The Virginia Supreme Court held that the use of the cost-of-performance method to apportion nearly 100% of the taxpayer’s sales of services to Virginia did not violate the U.S. Constitution, even though over 95% of the taxpayer’s customers were located outside of the state – perhaps an expected result for a services company based in
alternative apportionment
New Jersey Tax Court Rejects Alternative Apportionment Formula
The New Jersey Tax Court rejected the Division of Taxation’s application of a five-factor alternative apportionment formula as invalid rulemaking under New Jersey’s Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The Tax Court previously determined that an application of the statutory apportionment formula in effect prior to 2011 for companies without a “regular place of business” outside New…
New Mexico Administrative Hearings Office Rejects Department’s Attempt to Eliminate Payroll Factor from Apportionment Factor Calculation
The State of New Mexico Administrative Hearings Office held that the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department could not remove the payroll factor from the apportionment factor calculation of a taxpayer in the credit card and personal lending business. The Hearings Office determined that “the party seeking to depart from the proscribed apportionment method,” which,…
Minnesota Supreme Court Upholds Commissioner’s Use of Alternative Apportionment for Financial Institution
The Minnesota Supreme Court held that the state’s standard apportionment method did not fairly reflect the taxpayer’s net income allocable to the state, reversing the Tax Court’s ruling. The taxpayer, a national financial institution, transferred its loan portfolios to two newly formed partnerships. For apportionment purposes, Minnesota requires financial institutions to include loan interest in…
A Pinch of SALT: Maryland’s Alternative Apportionment Violates Internal Consistency
This installment of A Pinch of SALT examines the comptroller of Maryland’s practice of attributing in-state operating companies’ apportionment factors to affiliated out-of-state holding companies. This article posits that this type of attribution violates the internal consistency test reflected in the US Supreme Court’s dormant commerce clause doctrine.
View the full article.
New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal: Assessment of Non-Admitted Alien Insurance Companies Violated Tax Treaty and Foreign Commerce Clause
By Huy “Mike” Le and Andrew Appleby
The New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal (Tribunal) held that the Department’s assessment of two non-admitted German insurance companies violated the United States-Germany Tax Treaty’s anti-discrimination clause and the US Constitution’s Foreign Commerce Clause.
The alien non-admitted non-life insurance companies had no premiums from sources in the United…
A Pinch of SALT: Trends and Developments in Alternative Apportionment of State Income
While alternative apportionment is an important relief mechanism to avoid unjust taxation, it is often used to justify the ad hoc administration of tax. View the latest edition of A Pinch of SALT, by Eversheds Sutherland (US) attorneys Christopher Lutz, Robert Merten and Nicholas Kump, which reports on:
- Recent case law regarding
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US Supreme Court Declines to Review Retroactive State Tax Legislation
By Jeff Friedman and Stephanie Do
Following an unfavorable court decision, state legislatures have been able to effectively reverse a decision by retroactively changing the law. Several taxpayers have challenged the validity of retroactive state tax changes by arguing that the retroactive laws violate the US Constitution’s Due Process Clause, which requires that no state…
Two Bites, Zero Success: South Carolina Court of Appeals Determines Department Did Not Satisfy Its Burden to Justify Alternative Apportionment
By Elizabeth Cha and Timothy Gustafson
On October 26, 2016, the South Carolina Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling and determined the Department of Revenue (Department) failed to satisfy its burden of showing that the statutory apportionment formula did not fairly represent Rent-A-Center West Inc.’s (RAC) business activities in South Carolina. This case…
New Jersey Tax Court Rejects Application of 100% Apportionment Factor But Denies In-State Company’s Bid to Use Three-Factor Formula
By Zachary Atkins and Open Weaver Banks
The New Jersey Tax Court held that apportioning all of a company’s income to New Jersey for corporate business tax purposes, even with the allowance of a credit for taxes paid to separate-return states, failed to fairly reflect the company’s business activities in New Jersey. The court also…