On April 6, the Third District California Court of Appeal decided Morning Star Packing Company v. California Air Resources Board, which challenged the state’s cap-and-trade auction process as an unconstitutional tax. View this latest edition of A Pinch of SALT, by Eversheds Sutherland (US) attorneys Eric Coffill and Robert Merten, which discusses:
Two Eversheds Sutherland Attorneys Named 2017 Northern California Super Lawyers
SACRAMENTO—Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP is pleased to announce that state and local tax (SALT) attorneys Carley A. Roberts and Eric J. Coffill were selected as top Northern California attorneys by Super Lawyers. The designations are the result of an annual survey conducted by the publication, which focuses on professional achievement and peer recognition.
View the
California Legislature Passes Bill That Creates Two New Tax Agencies and Reduces the Board of Equalization’s Powers
On June 15, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 102, the Taxpayer Transparency and Fairness Act of 2017, which divests the California State Board of Equalization (BOE) of several key functions and creates two new government agencies—the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and the Office of Tax Appeals—to perform many of the BOE’s
California Legislative Committee Holds Informational Hearing on Lucent and Administering California’s Technology Transfer Agreement Law
On January 30, 2017, the California Legislature Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation held an informational hearing on “Life after Lucent: Administering California’s Technology Transfer Agreement Law.” The California State Board of Equalization and the Board’s staff are currently wrestling with the meaning of the Technology Transfer Act provisions in sections 6011 and 6012
FTB to Pay Interest on Corporate Tax Refunds
By Eric Coffill
FTB announced that it will pay 1% interest on corporation tax overpayments for the period July 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017. Previously, the last time FTB paid interest on corporation tax overpayments (i.e., refunds) was for the period ending June 30, 2009 (for which the interest rate on overpayments was 2%).
Harley Hits Another Trial Court Road Bump–California Superior Court Upholds FTB’s Different Combined Reporting Treatment of Interstate and Intrastate Companies
By Robert Merten and Madison Barnett
The San Diego County Superior Court determined that California’s combined filing regime—which requires interstate taxpayers to use combined reporting but permits intrastate taxpayers to choose between combined or separate reporting—does not violate the US Constitution’s Commerce Clause. The court acknowledged that (1) the interstate and intrastate unitary businesses were
California Court of Appeal Holds Doing Business ≠ Any Activity Engaged In for Pecuniary Gain
On January 12, 2017, the California Court of Appeal held in a published opinion that a taxpayer passively holding a 0.2 percent interest in a California-based limited liability company (CA LLC) was not “doing business” in the state for purposes of being subject to California’s franchise tax. The court reasoned as follows:
- Under California Revenue
California Appeal Court Upholds $2.8 Million Refund for Comcast on Unitary Business Issue
By Chelsea Marmor and Madison Barnett
The California Court of Appeal upheld Comcast’s $2.8 million franchise tax refund. The court determined that: (1) Comcast and its subsidiary QVC were not unitary, such that QVC was properly excluded from Comcast’s combined group, and (2) a termination fee Comcast received from a failed merger constitutes apportionable business
More Taxes Coming in Oregon?
By Eric Coffill
New Oregon Gross Receipts Tax Proposal. On December 14, 2016, the group behind Measure 97 (which was defeated at the November 2016 general election), released a booklet setting forth its 2017 legislative proposals. The document includes the basic structure for a new “$100 Million Business Tax” “and is “calling on the Legislature
Sutherland Partner Carley Roberts Recognized as One of Tax Analysts’ 2016 Outstanding Women in Tax
Sutherland is pleased to announce that Partner Carley A. Roberts has been recognized as one of the “Outstanding Women in Tax” by Tax Analysts, a leading publisher of tax news and analysis.
A group of Tax Analysts editors, reporters and board members reviewed more than 300 submissions, of which only 10 women were honored for