Read our February 2017 posts on stateandlocaltax.com or read each article by clicking on the title. For the latest coverage and commentary on state and local tax developments delivered directly to your phone, download the latest version of the Eversheds Sutherland SALT Shaker app.

• Alabama Tax Tribunal Determines Taxpayer Properly Deducted Dividends from REIT
  The Alabama Tax Tribunal held that a taxpayer banking corporation properly deducted dividends received from an affiliated real estate investment trust (REIT) for financial institution excise tax purposes because the REIT qualified as a “corporation.”
• SALT Pet of the Month: Raven
  Meet Raven, the lovely Labrador retriever belonging to Sacramento SALT receptionist Sheryl Burns and her family.
• Florida Issues Nexus Guidance for Reinsurers
  The Florida Department of Revenue determined that a reinsurer did not have nexus with Florida for corporate income tax purposes.
• Medical Record Coding Services Are Taxable in New York if Provided to Third-Party Requesters
  The New York Department of Taxation and Finance issued an advisory opinion concluding that a taxpayer that collects and furnishes healthcare information on behalf of healthcare providers, such as medical practices and hospitals, to persons requesting copies of medical records is not performing a service subject to New York sales and use tax.
• No Laughing Matter: Eighth Circuit Finds that Comity and the Tax Injunction Act Bar It From Hearing an Ohio Commercial Activities Tax Dispute
  The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court and held that it lacked jurisdiction under the Tax Injunction Act and the principles of comity to “enjoin, suspend or restrain the assessment, levy or collection” of any Ohio tax where a “plain, speedy and efficient remedy” exists in an Ohio court.
• Taxpayer’s Data Center-Related Purchases Ruled Mostly Exempt in Utah
  The Utah State Tax Commission ruled that machinery and equipment purchased by the owner of a social networking community qualified for the state’s exemption for purchases and leases of certain property used in the operation of a web search portal.