Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
By Hanish Patel and Eric Coffill
The Supreme Court of Virginia held that a city could not impose its consumer utility tax on the natural gas consumed by an electric power company solely for the purpose of generating electricity. Virginia localities are authorized to impose the tax on consumers of natural gas provided by a…
Sutherland SALT releases the second edition of the SALT Scoreboard, a quarterly publication that tracks significant state tax litigation and controversy developments and tallies the results of taxpayer wins and losses across the country. Our quarterly publication features Sutherland’s observations regarding important state tax decisions and will identify trends by issue, state and forum as…
By Nick Kump and Marc Simonetti
The Georgia Department of Revenue (Department) released a letter ruling stating that a taxpayer’s sales of computer software and related services were not subject to sales and use tax. The taxpayer sold bundled packages for a single price that included electronically transferred computer software with corresponding updates and upgrades…
By Alla Raykin and Jonathan Feldman
An administrative law judge (ALJ) held that a taxpayer’s activities in Washington were not selling, soliciting or negotiating insurance in the state, but rather marketing other in-state insurance companies’ products and receiving commissions from those marketing materials. Accordingly, the taxpayer was not eligible for the lower business & occupation…
By Zachary Atkins and Charlie Kearns
The Massachusetts Appeals Court upheld an Appellate Tax Board decision disallowing interest expense on certain intercompany financing transactions because the underlying agreements did not establish an “unqualified obligation to repay.” The taxpayers, subsidiaries of a British utility, entered into a series of complex agreements—deferred subscription agreements—to sell and repurchase…
Even those of us who practice in the state and local tax (SALT) field have been exposed to federal judicial tax doctrines. Many have been applied by state courts in SALT matters and have even been codified by some states. Read about the origins of the following four lesser known doctrines, and learn how these doctrines…
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance issued two advisory opinions determining that surplus lines insurance companies are subject to uncapped insurance franchise tax instead of premium tax.
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By Hanish Patel and Eric Coffill
The Alabama Tax Tribunal held that a taxpayer was entitled to a refund of sales taxes paid on purchases of software that was modified for its exclusive use because it constituted nontaxable custom software. Relying on its regulation, the Alabama Department of Revenue (DOR) denied the refund, stating the…
By Charles Capouet and Todd Lard
The Supreme Court of Texas held that an oil and gas exploration and production company’s purchases of casing, tubing, other well equipment, and associated services were not exempt from sales tax under various processing exemptions. Texas provides multiple exemptions from sales tax for certain tangible personal property related to…
By Douglas Upton and Timothy Gustafson
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance issued an Advisory Opinion concluding that a retail operator of kiosks selling various prepaid telecommunication plans and additional telecommunication rights for existing plans was subject to New York sales and use tax collection and remittance requirements, but was not subject…
