Apple recently appealed an Ohio Commercial Activity Tax (CAT) assessment, alleging that the Department of Taxation improperly treated receipts from sales made through its app store as Apple’s receipts for purposes of determining its tax base under the CAT.  Ohio law allows agents to exclude gross receipts (other than commission) from the agent’s CAT base. Apple argues that under this law, Apple acted as an agent in collecting receipts on behalf of the app’s publisher. Thus, Apple’s gross receipts for CAT purposes are only the commission, not the full app price paid that Apple collects on the publisher’s behalf. Apple also asserted that the Department improperly included receipts in its CAT base for sales made to Ohio retail distribution centers or warehouses, which are excluded from the CAT when the item is shipped from the distribution center to a destination outside Ohio.