told a Missouri court.
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August 08, 2024
No Rebate Estimate For Ore. Biz Tax Measure, Panel Says
An explanatory statement on an Oregon ballot measure to impose a new minimum corporate tax and provide payouts to state residents will not include an estimate of those rebate amounts, a state elections panel said.
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August 08, 2024
Utah Justices Refuse Tax Break For Sports Lab
A Utah sports medicine lab does not use its facilities exclusively for charitable purposes and therefore is not eligible for a property tax exemption, the state Supreme Court said Thursday, upholding a Utah Tax Commission decision.
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August 08, 2024
Ind. Co.'s Out-Of-State Trailer Sale Not Taxable
An Indiana company that sold a trailer to a Florida resident who then registered the trailer in Michigan didn't owe sales tax on the transaction, the Indiana Department of Revenue said.
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August 08, 2024
Nixon Peabody Hires Community Development Counsel In DC
When Steven Feenstra, the newest member of Nixon Peabody LLP's the community development finance practice, visited a client's office some 25 years ago, the photos of the community housing projects the client had helped develop made a lasting impression on him, he told Law360 Pulse in an interview Thursday.
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August 08, 2024
Ind. Company Wrongly Denied Carryover Of Tax Credits
An Indiana company was wrongly assessed additional corporate income tax, the state Department of Revenue said, adding that it had excess tax credits it could use to reduce its 2019 liability.
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August 08, 2024
Ind. Building Co. Can't Get Research Tax Credits, Dept. Says
An Indiana construction company was correctly assessed additional corporate income tax because it failed to establish that it qualified for claimed research expense credits, the state Department of Revenue said.
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August 08, 2024
Ohio Board OKs Valuing Residence At Private Sale Price
An Ohio home was overassessed, the state's tax appeals board said, finding that the property's recent sale was an arm's-length transaction and should be considered when valuing it.
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August 07, 2024
NJ Tax Agency Seeks Required Bids For Transfer Pricing Aide
New Jersey is seeking bids to contract with a transfer pricing specialist because the state's agreement with a prominent economist who helped draft the federal government's transfer pricing rules can't be renewed without a competitive process, a state tax agency representative told Law360 on Wednesday.
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August 07, 2024
Minn. Delays Tax Deadlines For Those Hit By Storms
Minnesota will give people and businesses in 19 counties hit by recent storms and flooding extra time to file and pay their state taxes, the Minnesota Department of Revenue said Wednesday.
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August 07, 2024
Office Buildings Reign Supreme In Terms Of NYC Tax Revenue
According to a Wednesday report from New York state's fiscal watchdog, ongoing woes in the office sector aren't going to punch a hole in the budget for New York City — which can expect to continue to receive an "outsized" proportion of its tax revenue from office buildings.
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August 07, 2024
Tax Holidays Not Cure For Regressive Tax, Think Tank Warns
Sales tax holidays are expensive and do more harm than good, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said, instead advocating for tax policies that provide permanent relief to low- and middle-income taxpayers.
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August 07, 2024
Minn. Justices Affirm Wis. Biz Had Enough Contacts For Tax
A Wisconsin distributor of industrial and packing products had enough contacts with Minnesota to be liable for its corporate franchise tax, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, affirming a tax court decision.
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August 07, 2024
Tax Court's Economic Substance Foray May Clarify Limits
A U.S. Tax Court judge plans to address an ill-defined provision governing the relevance of the economic substance doctrine in a microcaptive insurance case, offering the courts another chance to clarify an anti-abuse tool the IRS has been deploying more often.
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August 07, 2024
Iowa Revenues In July $128M Higher Than Last Year
Iowa's total receipts for July were $128 million higher than the same month in the previous fiscal year, according to a memo from the state's Department of Management.
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August 07, 2024
Calif. Office Says Partner's Loss Claims Properly Disallowed
A California audiovisual company that is a partner with two other companies cannot claim $853,000 in flow-through partnership losses because the company did not have the basis in the partnerships to be able to claim the losses, the state Office of Tax Appeals ruled.
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August 07, 2024
NH Starts Fiscal Year 2025 $4 Million Over Revenue Estimate
New Hampshire's general fund receipts in July were $4 million higher than budget estimates, according to the state Department of Administrative Services.
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August 07, 2024
Missouri Voters Reject Exemption For Child Care Facilities
Missouri will not allow local governments to exempt child care facilities from property tax after a constitutional amendment was rejected by voters Wednesday.
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August 07, 2024
Logistics Co. CEO Denies Role In NJ Racketeering Scheme
The chief executive officer of logistics firm NFI Industries on Wednesday denied that he played a role in an alleged scheme led by a New Jersey power broker accused of reaping millions in tax credits by using extortion to acquire waterfront property in the distressed city of Camden.
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August 06, 2024
Calif. Sales By Snowmaking Co. Are Taxable, OTA Says
A company that creates and supplies snow for entertainment companies in California had $1.93 million in taxable sales in 2012 through 2015 despite the company saying the snow was not tangible personal property, the California Office of Tax Appeals ruled.
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August 06, 2024
Wash. Appeals Court Reverses On Gas Chain Owing State Tax
A Pacific Northwest gas station chain that issued fuel cards to customers must pay the Washington state business tax when cardholders purchase gas from other participating gas station chains as well as from nonparticipating chains, a state appeals court panel said Tuesday, reversing an earlier opinion.
Expert Analysis
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Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
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Reading Between The Lines Of Justices' Moore Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Moore v. U.S. decision, that the Internal Revenue Code Section 965 did not violate the 16th Amendment, was narrowly tailored to minimally disrupt existing tax regimes, but the justices' various opinions leave the door open to future tax challenges and provide clues for what the battles may look like, say Caroline Ngo and Le Chen at McDermott.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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Another Crack In The Shield: SALT In Review
From the latest assault on a federal shield against taxing out-of-state businesses to an update on beer taxes, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice
The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
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A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.
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Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.
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Less Power To The People: SALT In Review
Starting with a measure that won't appear on the California ballot in November, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.