The Eversheds Sutherland SALT team is excited to chair the NYU School of Professional Studies’ Introduction to State and Local Taxation and Intermediate State and Local Taxation programs this year. We hope you and your colleagues join us in July for this valuable opportunity to deepen your SALT knowledge!

Introduction to State and Local Taxation
This foundational program offers a broad-based overview of state and local taxation across the US. Designed for professionals new to SALT or those seeking a refresher, the conference equips attendees with essential knowledge and practical tools to navigate the complexities of multistate tax compliance and planning. It’s an ideal starting point for building a strong understanding of the SALT landscape.

Intermediate State and Local Taxation
Tailored for practitioners with a working knowledge of SALT, this program dives into more complex and nuanced issues that tax professionals regularly encounter. Attendees will explore sophisticated transaction-based tax topics, recent legislative and regulatory developments, and practical strategies for addressing multistate tax challenges. 

We hope to see you there! For more information or to register, click here.

This week, members of the SALT team will present at three major state and local tax events across the country.

TEI Region 2’s 16th Annual Tax Forum

SALT Partner Charlie Kearns will present on key state and local tax developments during TEI Region 2’s 16th Annual Tax Forum, held June 2–3 in Atlantic City. Charlie’s sessions include:

  • What to expect in the current administration
  • Emerging SALT issues

TEI Region 9’s 2025 Conference

SALT Partners Michele Borens and Jeff Friedman will present The When and Where of State Income Taxes during TEI Region 9’s 2025 Conference, held June 3-4 in Vancouver, WA.

Villanova SALT Forum

Finally, Jeff is pleased to join Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law’s Third Annual State and Local Tax (SALT) Forum on June 5. Hosted by the Graduate Tax Program, this year’s forum will answer critical questions about what is apportionable. Jeff will present The One-Legged Stool: Problems with States’ Apportionment Formulas.

Register and find more information here.

Calling all trivia fans! Don’t miss out on a chance to show off your SALT knowledge!

We will award a prize for the smartest (and fastest) participant.

This week’s question: Which state’s legislature recently passed a bill that would transition to the market-based sourcing of sales under its three-factor apportionment formula?

E-mail your response to SALTonline@eversheds-sutherland.com.

The prize for the first response to today’s question is a $25 UBER Eats gift card. This week’s answer will be included in our SALT Shaker Weekly Digest, distributed on Saturday. Be sure to check back then!

The Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board (ATB) found that an out-of-state footwear company qualified as a “manufacturing corporation” for purposes of the state corporate excise (income) tax despite outsourcing the manufacturing of its shoes to third parties. The consequence of the “manufacturing corporation” classification was that the taxpayer had to use a single-sales factor apportionment formula rather than a three-factor apportionment formula, comprised of payroll, property, and sales. See G.L. c. 63, § 38(l)(2).

The ABT concluded that the taxpayer was a “manufacturing corporation” because it engaged in manufacturing “in substantial part.”  See G.L. c. 63, § 38(l)(1). Specifically, the taxpayer designed, developed, and oversaw the production of its footwear. The company created detailed design specifications and prototypes, which were then manufactured by third-party factories. Employees of the taxpayer were also involved in various stages of the production process, including quality assurance and fit testing.

For tax years beginning on and after January 1, 2025, all corporations with income from business activity both within and without Massachusetts are required to use a single-factor formula based on sales. See St. 2023, c. 50, § 31. Taxpayers with significant payroll and property in Massachusetts, which outsource but are involved in the manufacturing of their products, should consider whether they too qualified as “manufacturing corporation,” required to use the single sales factor formula, for prior years.

Skechers USA, Inc. v. Commissioner of Revenue, No. C344671, 2025 WL 1460059 (May 5, 2025).

On May 20, 2025, the last day for bill signing, Washington Governor Ferguson signed two key tax bills that expand the sales tax to include additional services and increase the rates of the (awful) business and occupation (B&O) tax. Some of these increases are targeted at certain industries and will incite litigation. A projected budget deficit of approximately $15 billion over the next four years led to these tax increases.  

Read the full Legal Alert here.

Calling all trivia fans! Don’t miss out on a chance to show off your SALT knowledge!

We will award a prize for the smartest (and fastest) participant.

This week’s question: Which state recently determined that a taxpayer outsourcing production to a “third-party manufacturer” was “engaged in manufacturing,” thereby subject to single-sales factor apportionment under the state’s corporate income tax rules?

E-mail your response to SALTonline@eversheds-sutherland.com.

The prize for the first response to today’s question is a $25 UBER Eats gift card. This week’s answer will be included in our SALT Shaker Weekly Digest, distributed on Saturday. Be sure to check back then!

Our SALT team is excited to participate in several key events this week, covering everything from state income tax adjustments to sales tax concepts.

Here’s where you can find members of our team.

COST’s 2025 Intermediate/Advanced State Income Tax School

While most states start their taxable income computation with some reference to federal taxable income, every state requires adjustments. SALT Counsel Jeremy Gove and Laurin McDonald will explore the advanced nuances of state adjustments during COST’s 2025 Intermediate/Advanced State Income Tax School in Dallas, TX.

COST’s 2025 Intermediate/Advanced Sales & Use Tax School

SALT Partner Jonathan Feldman will present “Manufacturing and Construction Sales Tax Concepts” at COST’s 2025 Intermediate/Advanced Sales & Use Tax School. His session will guide attendees through the differences in how states define “manufacturing” and what is considered taxable under a “construction contract.”

TEI Region 10’s 2025 Tax Conference

SALT Partners Michele Borens, Jeff Friedman, and Tim Gustafson will present the latest developments in apportionment and federal/state conformity issues during TEI Region 10’s 2025 Tax Conference, held in Dana Point, CA.

TEI CTO Webcast

Finally, SALT Partner Jeff Friedman will participate in a TEI CTO webcast tailored for executive leaders navigating the SALT landscape.

For decades, the sales factor has been a primary focus of state and local tax articles and a hot topic of discussion at conferences across the country, and the attention is well deserved. There has been no shortage of impactful legislative changes, interesting administrative rulings, and significant (and at times frustrating) judicial decisions regarding the sales factor. Most coverage, however, is devoted to the sales factor numerator.

But the sales factor denominator should not be overlooked. In this installment of “A Pinch of SALT” published in Tax Notes State, Eversheds Sutherland attorneys Ted Friedman, John Ormonde and Daniel Hopper suggest that there is a renewed focus on the denominator, in part driven by changes made under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Read the full article here.

Calling all trivia fans! Don’t miss out on a chance to show off your SALT knowledge!

We will award a prize for the smartest (and fastest) participant.

This week’s question: Which state recently passed a bill that raised the transient accommodations tax (i.e., hotel tax) from 10.25% to 11%?

E-mail your response to SALTonline@eversheds-sutherland.com.

The prize for the first response to today’s question is a $25 UBER Eats gift card. This week’s answer will be included in our SALT Shaker Weekly Digest, distributed on Saturday. Be sure to check back then!

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee released its draft reconciliation bill. This bill, which will go through markup today, includes the “Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology Modernization Initiative.” The Committee proposes a 10-year moratorium on states and political subdivisions “enforc[ing] any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems.”

While the term “regulating” is not defined, an exception within the provision implies the proposal will limit state and local taxation of AI unless the tax is “imposed in the same manner on models and systems, other than [AI], that provide comparable functions to [AI].” This prohibition is similar to the Internet Tax Freedom Act’s ban on “discriminatory taxes” (which is defined differently).

We will continue to monitor the proposed bill.