Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
By Charles Capouet and Tim Gustafson
On June 15, 2017, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court held that property tax recovery charges and carrier cost recovery charges imposed by a telecommunications service provider of long distance telephone service on its customers were not subject to service provider tax for the tax years 2008 – 2010. The…
By Jessica Eisenmenger and Open Weaver Banks
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the Philadelphia Beverage Tax (PBT) against a challenge by the American Beverage Association and other challengers. The PBT imposes a 1.5¢ per fluid ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages and is generally payable by the distributor of the beverages. The court decided in…
By Robert Merten and Andrew Appleby
The Maryland Tax Court granted a summary judgment motion exempting a Vermont-licensed insurance company from almost $24 million in corporate income tax, interest, and penalties. The short two-page order swiftly cites to and expressly follows the court’s previous order in the 2015 case, Nat’l Indem. Co. v. Comptroller of…
By Dmitrii Gabrielov and Jonathan Feldman
An Indiana federal court remanded a lawsuit brought under the Indiana False Claims and Whistleblower Protection Act (False Claims Act) back to Indiana state court. The relator, Michael Harmeyer, alleges that Kroger and affiliates violated the False Claims Act by failing to collect sales tax on various items at…
By Jeff Friedman and Stephanie Do
Following an unfavorable court decision, state legislatures have been able to effectively reverse a decision by retroactively changing the law. Several taxpayers have challenged the validity of retroactive state tax changes by arguing that the retroactive laws violate the US Constitution’s Due Process Clause, which requires that no state…
Managing state tax controversies is challenging not only because of the complexities that a particular case presents, but also because of the multidimensional considerations of litigating similar cases in multiple forums. View this article, which highlights the importance of developing a comprehensive strategy to avoid the pitfalls of multistate tax litigation, such as:
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By Liz Cha and Eric Coffill
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee held that Tennessee’s sales tax on railroad carriers for the purchase or use of diesel fuel was not discriminatory under the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (4-R Act) even though it did not similarly apply…
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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 state or locality in need of revenue, or possibly seeking a narrow policy goal, may enact a statute or ordinance imposing a tax that targets a specific company and applies to no other taxpayer. View this article, which:
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By Chris Lutz and Andrew Appleby
In Georgia Letter Ruling SUT-2016-24, the Georgia Department of Revenue ruled that sales of software equipment delivered to a Georgia assembly facility on an out-of-state customer’s behalf were subject to Georgia sales and use tax. In the ruling, the taxpayer sold technology solutions, which were comprised of licenses of…
