Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
On May 14, 2018, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed into law H.B 1316 (the Bill). The Bill provides a number of changes to Indiana’s tax laws, including responding to provisions of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Some notable provisions of the Bill include:
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By Ted Friedman and Eric Coffill
On August 30, 2017, the Indiana Department of Revenue determined that an out-of-state corporation doing business in Indiana and worldwide was entitled to a reduction of its Indiana sales factor because certain sales in foreign jurisdictions should not have been sourced to Indiana under the state’s “throwback rule.” In…
By Maria Todorova and Chris Beaudro
Effective July 1, 2017, Indiana has added an economic nexus provision to its sales tax law. Indiana Code Section 6-2.5-2-1 has been amended to provide that a retail merchant with no physical presence in Indiana must collect sales tax on its sales made into the state if the retail…
By Dmitrii Gabrielov and Jonathan Feldman
An Indiana federal court remanded a lawsuit brought under the Indiana False Claims and Whistleblower Protection Act (False Claims Act) back to Indiana state court. The relator, Michael Harmeyer, alleges that Kroger and affiliates violated the False Claims Act by failing to collect sales tax on various items at…
By Nick Kump and Carley Roberts
The Indiana Tax Court held that the plain language of Indiana’s utility receipts tax (URT) does not require taxpayers to separately state taxable and nontaxable receipts on their returns. The URT provides that nontaxable receipts are taxable if such “receipts are not separated from the taxable receipts on the…
By Stephen Burroughs and Jonathan Feldman
The Indiana Tax Court granted summary judgment to Columbia Sportswear USA Corp., (“Columbia”), determining that: (1) Indiana’s alternative apportionment statute did not permit the Department to equitably adjust Columbia’s tax base; and (2) Indiana’s standard sourcing rules clearly reflected Columbia’s Indiana source income because transfer pricing studies supported Columbia’s…
By Stephen Burroughs and Charlie Kearns
The Indiana Department of Revenue (Department) concluded that a company’s employment screening and background checking services are not subject to sales tax. The company in this matter receives requests from customers seeking to verify the background, employment history or education of a potential employee or tenant. The company then…
By Mike Kerman and Charlie Kearns
The Indiana Department of Revenue (Department) found that a medical research company that purchased software licenses was entitled to an exemption from use tax for purchases of taxable computer software as long as it could show the licenses were ultimately used outside of Indiana. The Department added that an…
By Mike Kerman and Madison Barnett
The Indiana Tax Court granted summary judgment to Rent-A-Center East, Inc. (RAC), finding that the Department of Revenue’s determination that RAC and two affiliates should have filed a combined return was improper. This case was on remand from a prior Indiana Supreme Court ruling (please see our prior coverage…
By Charles C. Capouet and Madison J. Barnett
The Indiana Department of Revenue determined that a taxpayer’s sales of merchandise return-related services to retailers are not subject to Indiana sales and use tax. The Department addressed the taxability of three services: (1) the Merchandise Authorization Service (MAS), which utilizes the taxpayer’s proprietary database and risk-scoring…
