Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
By Jessie Eisenmenger and Timothy Gustafson
The Missouri Supreme Court held that charges paid by a personal training company to a gym for the rental of office space and limited use of the fitness equipment when conducting personal training sessions are not subject to sales tax. The personal training company paid the gym $6,000 per…
By Charles Capouet and Open Weaver Banks
The Alabama Department of Revenue has proposed an amendment to the state’s rental tax regulation. If finalized, the regulation would tax the rental of “digital transmissions,” such as “on-demand” movies, television programs, streaming video, streaming audio and other similar programs, regardless of the method of transmission or the…
A day after issuing its decision in Direct Marketing Ass’n v. Brohl, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Alabama Department of Revenue v. CSX Transportation, Inc. The Court held that a rail carrier can show discrimination under subsection (b)(4) of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 by demonstrating that it is…
Today the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in Direct Marketing Ass’n v. Brohl that the Tax Injunction Act does not bar Direct Marketing Association’s federal lawsuit against Colorado’s sales tax reporting regime. The substantive challenge to the constitutionality of the reporting regime will continue at the Tenth Circuit. Continue reading…
By Evan Hamme and Madison Barnett
The Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR) issued an Excise Tax Advisory (ETA) making clear that Getty Images (Seattle), Inc. v. City of Seattle, 260 P.3d 926, 163 Wash. App. 590 (Wash. Ct. App. 2011), does not represent a major departure from established law in the context of…
By Charles Capouet and Timothy Gustafson
The South Carolina Administrative Law Court found that South Carolina does not source sales of services with a strict cost of performance method. The taxpayer, a broadcasting corporation, provides access to digital television entertainment via satellite dishes across the United States, including South Carolina. On audit, the South Carolina…
By Charles Capouet and Andrew Appleby
The Virginia Supreme Court held that the Arlington County Commissioner must defer to the Virginia Tax Commissioner regarding the methodology for calculating a local Business, Professional, and Occupational Licenses tax (“BPOL”) deduction. Arlington County levies a BPOL tax based on the gross receipts attributed to activities conducted at an…
By Zachary Atkins & Prentiss Willson
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) refused to allow a taxpayer, a financial institution, to assign its loan portfolios based on the location of third-party loan servicing activities for purposes of calculating its financial institution excise tax property factor. The taxpayer earned flow-through interest income through its residual beneficial…
There has been significant controversy in New York regarding whether receipts from services—particularly those that may be delivered via the Internet—constitute “service” receipts or “other business receipts” for corporate franchise tax apportionment purposes. The distinction between “service” receipts and “other business receipts” is crucial because prior to 2015, New York Tax Law generally required sourcing…
By Robert P. Merten III and Open Weaver Banks
The Washington Court of Appeals held that a Honda automobile dealership was subject to state business and occupation (B&O) tax on more than $1 million in “dealer cash” payments the dealership received over a four-year span from manufacturer American Honda as part of an incentive program.
