The sales taxation of software has long been controversial. When sales of software became commonplace in the 1970s and 1980s, it was largely available and commercially distributed on a tangible medium. Today, software is provided in ways that do not constitute the transfer of title or possession of tangible personal property, such as the Software-as-a-service

There has been an alarming expansion of local taxes. In some localities, this includes new local taxes imposed on businesses. In other localities, this includes aggressive interpretations of existing local ordinances by local tax agencies.

In this installment of A Pinch of SALT in Tax Notes State, Eversheds Sutherland attorneys Michele Borens, John Ormonde

In this episode of the SALT Shaker Podcast, Eversheds Sutherland Partner Tim Gustafson joins Associate Jeremy Gove for a deep dive into California’s market-based sourcing regulation.

Together they discuss various interpretations of and proposed amendments to the regulation offered over the past six years, and how the interpretations and amendments might affect taxpayers.

They wrap

The power and reach of administrative agencies — often led by unelected officials — has long been a source of controversy. Nearly 40 years ago, in Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court held that an administrative agency’s interpretation of a statute administered by that agency should be given deference