Digital Economy

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By Christopher Chang

A New York State trial court has denied a motion filed by Sprint Nextel Corporation and its subsidiaries (Sprint) to dismiss a claim brought under the New York False Claims Act (FCA) alleging the company knowingly filed false tax returns and underpaid New York State sales taxes on fixed-rate monthly wireless telephone…

By Zachary Atkins and Prentiss Willson

The Colorado Supreme Court held that the Colorado Division of Property Taxation did not violate a public utility’s equal protection and uniformity rights by valuing and taxing its property differently than cable companies’ property. The public utility, Qwest Corporation, is a telecommunications service provider that competes with cable companies for…

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 Zachary Atkins and Andrew Appleby

The Arizona Court of Appeals held that Cable One, Inc. was subject to central assessment as a telecommunications company because of its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service offering. The court found that Cable One, which provided cable television, Internet access and VoIP services, met the statutory definition of…

By Jessica Kerner and Timothy Gustafson

The Texas Comptroller determined that a taxpayer’s email advertisement services were telecommunications services subject to the state’s sales tax. The taxpayer, a producer of real estate television shows for homebuilders, maintained a website through which it offered Internet-based services. The two services at issue were the taxpayer’s “Hot Sheet&rdquo…

The Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board, as well as its State and Local Advisory Council and Business Advisory Council, assembled in Minneapolis this week to discuss a number of policy matters related to Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement. The overarching theme, however, was the continued viability of the Agreement in light of the Marketplace…

By David Pope and Jack Trachtenberg

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has determined that a financial services firm is not subject to the New York State sales and use tax because the product being sold by the taxpayer constitutes a single, integrated, nontaxable service.  The taxpayer provides its clients with investment…

By David Pope and Timothy Gustafson

Pursuant to a letter ruling request, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue determined that a taxpayer’s bundled sale of software and services related to Internet-based marketing and customer communications solutions was subject to Massachusetts sales tax. The taxpayer provided different types of software to its subscribers, which organized customer reviews, questions…