Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
On June 26, 2019, the New York Court of Appeals held that a price comparison service was taxable as an information service because the information was not personal or individual in nature, which would exclude the service from sales tax.
The taxpayer operated a chain of grocery stores. As part of its pricing strategy, the…
While group exercise classes led by instructors are especially popular these days, a recent decision subjects such classes to a special New York City sales tax. In a May 23, 2019, decision, a New York Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) determined that SoulCycle, Inc. indoor cycling classes were subject to a special New York City 4.5%…
A taxpayer’s spent carbon reactivation process did not qualify as “manufacturing” for the purposes of Texas’ manufacturing sales tax exemption, according to recently released guidance from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. In a private letter ruling, the Comptroller holds that a taxpayer who operates a carbon reactivation plant is ineligible for the exemption because…
New York’s highest court dismissed taxpayers’ appeal of an Appellate Division ruling that the payment of tax on intangible income to New York as statutory residents, without a credit for tax paid to Connecticut as domiciliaries, determining that the appeal did not raise a “substantial constitutional question.” Edelman v. New York State Dep’t of Taxation …
The Washington Court of Appeals upheld the Washington Department of Revenue’s denial of a sales tax exclusion for trade-ins of software and hardware. GameStop provides customers with a trade-in credit for software and hardware and allows customers to apply these credits towards future purchases of software and hardware. The Department denied GameStop’s exclusion for two…
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that all software, including custom software, is tangible personal property subject to Alabama sales tax. The taxpayer filed refund claims for sales tax paid on computer software and accompanying equipment, claiming that an Alabama Department of Revenue regulation exempted these purchases from the sales tax as “custom software programming.” The…
On May 22, 2019, the Illinois Appellate Court held that the late filing of a boat tour business’ Amusement Tax protest was excusable. The Cook County Department of Revenue had violated the taxpayer’s procedural due process rights by “affirmatively misleading” it on the proper filing deadline. Cook County law requires that taxpayers protest assessments within…
Lawmakers in California have introduced bills set to generate $16.4 billion in new taxes and fees for the 2019-2020 legislative session. Last week, Eversheds Sutherland sponsored CalTax’s Board of Directors Meeting, which covered the Governor’s agenda, federal conformity, local tax initiatives, the pending litigation in San Francisco and some new statewide tax bills. To learn…
The Colorado Supreme Court issued two decisions simultaneously holding that neither Oracle Corporation nor Agilent Technologies, Inc. were required to include in their combined income tax returns holding companies that did not meet the statutory definition of an “includable C corporation.” To be included in a combined return in Colorado, an affiliate must have more…
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals held that the Maryland Tax Court erred as a matter of law in ruling that none of the equipment purchased by a public utility company and used in transmitting electricity from a third-party power plant to the utility’s customers in Maryland qualified for a sales tax exemption applicable to…
