Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
By Jeff Friedman and Stephanie Do
A new landmark sales tax statute has been adopted in Minnesota, which expands sales tax collection requirements to those retailers that sell their goods on certain “marketplaces.” Generally, only a retailer that is physically present in a state is required to collect and remit the state’s sales tax. The…
By Chelsea Marmor and Open Weaver Banks
The Administrative Review and Hearings Division at the Washington Department of Revenue (the Division) determined that administrative activities qualify as business activities for purposes of applying Washington’s throw-out rule under the Washington business and occupation (B&O) tax. The taxpayer, a single member LLC, performed airplane certifications on aircraft…
Eversheds Sutherland SALT releases the sixth edition of its SALT Scoreboard, a quarterly publication that tracks significant state tax litigation and controversy developments. This edition of the SALT Scoreboard also includes observations regarding beverage tax issues and California’s documentary transfer tax.
View our Eversheds Sutherland SALT Scoreboard results from the second quarter of 2017!
Rarely does a subject as mundane as a documentary transfer tax become worthy of its own article. However, the June 29, 2017, decision of the California Supreme Court in 926 North Ardmore Avenue LLC v. County of Los Angeles is a worthy exception. Read this Law360 article by Eversheds Sutherland (US) attorneys Eric Coffill…
On April 6, the Third District California Court of Appeal decided Morning Star Packing Company v. California Air Resources Board, which challenged the state’s cap-and-trade auction process as an unconstitutional tax. View this latest edition of A Pinch of SALT, by Eversheds Sutherland (US) attorneys Eric Coffill and Robert Merten, which discusses:…
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…
