Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
By Jessica Kerner and Madison Barnett
Colorado determined in two private letter rulings that a number of electronic messaging services are not subject to Colorado sales or use tax as a telephone or telegraph service or any other taxable service. The Company, which is not a regulated provider of telecommunications services, provides various messaging services…
By Stephanie Do and Andrew Appleby
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue addressed the possible expiration and subsequent retroactive enactment of the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA). The Department advised Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to continue to rely on Technical Information Release (TIR) No. 05-8 (July 14, 2005), until further notice, to determine the taxability…
On July 15, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of H.R. 3086, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act (PITFA), by a voice vote. PITFA would permanently extend the moratorium on state and local taxation of Internet access and “multiple” or “discriminatory” taxes on electronic commerce.
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By Saabir Kapoor and Timothy Gustafson
The California Court of Appeal, in affirming summary judgment in favor of the City of Los Angeles, concluded that the taxpayer, j2 Global Communications, Inc., did not produce evidence to demonstrate that its purchase of telecommunications services was exempt from the City’s communication users tax (CUT) under the Internet…
In City of Eugene v. Comcast of Oregon II, Inc., Case No. 16-08-03280, the Oregon Circuit Court reversed its earlier ruling that the City of Eugene’s registration and license fees imposed on cable Internet access services are preempted by the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA), and that the fees violated the Uniformity Clause of the Oregon Constitution.
This case arose when the City of Eugene filed an action to collect a registration fee and license fee imposed under City Ordinance 20083 from a cable Internet access provider. The registration fee requires each entity engaging in telecommunications activities to register and pay a 2% annual fee on gross revenues derived from providing telecommunications services within the City’s public rights of way. The license fee requires each entity using the City’s right-of-way to provide telecommunications services to pay a license fee of 7% of its gross revenues derived from providing telecommunications services in the city. In an earlier ruling, the Court found that cable modem services (Internet access services delivered using a cable modem) were subject to both the registration fee and the license fee. Upon reconsideration, the Court determined cable modem service was not a telecommunications service under the Ordinance.…
