June 2013

Prentiss Pets 1.jpgMeet Mulligan (Mulli) and Sassy, the adorable Miniature Schnauzers of Sutherland SALT’s Prentiss Willson and his wife, Janice. Janice rescued the dogs, now ages 13 and 11, about six years ago, and they became part of the Willson family after Prentiss and Janice married last year (you can read more about their incredible love story

By Sahang-Hee Hahn and Jack Trachtenberg

The Missouri Department of Revenue determined that an out-of-state provider of mail systems products had nexus for sales and use tax purposes due to the selling activities of dealers in the state. The taxpayer sold products that enabled customers to centralize the distribution and collection of their mail and

By Stephen Burroughs and Andrew Appleby

The Mississippi Supreme Court held that the taxpayer bears the burden to prove that an alternative apportionment method imposed by the State is arbitrary and unreasonable. Rejecting the taxpayer’s original cost-of-performance filing position, the Department of Revenue applied an alternative apportionment method utilizing market-based sourcing. On appeal, the Chancery

By David Pope and Pilar Mata

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts determined that a taxpayer was not permitted to elect the Multistate Tax Compact’s (Compact) three-factor apportionment formula. This treatment is consistent with prior Texas Comptroller decisions holding that Texas law requires a single-factor apportionment methodology (see Sutherland SALT’s previous articles on this topic

By Jessica Kerner and Jack Trachtenberg

The Missouri Department of Revenue determined that a company’s telecommunications services provided to customers on its cloud computer network are subject to sales tax. The company’s cloud network is hosted on servers located outside of the state, and customers access the network through public telecommunications lines and through the

By Saabir Kapoor and Prentiss Willson

Virginia’s Tax Commissioner denied a taxpayer’s request for alternative apportionment because the taxpayer did not demonstrate by clear and cogent evidence that the statutory apportionment methodology led to an unconstitutional and inequitable result. The taxpayer, a limited partnership headquartered outside Virginia, sold real estate located in its home state

By Madison Barnett and Timothy Gustafson

The Tennessee Department of Revenue announced that the existing opportunity to compromise prior year liabilities related to the disallowance of certain intangible expense deductions will be closing on September 30, 2013. For several years, Tennessee has been issuing wide-scale assessments—using the Department’s discretionary authority—to taxpayers that deducted intangible expenses