The District of Columbia occupies a unique position among subnational jurisdictions in the United States given its status as a nonstate, federal enclave. The District’s status allows it to impose individual income tax on only residents under the district clause of the US Constitution, the Home Rule Act of 1973, and implementing statutes that are
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals concludes Nevada locality has no private right of action to sue streaming video providers for franchise fees
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the City of Reno was not entitled to file a lawsuit against streaming video providers for franchise fee payments. Reno sought damages for the streaming services providers’ alleged failure to collect franchise fees under Nevada’s Video Service Law. The court held that the law
A rose by any other name – Maryland to rename appellate courts
On November 8, 2022, Maryland voters approved a constitutional amendment to change the names of Maryland’s appellate courts from the Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court of Maryland and from the Court of Special Appeals to the Appellate Court of Maryland. New York is now the only state to designate its highest court as
D.C. Attorney General alleges gig-economy company misclassifies workers as independent contractors
D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine announced on October 27th that his office filed suit against a delivery service company, claiming that the company’s workers are employees, not independent contractors.[1] The AG argues that the Company’s delivery drivers “bear all the hallmarks of employee status.”[2] This lawsuit follows another tax-related complaint filed by
Supreme Court of Mississippi holds digital images are not subject to sales tax
On October 6, 2022, the Supreme Court of Mississippi held that digital images are not subject to sales tax as tangible personal property or specified digital products. The taxpayer was a digital wedding photographer that sold wedding photography services to customers and then transferred the digital images to the customers via DVDs or flash drives.
Virginia Circuit Court determines sales of software and equipment exempt from sales tax
In an opinion published on September 9, 2022, the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond held that a telecommunications equipment company was entitled to a sales tax refund on its sales of software, equipment, and related services sold to a telecommunications company.
Under Virginia law, software delivered electronically via the Internet is exempt from
State tax case breakdowns – Q1 and Q2 2022
In this episode of the SALT Shaker Podcast, host and Eversheds Sutherland Associate Jeremy Gove welcomes back Counsel Charles Capouet for a discussion of taxpayer wins and losses in Q1 and Q2 of 2022. Thanks to the SALT Scoreboards, they cover key cases from each quarter and what the results mean. 
Continuing tradition, they conclude
D.C. Attorney General pursues False Claims Act case in individual income tax matter
On August 31, 2022, the D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine announced that his office was pursuing an action against an individual, Michael Saylor, for allegedly owing individual income tax to the District as a resident under a “fraudulent scheme.” The Attorney General is also pursuing a violation of the False Claims Act related to his
Stale gum: Oregon Tax Court denies P.L. 86-272 protection to cigarette manufacturer
The Oregon Tax Court, Regular Division, held that P.L. 86-272 did not preclude Oregon from imposing its excise (income) tax on an out-of-state manufacturer of cigarettes and other tobacco products based on two activities. First, the court held that the manufacturer’s mandate that the in-state wholesalers accept product returns was not a protected activity. The
(Pay)rolling with the punches: D.C. Office of Administrative Hearings holds payroll factor denominator limited to financial institution payroll
The District of Columbia Office of Administrative Hearings held that the two financial institution subsidiaries of Petitioner, a credit and charge card issuer company, should have included in their payroll factor denominator only the payroll attributable to the financial institution entities. In other words, when calculating their payroll factor, Petitioner’s financial institution subsidiaries should have