Noteworthy Cases

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By Michael Penza and Andrew Appleby

The California Court of Appeal held that California’s disparate treatment of intrastate and interstate unitary businesses discriminated against interstate commerce. California requires taxpayers engaged in a unitary business within and without California to calculate their taxable income using combined reporting, but provides taxpayers engaged in a unitary business wholly…

By Stephen Burroughs, Jonathan Feldman and Open Weaver Banks

In a significant taxpayer win, the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board (ATB) held that intercompany interest payments from a wholly owned subsidiary to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) were bona fide loans and were deductible for excise tax purposes. The subsidiary (HoldCo) was a holding…

By Evan M. Hamme and Madison J. Barnett

The Washington Court of Appeals upheld a broad application of the Washington Business and Occupation (B&O) tax to sales between an out-of-state seller and out-of-state purchasers when the products are delivered in Washington. Although the taxpayer maintained a research and product development facility in Washington, none of…

By Zachary T. Atkins and Open Weaver Banks

In a closely followed case, a Florida district court of appeal held that a proposed assessment is not an assessment for statute of limitations purposes. The Florida Department of Revenue generally has three years to “determine and assess” any tax, penalty or interest due. The Department has…

By Robert P. Merten III and Timothy A. Gustafson

The California State Board of Equalization (BOE) has issued a rare ruling on residency topics, finding in favor of individual taxpayers on two issues. First, the BOE found that the taxpayers established domicile in Washington three months earlier than the Franchise Tax Board claimed, because they…

By Michael Penza and Timothy Gustafson

The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) issued an information letter explaining that a trust is taxable in California if any of the following three conditions are met: (1) the trust has income from California sources; (2) a trustee is a resident of California; or (3) a non-contingent beneficiary is…

Following Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that Maryland’s personal income tax regime is unconstitutional, join Sutherland SALT and Professor Wally Hellerstein, University of Georgia Taxation Law Professor and author of State Taxation, on Thursday, May 21 at 2:00 p.m. EST for a discussion including an analysis and potential implications of the Court’s ruling.