Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
By Evan Hamme and Madison Barnett
The Washington State Department of Revenue (DOR) issued an Excise Tax Advisory (ETA) making clear that Getty Images (Seattle), Inc. v. City of Seattle, 260 P.3d 926, 163 Wash. App. 590 (Wash. Ct. App. 2011), does not represent a major departure from established law in the context of…
Undoubtedly, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, the State Legislature, the Tax Court and the Division of Taxation have their own lists of resolutions for 2015.
However, in their article for State Tax Notes, Sutherland attorneys Leah Robinson and Open Weaver Banks suggest numerous New Year’s resolutions for New Jersey, including publishing an audit manual and…
By Nicole Boutros and Andrew Appleby
The New Jersey Supreme Court held that the New Jersey Division of Taxation improperly exercised its discretion when it refused to waive its imposition of $1.8 million in late payment penalties and tax amnesty penalties. The taxpayers, five subsidiaries of United Parcel Service of America (collectively, UPS), used a…
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The MTC continued its foray into transfer pricing. In a highly anticipated meeting, the MTC engaged with seven economics firms—all of which could potentially offer their services to the MTC—to determine how best to tackle state transfer pricing issues. With a target date of Summer 2015 for implementation of a robust transfer pricing audit program…
On July 28, the Arm’s Length Adjustment Services Advisory Group (Group) of the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) met for the third time at the MTC Annual Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Group began this effort on June 2 and met again on June 25 in furtherance of a Summer 2015 deadline to implement its…
The Multistate Tax Commission plans to announce that they are accelerating their development of a transfer pricing audit program by soliciting the assistance of Dan Bucks, the former MTC Executive Director and Montana Director of Revenue. New Jersey recently asked the MTC to consider hiring transfer pricing auditors to assist in its Joint Audit Program…
By Madison Barnett and Jack Trachtenberg
The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in two consolidated cases that the state’s estimated corporate income tax assessments were invalid because the taxpayers’ sales factors were improperly calculated using an alternative population-based formula rather than the statutory costs of performance (COP) formula. The two taxpayers were out-of-state book publishers…
By David Pope and Timothy Gustafson
The abatement of late payment and tax amnesty penalties was upheld in favor of several United Parcel Services (UPS) subsidiaries by the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division. The taxpayers and their parent company utilized a cash management system designed to ensure that all subsidiaries had access to cash…
In a rare open session, the Multistate Tax Commission’s (MTC) Audit Committee (Committee) met yesterday to discuss changing the way the MTC selects companies to audit on behalf of states. For many taxpayers, the MTC’s process for selecting audit targets is a mystery because it occurs behind closed doors. The current selection process requires states…
