Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
By Robert P. Merten III and Timothy A. Gustafson
The California State Board of Equalization (BOE) has issued a rare ruling on residency topics, finding in favor of individual taxpayers on two issues. First, the BOE found that the taxpayers established domicile in Washington three months earlier than the Franchise Tax Board claimed, because they…
New Jersey law contains a little-known, one-sentence provision with substantial implications for companies contesting corporate tax assessments in the New Jersey Tax Court: Filing a Tax Court complaint for one tax year causes the statute of limitations period for assessing additional tax for all subsequent open years to remain open—with no defined closing date—for any…
On June 2, 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law conducted a hearing on three state tax bills: the Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act, the Digital Goods and Services Tax Fairness Act, and the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act.
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By Nicole Boutros and Andrew Appleby
In yet another taxpayer victory, the recently reconstituted New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal determined that the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance improperly denied the taxpayers’ amended returns, which were filed on a combined basis for the 2005 and 2006 tax years (i.e., prior to the…
By Olga Jane Goldberg and Open Weaver Banks
A Texas court ruled that natural gas stored in an underground reservoir is subject to property tax, whether or not the gas is in interstate commerce. Without actually deciding whether the natural gas was in interstate commerce, the Houston Court of Appeals (1st District) held that tax…
Illinois enacted a direct placement tax on non-admitted insurance in 2014. However, there is a strong movement in Illinois to repeal or narrow the tax. Tennessee has now legislatively expanded its direct placement tax on non-admitted insurance, falling in line with many other states, including Illinois. Previously, Tennessee imposed a direct placement…
By Michael Penza and Timothy Gustafson
The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) issued an information letter explaining that a trust is taxable in California if any of the following three conditions are met: (1) the trust has income from California sources; (2) a trustee is a resident of California; or (3) a non-contingent beneficiary is…
By Suzanne Palms and Timothy Gustafson
The Vermont Commissioner of Taxes determined that conference bridging and meeting collaboration software services provided to Vermont customers were not subject to sales and use tax. The service provider’s conference bridging service allowed customers to call into a number with an access code to participate in a conference call…
In New Jersey, Governor Christie conditionally vetoed AB939/S1403. The bill, as written, would modify tax expenditure reports produced by the Department of the Treasury during the annual budget process. “Tax expenditures” includes credits such as the film tax credit. Further, the legislation would require additional reports regarding tax expenditures associated with development subsidies primarily…
After nearly a year of planning, the Multistate Tax Commission Executive Committee today approved the Arm’s-Length Adjustment Services Advisory Group Final Program Design. The following six states have agreed to participate in the Program: Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
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