Policy and Legislation

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Closing out a process that began nearly nine years ago, the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) recently submitted proposed amendments to its market sourcing regulation, California Code of Regulations, title 18, section 25136-2, to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for final approval. The version submitted to OAL includes the same simplifying presumptions for sourcing…

Yesterday, the Comptroller of Maryland issued Technical Bulletin No. 59, laying out its position on the Digital Advertising Gross Revenues (ominously abbreviated as “DAGR”) tax base. As the DAGR took effect in January 2022, this guidance is not exactly timely. 

Much of Bulletin No. 59 is devoted to the Comptroller’s view of taxability. A…

On May 20, 2025, the last day for bill signing, Washington Governor Ferguson signed two key tax bills that expand the sales tax to include additional services and increase the rates of the (awful) business and occupation (B&O) tax. Some of these increases are targeted at certain industries and will incite litigation. A projected budget…

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee released its draft reconciliation bill. This bill, which will go through markup today, includes the “Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology Modernization Initiative.” The Committee proposes a 10-year moratorium on states and political subdivisions “enforc[ing] any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial…

During the 2025 legislative session, the Georgia General Assembly passed several notable tax related bills including further decreasing the income tax rate and extending the time period for taxpayers to protest and appeal the Department of Revenue’s assessments. Additionally, the legislature passed clean-up legislation to clarify procedural elements of the new Georgia Tax Court which…

Maryland is facing a $3 billion budget gap and is considering a host of tax hikes. On March 24, 2025, the Maryland House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations amended the state’s budget bill, House Bill 352 (cross-filed with Senate Bill 321) to include, among other things, a proposal to expand the sales and use tax…

The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) has proposed amendments to its regulations that govern how sales of services and intangibles are sourced for income tax purposes. The changes to this income tax apportionment regulation will apply to nearly every corporation that pays California tax. Comments regarding these proposed changes are due no later than February…

In his draft budget plan for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 released on January 10, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed to bring financial institutions in line with most other corporate taxpayers when it comes to apportioning multistate income. Banks and “financial corporations” currently use a three-factor apportionment formula consisting of property, payroll and sales to apportion…

On November 5, voters cast their ballots to determine who would fill a variety of federal, state, and local offices. Several states also considered tax related ballot initiatives. We describe some of the more significant ballot initiatives and their results.

Sales Tax

There were a few states with ballot initiatives that would exempt items from…