We are pleased to announce that Amy F. Nogid has joined Sutherland’s State and Local Tax (SALT) practice as counsel in New York. Prior to joining Sutherland, Amy was of counsel at Morrison & Foerster LLP.

Amy represents clients in all aspects of state and local taxation matters at the administrative, trial and appellate levels

By Evan Hamme and Timothy Gustafson
A California Superior Court held that passive membership in a limited liability company (LLC) is insufficient to meet California’s statutory “doing business” standard. In Swart Enterprises, Inc. v. California Franchise Tax Board, an Iowa corporation with no business activities or physical presence in California invested in a fund organized

By Ted Friedman and Prentiss Willson

The Texas Comptroller determined that for Texas franchise tax purposes the apportionment factor of an out-of-state taxpayer engaged in the provision of technical training could not be adjusted to account for certain costs incurred in preparing and marketing the training sessions. The training sessions that were sold in Texas

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 Stephen Burroughs and Andrew Appleby

The Tennessee Court of Appeals held that the Commissioner had the authority to require Vodafone, a wireless communications provider, to use an alternative apportionment method for Tennessee franchise and excise tax purposes. Vodafone used Tennessee’s statutory cost-of-performance (COP) method to source its telecommunication service receipts. Using Tennessee’s statutory COP

In their article for State Tax Notes, “Heads They Win, Tails You Lose: New York Decombination and Discretionary Adjustments,” Sutherland attorneys Marc A. Simonetti, Andrew D. Appleby and Sahang-Hee Hahn assert that the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance applies its combined reporting and discretionary authority provisions arbitrarily to maximize its tax