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On January 14, 2020, legislation (L.B. 989) was introduced in the Nebraska Legislature that would expand the sales tax base to include sales of “digital advertisements.” “Digital advertisement” means “an advertising message delivered over the Internet that markets or promotes a particular good, service, or political candidate or message.” Nebraska is now the…

New York Administrative Court (Again) Holds Royalties Received from Foreign Related Parties Cannot be Excluded from Taxable Income

On December 19, 2019, the New York Division of Tax Appeals (DTA) held that a corporate taxpayer must include royalties received from foreign affiliates in the computation of its entire net income for its 2007 through 2012…

The California Office of Tax Appeals held that pursuant to market-based sourcing rules, a nonresident individual did not derive California sourced income and was not required to file a California return or pay personal income tax. The taxpayer resided in Texas and worked as an independent contractor for Christopher Konrad Consulting, LLC (Konrad), a company…

The New Jersey Tax Court held that distributions made to a corporation’s two shareholders constituted dividends, and rejected the corporation’s argument that the distributions should be treated as compensation for managerial services that could be deducted for New Jersey Corporation Business Tax purposes. The Court explained that New Jersey has adopted the federal test to…

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld the Comptroller’s determination that an out-of-state pet food seller did not qualify for Public Law 86-272 protection because the seller’s collection of competitive information in Maryland by its employees was not ancillary to solicitation of sales and not de minimis. The out-of-state pet food seller maintained a limited…

The Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board determined that three licensors of software properly sought refunds (or “abatements”) to apportion sales tax based upon proof of their purchasers’ intent to use the software in multiple locations, including outside of Massachusetts. In doing so, the Board rejected the Commissioner of Revenue’s argument that the taxpayers could apportion sales…

The New Mexico Administrative Hearings Office determined that UPS may depart from the statutory apportionment method for trucking companies, based on mileage driven in the state, because it produces a result that bears no rational relationship to UPS’s New Mexico business activity.

Echoing a 1992 Montana Supreme Court case also involving UPS, the Administrative Hearings…

On October 3, 2019, California’s Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) held that value-added tax (VAT) imposed on the provision of services is included in the sales factor of California’s apportionment formula. The taxpayer, filing on a worldwide unitary basis, included VAT in its sales factor denominator that it billed, and collected, to its customers in…

A California Superior Court ruled that a City of Oakland ballot measure seeking to impose a 30 year parcel tax to fund educational programs required a two-thirds vote. Ballot measure AA was the result of a citizens’ initiative. In publicly circulated materials prior to the election, the City Attorney indicated that passage of Measure AA…