On September 16, 2017, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 131, a budget trailer bill clarifying a number of provisions related to the roles of California’s two new tax agencies, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) and the Office of Tax Appeals (OTA), which were created to perform many of the
income tax
North Carolina Supreme Court Determines that Bank’s Market Discount Income Is Not Deductible as Interest
By Liz Cha and Open Weaver Banks
The North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed the North Carolina Business Court’s decision that Fidelity Bank was precluded from deducting “market discount income” from US bonds for North Carolina corporate income tax purposes. Fidelity Bank acquired US government bonds at a discount, held these bonds until maturity, and earned…
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…
Congress Holds Hearing on Legislation to Limit State Taxation
On July 25, 2017, the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law conducted a hearing on “No Regulation Without Representation: HR 2887 and the Growing Problem of States Regulating Beyond Their Borders.” This hearing was important for several reasons:
- State tax nexus legislation has been one of the
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Georgia Senate Special Tax Exemption Study Committee Holds First Meeting
The Georgia Senate Special Tax Exemption Study Committee held its initial meeting to plan evaluation of Georgia income and sales tax exemptions by December 1, 2017.
- The special study committee was created by a Georgia Senate Resolution during the 2017 Legislative Session.
- The Committee will prioritize exemptions to evaluate, and then recommend whether to continue,
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A Pinch of SALT: Trends and Developments in Alternative Apportionment of State Income
While alternative apportionment is an important relief mechanism to avoid unjust taxation, it is often used to justify the ad hoc administration of tax. View the latest edition of A Pinch of SALT, by Eversheds Sutherland (US) attorneys Christopher Lutz, Robert Merten and Nicholas Kump, which reports on:
- Recent case law regarding
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Arkansas Does Not Apply US-Canada Income Tax Treaty to State Income Tax
By Madison Barnett and Stephanie Do
Many foreign companies are surprised to learn that US states are not generally bound by income tax treaties entered into by the US with foreign countries. Under these treaties, for US federal income tax purposes, certain non-US corporations and residents of foreign countries may be exempt from tax or…
Arizona DOR Determines That Taxpayer’s Software Services Are Not Subject to Transaction Privilege Tax
By Open Weaver Banks and Liz Cha
The Arizona Department of Revenue (Department) issued a taxpayer information ruling stating that a taxpayer’s gross income from transactions provided through the use of computer software is not subject to tax under the personal property rental classification for Arizona Transaction Privilege Tax purposes.
The taxpayer’s software provides its…
Maybe Next Season? Georgia Tax Bills Collapse in Last Day of Session
The Georgia General Assembly passed significant tax legislation impacting selected industries, but failed to pass a number of broader tax bills:
- Passed legislation impacts telecommunications, film production and music production companies and causes the review of all income and sales and use tax exemptions.
- Stalled legislation included the reduction of the individual income tax rate,
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