Shaking things up in state and local tax
Shaking things up in state and local tax
By Stephen Burroughs and Tim Gustafson
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court denied a freight company’s Commerce Clause challenge to the application of an unapportioned use tax on its vehicles purchased out-of-state but used in Massachusetts. The company used its trucks to deliver freight in multiple states, but the court upheld taxation of the vehicles’ full…
By Olga Goldberg and Leah Robinson
The West Virginia Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) ruled in favor of a rail transportation company subject to use tax on fuel used in West Virginia because the West Virginia State Tax Department (Department) incorrectly applied the credit against use tax for sales tax paid to “another state.” First…
By Jonathan Feldman and Stephen Burroughs
A mere 28 days after oral argument, a three-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a Court of Claims decision that sanctioned the Michigan Legislature’s retroactive withdrawal from the Multistate Tax Compact in 2014 PA 282, by ruling for the Michigan Department of Treasury in the…
By Charles Capouet and Timothy Gustafson
The Supreme Court of Missouri denied a Missouri corporation’s sales tax refund claims on its sales of trade show displays shipped to out-of-state customers because it did not prove that the title to the goods transferred outside of Missouri. Missouri exempts from sales tax retail sales made in interstate…
By Michael Penza and Andrew Appleby
The California Court of Appeal held that California’s disparate treatment of intrastate and interstate unitary businesses discriminated against interstate commerce. California requires taxpayers engaged in a unitary business within and without California to calculate their taxable income using combined reporting, but provides taxpayers engaged in a unitary business wholly…
By Evan M. Hamme and Open Weaver Banks
The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance released an advisory opinion explaining how it will treat drop shipment facilitation services for sales and use tax purposes. The petitioner uses proprietary software to create an Internet-based “hub” through which a web-based merchant orders products from a…
By Olga Jane Goldberg and Open Weaver Banks
A Texas court ruled that natural gas stored in an underground reservoir is subject to property tax, whether or not the gas is in interstate commerce. Without actually deciding whether the natural gas was in interstate commerce, the Houston Court of Appeals (1st District) held that tax…
By Charles Capouet and Timothy Gustafson
The Mississippi Chancery Court held that the state’s dividend exclusion statute is unconstitutional because it violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The statute excludes from a taxpayer’s gross income intercompany dividends received from domestic affiliates doing business and filing income tax returns in Mississippi. In so doing,…
By Zachary Atkins & Prentiss Willson
A California Court of Appeal held that a taxpayer who brought a successful facial challenge against a state taxing scheme met all of the requirements for an award of attorney fees and that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to award the fees. The taxpayer, an individual,…
By Kathryn Pittman and Timothy Gustafson
The Oklahoma Supreme Court held Oklahoma’s deduction for capital gains arising from the sale of a company headquartered in the state for three or more years does not violate the dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. The taxpayer, a California company with its headquarters in Florida, sold…
