The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance issued an advisory opinion explaining that a corporation’s charges for access to its digital advertising platform are subject to sales tax. The corporation provides digital advertising products to customers through an online management platform that allows customers to access a package of software tools to
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Multistate Tax Commission Nexus and Audit Committee Updates – November 2020
On November 16th and 17th, 2020, the Multistate Tax Commission’s (“MTC”) Nexus and Audit Committees met to consider several topics. The biggest developments from these meetings are that: (1) the Nexus Committee shared their proposed, revised draft of its Uniform Sales and Use Tax Exemption/Resale Certificate – Multijurisdiction, which reflects the Wayfair …
D.C. Council Passes False Claims Act Expansion to Tax Matters on First Reading
During the November 17th D.C. Council meetings, the Council marked-up the False Claims Amendment Act of 2020 and passed it on first reading by an 8-5 vote. The bill now moves to second – and final – reading as soon as December 1st. If passed, the bill would expand the D.C. False…
Digital art subject to sales tax in Texas
The Texas Comptroller adopted an Administrative Law Judge’s decision affirming a sales and use tax assessment on a Texas-based marketing and advertising agency for “invoices for the time to create digital artwork.” According to the Comptroller, the artwork that the advertising agency “delivered to the third‑party printers was either finished art or preliminary art that…
D.C.’s Proposed False Claims Act Expansion Threatens Taxpayers Once Again
In a rapidly escalating matter of concern to all District business taxpayers, the D.C. Council again will consider B23-35, the D.C. False Claims Amendment Act of 2020, which would expand the D.C. False Claims Act to tax matters above specified thresholds. The Council will review the committee mark-up tomorrow, November 17th. First reading would…
Washington determines that marketplace facilitator fulfillment centers can create physical presence for marketplace sellers
In Determination 18-0255, the Washington Department of Revenue determined that a marketplace seller established substantial nexus in Washington for business and occupation tax purposes by participating in the marketplace facilitator’s “digital reassignment” process. This process allows the facilitator to ship to the marketplace seller’s customers a competitor’s equivalent product if the marketplace seller’s product…
Indiana updates informal remote seller and marketplace facilitator guidance
The Indiana Department of Revenue has updated Information Bulletin No. 89, providing guidance for remote sellers and marketplace facilitators regarding the state’s sales tax physical presence standards. The updated guidance, which is effective July 1, 2020, explains the applicable factors for remote sellers and marketplace facilitators to consider when determining whether they have physical…
Tennessee provides guidance on upcoming marketplace facilitator duties regarding occupancy taxes
In Notice 20-20, the Tennessee Department of Revenue addressed the implementation of S.B. 1778, which will require marketplace facilitators to collect and remit local occupancy taxes levied on short-term rental units beginning January 1, 2021. Marketplace facilitators must collect and remit the Tourist Accommodation Tax, the Hotel Occupancy Tax, and similar local occupancy taxes…
Ohio Supreme Court Rejects Look-Through Sourcing for Sale of Customer Contracts
The Ohio Supreme Court held that under the Commercial Activity Tax (“CAT”), Defender Security Company’s (“Taxpayer”) gross receipts from selling alarm monitoring service contracts to ADT Security Services, Inc. (“ADT”) should be sourced to the location where ADT itself receives the benefit from purchasing these contracts, rather than the location of the ultimate consumer of…
California OTA Tells CDTFA Its Audit Manual Has No Authority In Appeal
In a pending precedential decision, the California Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) held that the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) is bound to follow its own regulation and could not rely on its audit manual to disregard that regulatory authority. Regulation 1595 provides that the agency will use “book value” as the…



