On Memorial Day, and stretching into the early hours of June 1, the Illinois Legislature approved the state’s $42 billion budget for fiscal year 2022. It is anticipated that the budget’s tax provisions are expected to generate more than $600 million in additional revenue by addressing what governor J.B. Pritzker and others in the General
Tax Reform
Georgia Governor Signs Taxpayer Fairness Act Limiting Administrative Deference in Georgia Tax Controversies
On April 29, 2021, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed SB 185, limiting the application of administrative deference in Georgia tax controversies. This law seeks to level the playing field in state tax litigation matters by reducing the level of deference accorded to the Department of Revenue’s interpretations of ambiguous laws. The law provides that…
Tax on Broadband Service Providers is New York’s Newest Bad Idea
Companion bills recently introduced in New York State (A. 11180 and S. 9112) would impose a temporary tax on businesses that provide broadband internet access service. Revenues generated from the tax would be earmarked to fund the provision of broadband internet access services to students in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.…
Something to Keep an Eye On: Texas Comptroller Says Web-Based Services for Eye Doctors Is Taxable Data Processing
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts issued a private letter ruling concluding that several services provided to optometrists and ophthalmologists were subject to sales tax as data processing. Specifically, the Comptroller determined that the taxpayer’s web-based software system, which doctors use to manage patient relationships, schedule appointments, refill prescriptions, and communicate about treatment, is a…
Mississippi DOR issues marketplace facilitator guidance for food delivery
Mississippi Notice 72-20-09 provides additional guidance on Mississippi’s marketplace facilitator law, which took effect on July 1, 2020. The Notice explains that a sale facilitated and delivered by a third-party food delivery service is not a “retail sale” by the facilitator. Rather, the restaurant will charge sales tax on the selling price it charged for…
Washington Court Games the Sales Tax Trade-In Exclusion
The Washington Court of Appeals upheld the Washington Department of Revenue’s denial of a sales tax exclusion for trade-ins of software and hardware. GameStop provides customers with a trade-in credit for software and hardware and allows customers to apply these credits towards future purchases of software and hardware. The Department denied GameStop’s exclusion for two…
Georgia Bill Proposes Changes to Sales and Use Tax Reporting and Collection Rules
On February 14, 2019, the Georgia House Ways and Means Committee voted in favor of House Bill 182. Effective for January 1, 2020, the bill would amend O.C.G.A. § 48-8-2(8)(M.1) to lower the sales threshold on the requirement to collect or report sales and use tax from $250,000 to $100,000 and would repeal subsection…
Podcast: New Jersey apportionment of GILTI
In this podcast, our state tax team discusses New Jersey guidance regarding the apportionment treatment of GILTI income.
New Jersey Tax Court Rejects Alternative Apportionment Formula
The New Jersey Tax Court rejected the Division of Taxation’s application of a five-factor alternative apportionment formula as invalid rulemaking under New Jersey’s Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The Tax Court previously determined that an application of the statutory apportionment formula in effect prior to 2011 for companies without a “regular place of business” outside New…
Indiana Supreme Court Cites Business Purpose Requirement in Holding RV Dealership Liable for Uncollected Sales Tax
On December 5, 2018, the Indiana Supreme Court in a 3-2 split decision held that an RV dealership was liable for uncollected sales tax on RV sales even though it delivered the RVs to buyers at out-of-state locations.
The RV dealership’s protocol for transferring possession of its RVs to customers depended on the customer’s state…