By Charles Capouet and Charlie Kearns
On November 6, 2017, the Minnesota Department of Revenue issued a Revenue Notice advising taxpayers that it acquiesces to the Minnesota Tax Court’s decision in Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. v. Commissioner of Revenue. As a result, the Department now takes the position that Minnesota’s version of the
apportionment
Colorado Court of Appeals Held that Out-of-State Holding Company is Not Included in Combined Report
By Samantha Trencs and Eric Coffill
The Colorado Court of Appeals held that a corporate parent doing business in Colorado was not required to include its subsidiary holding company that held no property or payroll in Colorado or elsewhere in its Colorado unitary combined corporate income tax report. The holding company was not an “includable”…
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…
Indiana DOR: “Equity” Prevents Application of Throwback Rule
By Ted Friedman and Eric Coffill
On August 30, 2017, the Indiana Department of Revenue determined that an out-of-state corporation doing business in Indiana and worldwide was entitled to a reduction of its Indiana sales factor because certain sales in foreign jurisdictions should not have been sourced to Indiana under the state’s “throwback rule.” In…
South Carolina Court of Appeals Sends Taxpayers Clear Signal; Rules DIRECTV Must Source Receipts Based on Satellite Signal Delivery
By Dmitrii Gabrielov and Tim Gustafson
The South Carolina Court of Appeals held that all of DIRECTV’s South Carolina customer subscription receipts were properly sourced to the state for purposes of determining DIRECTV’s corporate income tax apportionment factor due to the location of its satellite signal delivery. South Carolina’s apportionment statute requires a taxpayer to…
Minnesota Tax Court: Net Operating Loss Limitation is Applied Solely on a Pre-Apportioned Basis
By Debra Salvato and Scott Wright
The Minnesota Tax Court recently held that the annual limitation on net operating losses of an acquired corporation is to be applied only once to a taxpayer’s pre-apportioned income. The taxpayer, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., acquired a company with significant losses to which Section 382 limitations applied. The Commissioner…
Colorado DOR Addresses How Affiliated Group with Different Commercial Activities Must Allocate and Apportion Income
By Samantha Trencs and Carley Roberts
In a private letter ruling, the Colorado Department of Revenue stated that an affiliated group of corporations engaged in distinctly different commercial activities requiring different apportionment methodologies under Colorado law could use the allocation and apportionment methodology set forth in two previous private letter rulings (PLR-11-002 and PLR 15-005)…
Minnesota Supreme Court Respects Federal Check-the-Box Election for Minnesota Combined Reporting Purposes
By Samantha Trencs and Jeff Friedman
The Minnesota Supreme Court respected a foreign entity’s federal check-the-box election for the purpose of determining which entities were included in the Minnesota combined franchise tax reports. The court held that including the income and apportionment factors of a foreign entity that elects under federal tax law to be…
Hold the Phone! Answering Your Phone in Washington Might Cost You
By Chelsea Marmor and Open Weaver Banks
The Administrative Review and Hearings Division at the Washington Department of Revenue (the Division) determined that administrative activities qualify as business activities for purposes of applying Washington’s throw-out rule under the Washington business and occupation (B&O) tax. The taxpayer, a single member LLC, performed airplane certifications on aircraft…
Texas Comptroller Finds Payment Risk and Fraud Prevention Solutions Should Be Apportioned as a Service
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts has issued a private letter ruling finding that a Texas company’s revenue from sales of real-time payment risk and fraud prevention services should be sourced to the location of Taxpayer’s customers. In Texas, receipts from a service are sourced to the location where…



