Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
By Huy “Mike” Le and Andrew Appleby
The New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal (Tribunal) held that the Department’s assessment of two non-admitted German insurance companies violated the United States-Germany Tax Treaty’s anti-discrimination clause and the US Constitution’s Foreign Commerce Clause.
The alien non-admitted non-life insurance companies had no premiums from sources in the United…
By Andrew Appleby and Dmitrii Gabrielov
The New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal released its precedential decision in Stewart’s Shops, affirming an Administrative Law Judge’s determination that payments by a corporation to its captive insurance company did not qualify as deductible insurance premiums because the arrangement did not constitute insurance for federal income tax…
By Alla Raykin and Jonathan Feldman
In an Advisory Opinion, the New York Department of Taxation and Finance concluded that fees paid to a social club by non-members for certain activities (tennis lessons, children’s camp, basketball court use, etc.) are not subject to tax, although membership fees that provide access to the same activities are…
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The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman that a New York statute that prohibits identifying a surcharge to customers for credit card payments regulates speech and is therefore subject to heightened scrutiny. The court remanded the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to determine whether |
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A recent US Supreme Court decision on surcharges strengthened taxpayers’ First Amendment rights when deciding how they present pass-through fees and taxes to their customers.
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By Nicole Boutros and Scott Wright
A New York State Division of Tax Appeals administrative law judge (ALJ) determined that a telecommunications provider’s electricity purchases were not exempt from sales tax as sales for resale. In so doing, the ALJ rejected the taxpayer’s assertion that it resold electricity by incorporating it into its telecommunications services…
By Evan Hamme and Tim Gustafson
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance issued an advisory opinion exempting from New York state sales tax a charge the petitioner paid to a cable company to cover the cable company’s costs to expand its cable network to bring broadband Internet to the petitioner’s rural location.…
By Samantha Trencs and Eric Tresh
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance issued an advisory opinion concluding that a detailed report of customer behavior that includes both client-specific and industry-related information is a service subject to sales and use tax. Tax Law § 1105(c)(1) imposes sales and use tax on information services…
By Mike Kerman and Charlie Kearns
The New York Department of Taxation and Finance issued an advisory opinion concluding that a taxpayer that collects and furnishes healthcare information on behalf of healthcare providers, such as medical practices and hospitals, to persons requesting copies of medical records is not performing a service subject to New York…
On December 29, 2016, a New York City administrative law judge (ALJ) determined that Sprint’s long distance telecommunications service fees were exempt from the City’s Utility Tax. In the Matter of the Petitions of U.S. Sprint Communications Co., LP, TAT (H) 14-12 (UT) et al. Sutherland represented Sprint in the matter.
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