State & Local
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July 03, 2024
Top State & Local Tax Cases Of 2024: Midyear Report
In the first half of 2024, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the state's law allowing municipalities to tax remote workers, while Microsoft sealed victory in a fight with California to include foreign dividends in its sales factor denominator, resulting in a $94 million refund. Here, Law360 looks at some of the top state and local tax cases of the past six months.
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July 02, 2024
Chevron's Fall Places State Tax Rules Under Microscope
State tax regulations could face increased judicial scrutiny in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to jettison the decades-old Chevron deference doctrine, which instructed courts to defer to federal agencies' interpretations of ambiguous laws.
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July 02, 2024
Calif. Couple Overstated Basis, Owe More Tax, OTA Says
A California couple overstated the amount of basis they had in a residence they sold, the state Office of Tax Appeals said, siding with the state Franchise Tax Board that the couple had less basis in the home and thus greater taxable gain.
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July 02, 2024
Conn. Remodels Taxes On Cars, Insurance Co. Assessments
Connecticut will remodel its motor vehicle tax regime, exempt some taxpayers from paying interest on underpayments of corporation business and personal income taxes and adjust the calculation of assessments on domestic insurance companies under legislation signed by the governor.
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July 02, 2024
Tax Consultant's Claim To Commissions Brought In Bad Faith
A California state appeals court found a wage and hour lawsuit against a tax credit firm was brought in bad faith because the worker lacked evidence to support her allegations, upholding a lower court's ruling and awarding attorney fees and costs to the firm.
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July 02, 2024
Mass. Dept. Says No Sales Tax On Genetic Testing
Charges for genetic testing of customers in Massachusetts don't incur sales tax, the state tax department said in a letter ruling released Tuesday, because personal services are exempt and the test kits provided constitute an inconsequential component of the transaction.
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July 02, 2024
Mont. Revenue Drops $180M From Last Fiscal Year
Montana collected $180 million less in general fund revenue during the fiscal year that ended in June than it did in the previous year, the state Department of Revenue said in a preliminary report.
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July 02, 2024
Calif. OTA Upholds Apportionment Method On $85M Gain
California's Franchise Tax Board applied the correct apportionment method to a nonresident's $85 million income, the state Office of Tax Appeals said, upholding an additional tax assessment of $650,000.
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July 02, 2024
W.Va. Revenues For Fiscal Year Top Forecast By $590M
West Virginia's general fund collections in fiscal year 2024 were $590 million ahead of budget estimates, the State Budget Office said in a preliminary report.
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July 02, 2024
Mass. Panel Won't Cut Tax Value Over Denied Building Permits
The owner of commercial property in Massachusetts failed to show that local denials of building permits impacted the tax value of the property, a state panel said in a decision released Tuesday, rejecting the owner's appeal of a local assessment.
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July 02, 2024
Ark. June Revenue Drops From Previous Year, Dept. Says
Arkansas net available general revenue for the month of June fell 2.5% below the previous year's collections, the state Department of Finance and Administration said Tuesday.
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July 02, 2024
Pennsylvania Ends Fiscal Year Above Revenue Estimates
Pennsylvania's revenue for the 2023-24 fiscal year was 1.9% above the state's revenue estimates, the state Department of Revenue announced.
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July 02, 2024
Mass. Panel OKs Penalty For Filing Estate Tax 7 Years Late
A Massachusetts estate is liable for about $258,000 in penalties and interest for filing a required tax return seven years late, a state panel said in a decision released Tuesday.
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July 01, 2024
GoDaddy Shareholders Balk At Further Chancery Delay
A special litigation committee that GoDaddy Inc. created in September 2023 in response to shareholder litigation over an $850 million tax asset buyout has 30 days to convince a Delaware Chancery Court judge that it is conducting a good-faith investigation and cooperating with the suing shareholders.
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July 01, 2024
Ill. Tax Applies To Re-Renters Of Hotel Rooms, Dept. Says
Illinois will impose an occupation tax on people who re-rent hotel rooms in the state as part of recently enacted omnibus legislation, the state Department of Revenue said.
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July 01, 2024
Calif. Ballot Measure Seeks Nix Of Tax Hike Threshold Change
California would scrap part of a ballot initiative that would have reduced the threshold needed for local governments to pass special taxes for public infrastructure and affordable housing projects under another ballot measure passed by legislators.
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July 01, 2024
Sealed Mich. Tax Panel Docs Protected From FOIA, Court Says
Confidential Michigan Tax Tribunal proceedings are shielded from public-records requests, a state appeals court ruled, rejecting the tribunal's claim that it's required to disclose confidential information unless it's exempt from release under the state's Freedom of Information Act.
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July 01, 2024
Calif. Allows Biz Tax Credit Refunds After Limitation Period
California will let taxpayers subject to a temporary business tax credit cap imposed by the state's recently enacted budget tax law elect to receive a refund for credits they otherwise could have claimed for the limitation period under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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July 01, 2024
Womble Bond Adds Int'l Tax Partner In Houston Office
Womble Bond Dickinson has added a partner to its corporate and securities group in Houston who will focus on tax law and cross-border transactions, the firm announced.
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July 01, 2024
NJ Tax Court Sends E-Cig Tax Dispute To Trial
A trial is needed to determine whether an e-cigarette company destroyed its nicotine cartridges in order to reduce its audit liability and whether those trashed cartridges could still be taxed, the New Jersey Tax Court ruled.
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July 01, 2024
Nelson Mullins Adds 9-Attorney Tax Team In Houston
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP announced Monday that five partners and four other tax attorneys have joined its new Houston office from Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Aughtry, including a former Texas Supreme Court justice.
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July 01, 2024
Longtime IRS Trial Atty Joins Jones Day In NY
An attorney who spent his entire career at the IRS has moved to private practice at Jones Day, the firm said on Monday.
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June 28, 2024
NJ Lawmakers OK Corp. Tax Hike, Expansion Of Tax Credits
New Jersey would reinstate the nation's highest corporate income tax rate on large corporations, offer tax incentives for capital investments from artificial intelligence companies and relax employee location requirements for businesses to receive tax breaks, under legislation lawmakers passed Friday alongside the state's budget.
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June 28, 2024
Mont. Tax Dept. Adopts Updated Regs For Water's-Edge Filers
Montana will carry out recently enacted legislation that eliminated a requirement for a so-called water's-edge return to include income and apportionment factors from corporate affiliates incorporated in a now-defunct list of tax havens under regulatory updates adopted by the state Department of Revenue.
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June 28, 2024
Key State And Local Tax Takeaways From June
As state legislatures hurried to pass bills and finish sessions before the end of the fiscal year, and courts handed down several key decisions, June was a consequential month in the state tax world. Here, Law360 presents key state and local tax developments to know from the past month.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Wash. B&O Tax Proposal Is A Step In The Right Direction
The Washington Tax Structure Work Group’s proposal to swap the state’s problematic business and occupation tax for a Texas-style margins tax is far from a perfect solution, but it has opened the door for a long-overdue conversation about B&O tax changes that would provide much-needed administrative relief, says Nikki Dobay at Greenberg Traurig.
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This Year's Top 10 Developments In State And Local Tax
Attorneys at Grant Thornton rank the 10 biggest state and local tax issues of 2022, including the adoption of state pass-through entity taxes, Maryland's digital advertising tax and American Rescue Plan Act litigation.
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What To Expect In 2023: SALT In Review
Starting with predictions for the coming year, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Texas Tax Talk: What To Know About The Prefiled Bills
Many of the Texas tax bills prefiled ahead of the state's January 2023 legislative session predictably reduce property tax, but it remains unclear how online sales tax sourcing will be addressed, and an expiring school district property tax incentive program will be reimplemented, say Matt Larsen and Alison Andrews at Baker Botts.
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Tax Cuts In Both Dakotas: SALT In Review
From tax-cut proposals in the Dakotas to a New Mexico artist who tried to represent himself, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Kentucky Tax Talk: Where Art Thou Kentucky Amnesty?
Attorneys at Frost Brown unpack the reasons why Kentucky's tax amnesty program never got off the ground this year, why implementation in 2023 won't be impeded by similar hurdles and how administration of the program may affect other Department of Revenue services once it gets going.