Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
By Robert P. Merten III and Prentiss Willson
The New Jersey Division of Taxation has issued a technical advisory memorandum (TAM) explaining New Jersey’s tax position that transactions involving convertible virtual currency— “electronic/digital money” with an equivalent or substitute value in real currency, such as bitcoins—are subject to state tax liability, including sales and use…
On June 2, 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law conducted a hearing on three state tax bills: the Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act, the Digital Goods and Services Tax Fairness Act, and the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act.
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By Jessie Eisenmenger and Andrew Appleby
The State of Washington Department of Revenue issued public guidance explaining that the initial sale of a domain name by a registrar is subject to retail sales or use tax. A domain name is a unique name that allows users to access a website without using the website’s Internet…
By Charles Capouet and Open Weaver Banks
The Kansas Department of Revenue addressed the taxability of sales of video game access codes, subscription cards, point cards, and notional dollar value cards. Initial sales of access codes that allow customers to download video games or video game add-ons directly to the customer’s computer or other device…
By Stephanie Do and Madison Barnett
The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals determined that two out-of-state online retailers with no physical presence in Ohio were subject to Ohio’s Commercial Activity Tax (CAT). The Board, declining to rule on the taxpayers’ constitutional arguments, found that the online retailers met Ohio’s statutory bright-line presence nexus test based…
By Charles Capouet and Open Weaver Banks
The Alabama Department of Revenue has proposed an amendment to the state’s rental tax regulation. If finalized, the regulation would tax the rental of “digital transmissions,” such as “on-demand” movies, television programs, streaming video, streaming audio and other similar programs, regardless of the method of transmission or the…
By Robert P. Merten III and Open Weaver Banks
The Oklahoma Tax Commission determined in a letter ruling that certain sales of background music are subject to Oklahoma state sales tax. The Commission was asked to provide written guidance on whether state sales tax would apply to the provision of background music to customers paying…
There has been significant controversy in New York regarding whether receipts from services—particularly those that may be delivered via the Internet—constitute “service” receipts or “other business receipts” for corporate franchise tax apportionment purposes. The distinction between “service” receipts and “other business receipts” is crucial because prior to 2015, New York Tax Law generally required sourcing…
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo introduced his 2015-2016 budget and accompanying legislation on January 19, 2015 (the 2015 Budget Bill). If enacted, New York’s tax law will be significantly altered for the second time in two years. The sales tax provisions of the legislation will tax most intercompany transactions and will also accelerate the payment…
By Evan Hamme and Madison Barnett
The Tennessee Department of Revenue determined that computer-related services provided on an hourly basis by an IT staffing agency are subject to sales tax in certain instances. Under Tennessee law, the sale of computer software is subject to sales tax, including when the software is created on a customer’s…
