The Maryland Tax Court reversed the Comptroller’s disallowance of NOLs and essentially struck down a regulation that limited the usage of pre-nexus NOLs. The Comptroller disallowed the taxpayer’s use of NOLs accumulates by entities with no nexus in Maryland that subsequently merged into the taxpayer. The Comptroller relied on a regulation enacted in 2007 that
In the News
Out of Time: Massachusetts Dismisses Taxpayer’s Attempt to Seek Refund as Untimely
Massachusetts Court of Appeals held that a taxpayer could not rely on timely applications for refund of deficiency assessments to also seek refund resulting from alleged overstatement of sales factor in corresponding years’ returns, where the initial application for abatement did not include the sales factor argument and statute of limitations had since lapsed.
The…
It’s None of Your Business: California Office of Tax Appeals Rejects FTB’s Broad Test for Doing Business
The California Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) reversed the Franchise Tax Board’s (FTB) determination that an out-of-state limited liability company (LLC) had taxable nexus with California solely because it held an ownership interest in an LLC operating in the state that ranged from 1.12% to 4.75%. California imposes an annual $800 tax on LLCs “doing…
Virtual Pets and the Reality of Taxes – Texas Comptroller Affirms Sales Tax Assessment on Online Gaming Company
The Texas Comptroller adopted a proposed decision issued by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) finding that a company owed sales tax on its sales of online gaming services to Texas residents. The company, who had at least one employee in Texas, developed and maintained online interactive social gaming experiences for its registered users, including those…
Pennsylvania Freight Broker May Deduct Passed-Through Delivery Fees from Local Gross Receipts
The court held that the taxpayer, a freight broker, could deduct freight and delivery charges, which it received from its customers and remitted to third-party delivery providers, from gross receipts before calculating a city’s business privilege tax. A local regulation provides an exemption for freight delivery or transportation charges “paid by the seller for the…
No Mixed Signals – Texas Appellate Court Finds Telecomm Signal Sales Are Not Tangible Personal Property
Consistent with a prior decision of a sister appellate court, Texas’ Texarkana Court of Appeals held that the sale of telecommunication products and signals constitutes the sale of a service for purposes of Texas’ franchise tax. The taxpayer sold electrical, light and radio signals to customers through copper wire, fiber-optic cable and leased telephone lines.…
Montana Supreme Court Holds Actual Dividends Fully Deductible in Water’s-Edge Case
The Montana Supreme Court held that the Department erred in determining that Exxon Mobil was entitled to only an 80% exclusion for dividends received from domestic corporations excluded from the water’s-edge combined return, and concluded that 100% of the actual dividends it received from such entities are excluded from income. Pursuant to Montana statute, Exxon…
New York Says Real Property Tax Exemption Doesn’t Apply to Telecom Cables
The New York Appellate Division ruled that telecommunication companies’ fiber optic cables do not qualify for a property tax exemption for such property that transmits radio and television signals. (New York Real Property Tax Law, §102(12)(i)(D).) The New York Court of Appeals had previously ruled in T-Mobile Northeast LLC v. DeBellis (December 13, 2018) that…
Legal Alert: Third time’s not the charm—New York Tribunal rejects market-based sourcing
This Blows! Tennessee Court of Appeals Says Blow-In Cards, Other Printed Materials Did Not Qualify for Sales Tax Exemptions
The Tennessee Court of Appeals held that a commercial printing company’s sales of bank checks and other printed products were subject to Tennessee sales tax even though the products ultimately were sent to out-of-state destinations. Under the company’s standard sales contracts, title to the products it sold transferred in Tennessee when the company tendered its…



