On October 26, Oregon’s Department of Revenue (DOR) filed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Oregon Administrative Rules 150-314-0465 (broadcaster sourcing) and 150-317-0510 (unitary common ownership threshold). The DOR’s stated need for the proposed amendments were to: (1) clarify that an interstate broadcaster must compute their audience/subscriber ratio using the DOR’s market-based sourcing rule, and
Oregon Decision and Texas Letter Ruling
In this episode we discuss two recent developments, including an Oregon decision concerning sales tax on vehicles (EAN Holdings, LLC v Oregon Department of Revenue) and a Texas letter ruling dealing with software as a service and data processing (Texas Private Letter Ruling No. PLR 20180724152951).
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Oregon’s Taxation of Railroad’s Intangible Personal Property is Derailed by the 4-R Act
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a rail carrier’s authority to challenge the Oregon Department of Revenue’s taxation of its “accounting goodwill” pursuant to the federal Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act, commonly referred to as the 4-R Act.
Oregon imposes tax on real and tangible personal property located in the
Keep the Change – Oregon Federal Court Partially Denies Motion to Dismiss Bottle Deposit Class Action
On June 12, 2020, a federal court partially denied Kroger Co.’s motion to dismiss a putative class action complaint regarding Oregon’s bottle deposit on beverages. The complaint alleged that Kroger had misrepresented the cost of certain beverages by charging a ten-cent bottle deposit for beverages that were exempt from the bottle deposit and failing to
Birds of a Feather Must Flock Together: Oregon Tax Court Holds that Airlines in a Unitary Group Must Aggregate Departure Data
On February 28, 2020, the Oregon Tax Court held that multiple airlines operating as a unitary business should aggregate not only transportation revenue but also other metrics, such as departure ratios, that are factored into the apportionment formula used by Oregon for airline taxpayers. Oregon regulations provide a modified single sales factor apportionment rule for
Oregon Tax Court Holds E911 Tax on VoIP Provider Does Not Violate U.S. Constitution
On March 2, 2020, the Oregon Tax Court held that the application of the state’s E911 Tax to a provider of interconnected VoIP services (“Taxpayer”) did not violate the Due Process and Commerce Clauses of the U.S. Constitution. The E911 Tax is imposed on each person with access to Oregon’s emergency communications system, whether through
Level Up: Oregon Tax Court Increases Value of Telecommunications Company Property’s Real Market Value
On October 25, 2019, the Oregon Tax Court upheld the Department of Revenue’s proposed increase in the real market value of Level 3’s centrally assessed property. Level 3 operated an optical fiber network and provided various communication services. It argued that the Oregon Department of Revenue should not have included in its “unit” certain “investment
More Than Smoke: Oregon Tax Court Holds Cigarette Manufacturer’s In-State Activities Exceeded P.L. 86-272
On February 26, 2019, the Oregon Tax Court held that an out-of-state cigarette manufacturer’s in-state activities violated Public Law 86-272, resulting in the manufacturer being subject to Oregon’s corporation excise tax. P.L. 86-272 prohibits any state from imposing a net income tax on out-of-state taxpayers that generally limit their in-state business activities to solicitation. The
Oregon Imposes 911 Tax on Out-of-State Retailer with No Physical Presence
The Oregon Tax Court held that the state was not constitutionally prohibited from imposing its statewide 911 tax on an out-of-state VOIP service provider with no physical presence in the state. The court held that the 911 tax was not a sales or use tax because it was not measured by sales price (rather it
Oregon Deems Amendments to Statutory State Apportionment Formulas to Be Constitutional
In another of the so-called “Compact” cases, the Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Oregon Tax Court and held that: (1) the 1967 Oregon Legislature, in enacting Oregon Statute Section 305.655, did not clearly and unmistakably intend for Oregon to enter into a binding contract that would bind the states under the Oregon