By Zachary Atkins and Timothy Gustafson
The New Jersey Tax Court held that a mobile telecommunications service provider was not required to reimburse its customers before seeking a $32 million refund of erroneously collected sales tax. As part of a federal court-approved 2010 settlement agreement involving AT&T Mobility and its subsidiaries and affiliates, New
Noteworthy Cases
New York Issues Technical Memorandum Explaining Sales and Use Tax Resale Exclusion for Cable and Satellite Providers After Echostar Case
By Maria Todorova and Andrew Appleby
In a Technical Memorandum, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance explained the impact of the holding in Echostar, which addressed the New York sales and use tax resale exclusion for certain purchases made by satellite and cable television service providers. In Echostar, the…
South Carolina Seeks to Clarify Use of Alternative Apportionment and Combined Reporting
By Zachary Atkins and Prentiss Willson
The South Carolina Department of Revenue issued a draft revenue ruling that purports to clarify the use of alternative apportionment and combined reporting for corporate income tax purposes. Citing Carmax Auto Superstores West Coast, Inc. v. South Carolina Dep’t of Revenue, 397 S.C. 604, 725 S.E.2d 711 (Ct.…
The Check is in the Mail: Billing and Collection Services Not Subject to Ohio Sales and Use Tax
By Kathryn Pittman and Andrew Appleby
The Ohio Tax Commissioner determined that billing and collection services were nontaxable debt collection services rather than taxable automatic data processing services. The taxpayer provided a variety of billing and collection services to physicians, health care practitioners and other medical personnel. These services included billing patients and performing collection-related…
Don’t Pack the Sales Tax: Missouri Rules Moving Boxes Not Taxable
By Ted Friedman and Timothy Gustafson
The Missouri Department of Revenue determined that clients of a moving company were not subject to sales tax on boxes provided by the company and used to move the clients’ belongings. As part of the company’s moving services, it provided boxes for clients to pack their belongings. Any boxes…
Surprising Determination: Florida Breaks Tradition and Allows Taxpayer to Discontinue Consolidated Filings
By Suzanne Palms and Pilar Mata
The Florida Department of Revenue determined that sufficient reasonable cause had been established to allow a taxpayer to discontinue filing a consolidated Florida corporate income tax return because the taxpayer had experienced “substantial growth.” The Department noted that the taxpayer’s employees, assets and income had increased, and the taxpayer…
Court Holds Comcast Did Not Establish Unitary Relationship with QVC
Today the Los Angeles Superior Court held that Comcast did not establish a unitary relationship with its 57% owned subsidiary, QVC. The court found for Comcast and held that the evidence presented at trial demonstrated that none of the unitary tests were satisfied. Finally, the court found for the state and held that Comcast’s receipt…
S&P Credit Ratings Business an “Other Business Receipt,” Allowed to Source Receipts Based on Audience
By Todd Betor and Andrew Appleby
The Chief Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) of the New York City Tax Appeals Tribunal ruled that The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., may source its receipts from Standard & Poor’s (S&P) public credit rating business using an audience-based method. The ALJ first determined that S&P’s ratings receipts are “other business receipts&rdquo…
New York Appellate Court Affirms Trial Court Ruling in Sprint False Claims Act Suit
By Zachary Atkins and Andrew Appleby
The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, affirmed a 2013 trial court ruling denying Sprint Nextel Corporation’s motion to dismiss the attorney general’s False Claims Act complaint. In a slip opinion, the Appellate Division concluded that N.Y. Tax Law § 1105(b)(2), which the state attorney general contends imposes tax…
Sutherland SALT Shaker: February 2014 Digest
Click here to read our February 2014 posts or read each article by clicking on the title. A printable PDF is also available here. To read our commentary on the latest state and local tax developments as they are published, be sure to download the Sutherland SALT Shaker mobile app.
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