A Virginia statute gives circuit courts original jurisdiction to hear declaratory judgment actions brought by businesses to challenge another state’s assertion of sales or use tax nexus. Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-184.1. In a case of first impression, on October 9, 2019, a Virginia circuit court granted the Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s motion to dismiss
Virginia
Too Bad, So Sad – Virginia Supreme Court Upholds COP Apportionment Despite Subjecting the Taxpayer to Double Taxation
The Virginia Supreme Court held that the use of the cost-of-performance method to apportion nearly 100% of the taxpayer’s sales of services to Virginia did not violate the U.S. Constitution, even though over 95% of the taxpayer’s customers were located outside of the state – perhaps an expected result for a services company based in…
Virginia Supreme Court Limits Corporate Income Tax Addback Exception
On August 31, 2017, the Virginia Supreme Court issued its opinion in Kohl’s Department Stores, Inc. v. Virginia Department of Taxation, holding that only the portion of royalties that are actually taxed by another state falls within its “subject to tax” exception to Virginia’s addback statute for corporate income tax purposes.
- The Court interpreted
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Because … It’s All in the Cloud: Sales of Cloud-Computing Services Do Not Create Nexus in Virginia
The Virginia Department of Taxation (Department) ruled that a company’s sales of cloud computing services did not create nexus with Virginia for corporate income tax purposes. The Department also said that in applying P.L. 86-272, it uses the same “solicitation” test for both the sales of intangible personal property…
Virginia Supreme Court Holds City’s Consumer Utility Tax Did Not Apply to Natural Gas Consumed by Power Company
By Hanish Patel and Eric Coffill
The Supreme Court of Virginia held that a city could not impose its consumer utility tax on the natural gas consumed by an electric power company solely for the purpose of generating electricity. Virginia localities are authorized to impose the tax on consumers of natural gas provided by a…
Rage Against the Machine: Virginia Court Declares Cable Set-Top Boxes Not Subject to County Property Tax
By Stephen Burroughs and Michele Borens
The Circuit Court of Henrico County, Virginia, recently affirmed a ruling by the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Taxation (Commissioner) that determined a cable provider’s set-top boxes are not “machines” for local property tax purposes and therefore not subject to Henrico County property tax. Virginia statute classifies property…
The Home Stretch: Virginia Tax Commissioner Rules that Single Employee Working From Home Creates Nexus
By Mike Kerman and Open Weaver Banks
The Virginia Tax Commissioner ruled that an out-of-state corporation had nexus with Virginia because an employee performed accounting, human resources, payroll and customer support functions from a home office in Virginia. The Commissioner explained that out-of-state corporations are subject to Virginia corporate income tax if they have sufficient…
Virginia Trial Court’s Addback Decision Surely “Subject to” Future Appeal
By Zack Atkins and Eric Coffill
A Virginia trial court held that royalties paid to related members that are reported to, but not taxed by, other states do not qualify for the exception to the state’s corporate income tax addback statute. In granting summary judgment in favor of the Virginia Department of Taxation, the court…
Virginia Tax Commissioner Rules that Compensation Subject to Virginia Income Tax Withholding Cannot Be Used to Calculate Payroll Factor
By Michael Penza and Timothy Gustafson
The Virginia Tax Commissioner upheld an upward adjustment to a taxpayer’s payroll factor attributing to Virginia all compensation that the taxpayer had reported to the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) for purposes of the state’s unemployment insurance tax. The taxpayer, a Virginia-based contractor providing security services for the United States…
Virginia Supreme Court Holds That State Tax Commissioner’s Interpretation Prevails Over County Commissioner’s Interpretation in BPOL Case
By Charles Capouet and Andrew Appleby
The Virginia Supreme Court held that the Arlington County Commissioner must defer to the Virginia Tax Commissioner regarding the methodology for calculating a local Business, Professional, and Occupational Licenses tax (“BPOL”) deduction. Arlington County levies a BPOL tax based on the gross receipts attributed to activities conducted at an…



