Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
By Chelsea Marmor and Charlie Kearns
The Alabama Tax Tribunal (Tribunal) affirmed the Alabama Department of Revenue’s (DOR) assessment that denied Credit Suisse Boston USA Inc.’s (Credit Suisse) deduction for interest expense paid to a related member. Credit Suisse argued that the interest expense payments were exempt from Alabama’s addback requirement because the expense to…
By Nicole Boutros and Eric Coffill
The Alabama Tax Tribunal held that a taxpayer banking corporation properly deducted dividends received from an affiliated real estate investment trust (REIT) for financial institution excise tax purposes because the REIT qualified as a “corporation.” The Tribunal rejected the Department of Revenue’s assertion that the REIT was not a…
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 Zack Atkins and Eric Coffill
The Alabama Tax Tribunal concluded that an out-of-state retailer was required to collect and remit use tax on the sales of books and educational materials to in-state teachers and students, and that neither the Due Process Clause nor the Commerce Clause impeded the Alabama Department of Revenue’s authority to…
By Chris Mehrmann and Scott Wright
The Alabama Tax Tribunal invalidated a regulation requiring a direct pay permit holder, Tyson Chicken, Inc. (Tyson), to purchase all items tax-free, finding that the regulation was both unreasonable and unduly burdensome. Although Tyson purchased most items tax-free using its direct pay permit, Tyson employees used corporate credit or…
By Stephanie Do and Carley Roberts
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed dismissal of a taxpayer’s complaint, arising from the Alabama Department of Revenue’s assessment and collection of state income tax, for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under the Tax Injunction Act (TIA). The court held that the TIA prohibited…
By Jessica Eisenmenger and Leah Robinson
The Alabama Tax Tribunal ruled that freight charges paid by the seller but passed through on an invoice to the customer are not subject to sales tax. Alabama law exempts shipping and freight charges “paid by the purchaser” from sales tax. Chief Tax Tribunal Judge Bill Thompson ruled that such…
The Multistate Tax Commission advanced several items of interest during its annual fall meetings held in Charleston, South Carolina, this week, including the creation of a new committee to continue gathering support for its transfer pricing program.
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By Charles Capouet and Open Weaver Banks
The Alabama Department of Revenue has proposed an amendment to the state’s rental tax regulation. If finalized, the regulation would tax the rental of “digital transmissions,” such as “on-demand” movies, television programs, streaming video, streaming audio and other similar programs, regardless of the method of transmission or the…
A day after issuing its decision in Direct Marketing Ass’n v. Brohl, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Alabama Department of Revenue v. CSX Transportation, Inc. The Court held that a rail carrier can show discrimination under subsection (b)(4) of the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 by demonstrating that it is…
