By Elizabeth Cha and Scott Wright

The Texas Court of Appeals held that a seismic data gathering company was entitled to a cost of goods sold (COGS) deduction for costs of labor and materials incurred to acquire and process seismic data for its clients. Pursuant to Tex. Tax Code § 171.1012(i), a taxpayer may include

By Stephanie Do and Timothy Gustafson

The Texas Comptroller has filed a reply supporting its petition for review to the Texas Supreme Court in Titan Transp., LP v. Combs, 433 S.W.3d 625 (Tex. App. 3rd 2014). The taxpayer in Titan was in the business of hauling, delivering and depositing aggregate at construction sites, providing

By Madison Barnett and Timothy Gustafson

In the first appellate decision arising from a Texas Margin Tax audit, the Texas Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the taxpayer, holding that a combined group’s eligibility for the cost of goods sold (COGS) deduction is determined on a group-wide rather than a separate-entity basis. The Comptroller

Companies that provide financing to customers in Texas to purchase and lease equipment may be shocked to learn that their interest expense may not be deductible as a cost of goods sold (“COGS”). In Texas, a “lending institution” that offers loans to the public is authorized to subtract an amount equal to their interest expense as COGS. Tex. Tax Code Ann. § 171.1012(k) . However, it is unclear what the phrase “loans to the public” means.

A recently released Policy Letter Ruling did little to clarify this, and only muddied the waters further regarding what “loans to the public” means when a multi-state financial services company provides loans for the purchase or lease of a related affiliate’s equipment. The ruling denied the deduction of interest expense as a COGS to a wholly-owned finance subsidiary that qualified as a “lending institution” and was engaged in the business of financing heavy construction equipment sold or leased by its parent company to unrelated third-party customers. Tex. Pol. Ltr. Rul. No. 201101133L (Jan. 6, 2011) (released July 2011). A qualifying “lending institution” includes an entity that makes loans and is regulated by a federal regulatory authority, the Texas Department of Banking, Office of Consumer Credit, Credit Union Department, Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending. Tex. Tax Code Ann. § 171.0001(10).Continue Reading “Loan” Star Mishap: Texas Muddies Water on Interest Expense Deduction for “Loans to the Public”