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

We will award prizes for the smartest (and fastest) participants.

This week’s question: A tax court in which state found that a used car dealership was properly denied $1 million in sales tax deductions due to a failure to properly maintain records?

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 posted on Saturday in our SALT Shaker Weekly Digest. Be sure to check back then!

There has been an alarming expansion of local taxes. In some localities, this includes new local taxes imposed on businesses. In other localities, this includes aggressive interpretations of existing local ordinances by local tax agencies.

In this installment of A Pinch of SALT in Tax Notes State, Eversheds Sutherland attorneys Michele Borens, John Ormonde and David Patterson examine a relatively old local tax — San Francisco’s gross receipts tax.

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 prizes for the smartest (and fastest) participants.

This week’s question: Which southwestern state city council recently voted to put a measure on the November ballot asking residents to approve a 3% excise tax on any residential property purchase price in excess of $1 million?

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 posted on Saturday in our SALT Shaker Weekly Digest. Be sure to check back then!

The most purrfect pals, Lady and Monkey, are September’s SALT Pet(s) of the Month! Belonging to Mitch Trager, Senior Tax Manager at Forvis, these sisters make a pawsome duo, especially when teaming up to steal a spot on vacated chairs or in purrsuit of milk and butter, their favorite treats.

Named by Mitch’s oldest son, the two cats are the perfect additions to the Trager family.

Welcome to the SALT Pet of the Month family, Lady and Monkey!

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

We will award prizes for the smartest (and fastest) participants.

This week’s question: The California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, recently held that a citizens’ initiative need only receive what percentage vote to pass?

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 posted on Saturday in our SALT Shaker Weekly Digest. Be sure to check back then!

The Michigan Department of Treasury issued a Revenue Administrative Bulletin (RAB) describing the taxation of computer software and digital products to reflect updated case law and legislation enacted in 2004, which, among other things, defined “tangible personal property” to include “prewritten computer software.” The RAB provides that the “key feature” in determining whether prewritten software is taxable is whether a party exercises a right or power over it, which turns on how it was delivered. For example, if a user merely accesses the software through a third-party server outside of the state, the software is not taxable. Additionally, the RAB provides that the Department will use the “incidental to service” test to determine whether a transaction that includes prewritten software and professional services is taxable. The RAB specifies that digital goods that are not prewritten computer software, like e-books, movies streamed over the internet, or podcasts are not taxable, but noted that applications or video games downloaded or otherwise installed onto electronic devices could constitute prewritten computer software. Finally, the RAB provide how to source sales of prewritten computer software following the repeal a statute that allowed consumers to apportion tax for software through a multiple-points-of-use exemption certificate.

The South Carolina Administrative Law Court (ALC) held that the South Carolina Department of Revenue could require Tractor Supply and its affiliates to file a combined return notwithstanding that South Carolina law requires corporate taxpayers to file tax returns on a separate-entity basis. In a factually intensive ruling, the ALC found that the Department met its burden of proving that the taxpayer’s separate-entity return filings resulted in distortion and that combined reporting was a reasonable alternative method that fairly reflected the combined group’s business activity in the state. In rendering its decision, the ALC noted that the taxpayer’s expert admitted that the taxpayer’s original transfer pricing methodology was “flawed and unreliable” and its proposed alternative transfer pricing approach was not based on sufficient evidence. As a result, the ALC found that the Department was justified, in this circumstance, to exercise its discretion to require the taxpayer’s unitary group to file a combined tax return.  

Tractor Supply Co. v. S.C. Dep’t of Revenue, No. 19-ALJ-17-0416-CC (S.C. Admin. Law Ct., Aug. 8, 2023).    

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

We will award prizes for the smartest (and fastest) participants.

This week’s question: Which state issued an emergency rule-making order regarding administrative rules surrounding sales and use tax and B&O tax for remote sellers?

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 posted on Saturday in our SALT Shaker Weekly Digest. Be sure to check back then!

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

We will award prizes for the smartest (and fastest) participants.

This week’s question: New Mexico recently updated guidance for online marketplace providers and sellers reflecting that out-of-state taxpayers pay gross receipts tax at what new reduced rate?

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 posted on Saturday in our SALT Shaker Weekly Digest. Be sure to check back then!

On August 16, during the National Conference of State Legislatures’ (NCSL) 2023 Indianapolis Legislative Summit, Eversheds Sutherland Partner Charlie Kearns will cover the remote work revolution. He will discuss how the shift away from the office has caused issues for state and local economies, and cover remote work’s impact on commercial property values, public transit and the growing question of how to tax work that crosses state borders.

In addition, also on August 16, Eversheds Sutherland Partner Todd Betor will participate in an industry panel during the Midwestern States Association of Tax Administrators (MSATA) Annual Conference 2023, providing his perspective on hot topics presented by attendees.

Finally, Eversheds Sutherland is a proud sponsor of the Council On State Taxation (COST) 2023 SALT Workshop for Technology Companies, which covers the key SALT issues that technology companies are facing. Held in Foster City, CA from August 16-17, presenters and topics include:

  • Jeff Friedman – Update on States’ Digital Services Tax Initiatives
  • Michele Borens – Conundrums with the States’ Marketplace Facilitator Laws

View and learn more about past and upcoming events and presentations.