The Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board determined that three licensors of software properly sought refunds (or “abatements”) to apportion sales tax based upon proof of their purchasers’ intent to use the software in multiple locations, including outside of Massachusetts. In doing so, the Board rejected the Commissioner of Revenue’s argument that the taxpayers could apportion sales
apportionment
New Mexico Administrative Hearings Office Approves UPS’s Alternative Apportionment Method
The New Mexico Administrative Hearings Office determined that UPS may depart from the statutory apportionment method for trucking companies, based on mileage driven in the state, because it produces a result that bears no rational relationship to UPS’s New Mexico business activity.
Echoing a 1992 Montana Supreme Court case also involving UPS, the Administrative Hearings…
California – OTA Holds You Can Have All of VAT (in the Sales Factor Denominator)
On October 3, 2019, California’s Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) held that value-added tax (VAT) imposed on the provision of services is included in the sales factor of California’s apportionment formula. The taxpayer, filing on a worldwide unitary basis, included VAT in its sales factor denominator that it billed, and collected, to its customers in…
At Your Service: Premium Finance Companies are Financial Organizations Subject to Illinois’ Special Income Tax Apportionment and Combined Reporting Rules
On June 14, 2019, an Illinois Appellate Court held that a taxpayer’s subsidiaries are financial organizations that were excluded from the taxpayer’s Illinois combined return. During 2006, 2007 and 2008, Illinois excluded from a combined return those affiliates that apply a different apportionment method. (Note that, for taxable years ending on or after December 31,…
New York Disregards Taxpayer’s Reliance on Disregarded Entity Rules
The New York Division of Tax Appeals denied a refund claim to a taxpayer that sought to apply the income sourcing rules for registered broker-dealers to receipts from its separate investment advisory business. The taxpayer structured its broker-dealer operations and investment advisory operations into two separate single-member limited liability companies (LLCs). The taxpayer claimed that…
Indiana Department of Revenue Finds Out-of-State Pharmacy Benefit Management Provider Must Include Income from Drug Sales to Indiana Customers in Sales Factor
In a letter of finding, the Indiana Department of Revenue concluded that a pharmacy benefit management provider was required to include in its sales factor receipts from prescription drugs sold to Indiana customers. The taxpayer contracted with insurance companies, retail pharmacies and drug manufacturers to provide health benefit plans and beneficiaries access to discounted prescription…
Too Bad, So Sad – Virginia Supreme Court Upholds COP Apportionment Despite Subjecting the Taxpayer to Double Taxation
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…
Texas Comptroller: Sales of Fuel Oil to Foreign Ships in Texas Waters Are “Texas Sales” for Apportionment Purposes
The Texas Comptroller determined that a taxpayer was required to include in its sales factor numerator its receipts from sales of bunker fuel oil to foreign ships in Texas ports. The taxpayer argued that the sales were not from “business done” in Texas even though the oil was delivered to ships in Texas ports. The…
New Jersey Tax Court Rejects Division’s Interpretation of Regulation Regarding “Regular Place of Business” and Permits Apportionment
The New Jersey Tax Court ruled that a corporation was entitled to apportion its corporate income based on a “regular place of business” outside of New Jersey. This now-repealed apportionment requirement was the source of several New Jersey Tax Court cases. For tax years beginning before July 1, 2010, N.J. Rev. Stat. § 54:10A-6 provided…
Washington Sources ATM Card Processor’s Receipts to the Location of its Customers’ Business Activities for B&O Tax
The Washington Department of Revenue Appeals Division ruled that for B&O apportionment purposes under the “services and other activities” tax classification, an out-of-state automated teller machine (ATM) card transaction processor’s receipts are properly sourced to the location of its financial institution customers’ ATM transaction activities. The Appeals Division found that location to be the location…



