Members of our SALT team are excited to present at COST’s 2025 Spring Conference and Audit Sessions, held in New Orleans, LA from April 28 to May 1. Sessions will cover a wide range of topics, including digital products, transfer pricing, sales tax calculation solutions, and the application of AI and machine learning in state tax, among others.

Sessions and speakers from our team include:

  • Emerging Issues in Administrative Deference – Jonathan Feldman
    This session will explore how much consideration taxpayers should give to various types of administrative guidance from state taxing authorities and how courts’ views of administrative guidance have been shifting in favor of taxpayers in recent years.
  • Transfer Pricing and Intercompany Transactions – Documentation, Documentation, Documentation – Eric Tresh
    This session will explore the essential practices for documenting intercompany transactions from the outset, ensuring records are thorough and accurate to withstand audit scrutiny. It will also cover effective strategies for working with auditors to ensure that documentation is understood and any proposed adjustments align with the facts and applicable laws.
  • Best Practices in Maintaining Your Sales Tax Calculation Solutions – Charlie Kearns
    This session will focus on the importance of regularly reviewing and updating your sales tax calculation solution. 
  • Constitutional Issues – Jeff Friedman
    This session will delve into the constitutional challenges asserted by taxpayers. It will also discuss federal laws that preempt state taxes under the Supremacy Clause.

For more information and to register, visit the COST website. We look forward to seeing you there!

Meet Astro, a charming Basenji who belongs to Amanda Nelson, Senior Manager of Indirect Tax at Salesforce. Astro is three years old and got his name from the lovable and loyal character on the Jetsons. Astro’s unique breed is known for being “barkless” and for its curly, donut-shaped tail, making Astro a quiet and pawsitively handsome companion.

Astro loves to spend his days sunbathing like a cat, soaking up the warmth and enjoying the peacefulness. When he’s not lounging indoors, he and Amanda embark on various hikes and adventures around Seattle.

Another one of Astro’s favorite activities is stealing various items around the house, adding a touch of mischief to his otherwise pawfect demeanor. Whether it’s chasing squirrels or running behind a mountain bike, Astro’s playful nature keeps Amanda on her toes.

Welcome to the SALT Pet of the Month family, Astro!

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 enacted bills that would reduce the personal income tax rate and issue rebates of up to $500 to taxpayers?

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!

An Illinois appellate court held that a PepsiCo, Inc. subsidiary—Frito-Lay North America, Inc. (FLNA)—was not an 80/20 company excluded from PepsiCo’s unitary group. Illinois excludes 80/20 companies for the unitary group, where such companies have over 80% of their payroll and property from outside the United States. After a restructuring, PepsiCo created a single-member LLC as a division of FLNA to serve as a global employment company for expatriate employees. By including the expatriate employees in FLNA’s payroll factor, FLNA had over 80% foreign payroll. However, the court held that expatriate employees do not qualify as common law employees of the disregarded entity. Therefore, the court held that without those expatriate employees, FLNA’s foreign payroll did not exceed the 80% threshold to be an 80/20 company excluded from the unitary group.

PepsiCo, Inc. v. Ill. Dep’t, Nos. 16 TT 82, 17 TT 16, 2025 IL App (1st) 230913-U (Ill. Ct. App. Mar. 19, 2025).

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: Mississippi enacted a bill that would tax what type of beverage at a rate of 15.5%, more than double the state sales tax?

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!

During the 2025 legislative session, the Georgia General Assembly passed several notable tax related bills including further decreasing the income tax rate and extending the time period for taxpayers to protest and appeal the Department of Revenue’s assessments. Additionally, the legislature passed clean-up legislation to clarify procedural elements of the new Georgia Tax Court which will begin operations in 2026. Within 40 days (May 14, 2025), the Governor may sign or veto legislation that the legislature passed. If the Governor does not act, the bills become law.

The Georgia legislative session is two years. While the 2025 legislative session ended on April 4, 2025, bills that were introduced this session may still pass in the second year of the legislative session. A few of the tax bills to watch in 2026 are also described in our alert.

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: In what northeastern state was a bill recently introduced that would repeal the state’s film tax incentives?

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!

In the latest episode of the SALT Shaker Podcast, Eversheds Sutherland Counsel Jeremy Gove and Chelsea Marmor explore a new, concise podcast format that provides updates on recent noteworthy cases.

Jeremy and Chelsea examine a New Hampshire court’s decision in Hologic, Inc. v. Stepp, covering the facts, the court’s holding, the analysis, and the case’s practical implications.

They wrap up the episode with a new segment, asking “either/or” – do you prefer the vernal equinox or autumn equinox?

You can read our summary of Hologic, Inc. v. Stepp here.

For questions or comments, email SALTonline@eversheds-sutherland.com. Subscribe to receive regular updates hosted on the SALT Shaker blog.

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The Supreme Court of Texas ruled that a corporation that owns and operates correctional facilities was not exempt from sales and use taxes as an unincorporated instrumentality of the United States or Texas. The corporation runs private prisons and enters into contracts with federal and state government agencies to house inmates. The Comptroller assessed the corporation for unpaid sales and use tax on supplies necessary to operate the facilities.  The corporation contended that it was a tax-exempt unincorporated instrumentality of the United States and Texas – a type of “governmental entit[y]” – because it performed quintessential government functions.

On appeal, the court concluded that the corporation failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that it was an unincorporated instrumentality of the federal and state governments. First, the corporation did not establish that it was an entity identified by the regulation as exempt. It could not prove that: (1) it is a military entity; (2) its contracts explicitly and unequivocally state that it was an agent of the governments; (3) it is wholly owned by the federal or state government, and (4) its contracts specifically named the corporation as an agent of the United States or Texas. Second, the court determined that the corporation also did not satisfy four of the six required characteristics to qualify as an otherwise exempt government instrumentality. 

GEO Group, Inc. et al. v. Hegar, No. 23-0149 (Tex. Mar. 14, 2025).

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: The House of which midwestern state recently passed a bill that would changed the progressive tax structure with a flat tax structure?

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!