Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
By Liz Cha and Eric Coffill
The Superior Court of Washington for King County held that Seattle’s new income tax on “high income residents” violates a provision of Washington state law which prohibits a city from levying a tax on net income.
On July 14, 2017, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray signed Seattle Ordinance No. 125339,…
There has been no shortage of state tax controversies this year. States and taxpayers looked to state courts seeking guidance on some of the most contentious state tax issues.
In their article for Law360, Eversheds Sutherland attorneys Jeffrey Friedman and Stephanie Do look back at some of the most interesting decisions of 2017, which…
By Charles Capouet and Charlie Kearns
On November 6, 2017, the Minnesota Department of Revenue issued a Revenue Notice advising taxpayers that it acquiesces to the Minnesota Tax Court’s decision in Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. v. Commissioner of Revenue. As a result, the Department now takes the position that Minnesota’s version of the …
By Mike Le and Tim Gustafson
On December 8, 2017, the Alabama Supreme Court issued an order without opinion in Thomas v. Elbow River Marketing Ltd. Partnership, affirming a lower court’s decision that a Canada-based seller of hydrocarbon products did not engage in or carry on a business in the City of Birmingham…
The Tennessee Department of Revenue issued a letter ruling finding that a taxpayer’s annual subscription charge for its cloud-based employee scheduling services is subject to Tennessee sales and use tax.
In Tennessee, the use of computer software is subject to tax, even if it remains in the possession of…
By Liz Cha and Carley Roberts
The California Court of Appeal held that the entire value of an air taxi company’s jets were subject to the County of Los Angeles 1% personal property tax, despite the fact that the jets spent 40% of their time outside of California. The court reasoned that the brief touchdowns…
By Dmitrii Gabrielov and Andrew Appleby
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance issued an advisory opinion determining that non-US unauthorized life insurance companies’ premiums were not includable in the New York State insurance franchise tax apportionment factor. The Department reasoned that the apportionment statute requires a life insurance company to report its…
By Dmitrii Gabrielov and Tim Gustafson
The New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, affirmed the New York City Tax Appeals Tribunal’s (Tribunal) determination that certain real estate transactions were subject to the New York City Real Property Transfer Tax (RPTT) under the step transaction doctrine.
The taxpayer and a nonparty owned, respectively, 45% and…
By Samantha Trencs and Eric Coffill
The Colorado Court of Appeals held that a corporate parent doing business in Colorado was not required to include its subsidiary holding company that held no property or payroll in Colorado or elsewhere in its Colorado unitary combined corporate income tax report. The holding company was not an “includable”…
By Dmitrii Gabrielov and Andrew Appleby
The New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, affirmed the New York City Tax Appeals Tribunal’s (Tribunal) decision that Aetna’s subsidiary health maintenance organizations (HMOs) were subject to the New York City General Corporation Tax (GCT) for 2005 and 2006. The Appellate Division determined that the Tribunal’s reasoning…
