State & Local
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August 07, 2024
Tax Court's Economic Substance Foray May Clarify Limits
A U.S. Tax Court judge plans to address an ill-defined provision governing the relevance of the economic substance doctrine in a microcaptive insurance case, offering the courts another chance to clarify an anti-abuse tool the IRS has been deploying more often.
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August 07, 2024
Iowa Revenues In July $128M Higher Than Last Year
Iowa's total receipts for July were $128 million higher than the same month in the previous fiscal year, according to a memo from the state's Department of Management.
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August 07, 2024
Calif. Office Says Partner's Loss Claims Properly Disallowed
A California audiovisual company that is a partner with two other companies cannot claim $853,000 in flow-through partnership losses because the company did not have the basis in the partnerships to be able to claim the losses, the state Office of Tax Appeals ruled.
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August 07, 2024
NH Starts Fiscal Year 2025 $4 Million Over Revenue Estimate
New Hampshire's general fund receipts in July were $4 million higher than budget estimates, according to the state Department of Administrative Services.
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August 07, 2024
Missouri Voters Reject Exemption For Child Care Facilities
Missouri will not allow local governments to exempt child care facilities from property tax after a constitutional amendment was rejected by voters Wednesday.
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August 07, 2024
Logistics Co. CEO Denies Role In NJ Racketeering Scheme
The chief executive officer of logistics firm NFI Industries on Wednesday denied that he played a role in an alleged scheme led by a New Jersey power broker accused of reaping millions in tax credits by using extortion to acquire waterfront property in the distressed city of Camden.
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August 06, 2024
Calif. Sales By Snowmaking Co. Are Taxable, OTA Says
A company that creates and supplies snow for entertainment companies in California had $1.93 million in taxable sales in 2012 through 2015 despite the company saying the snow was not tangible personal property, the California Office of Tax Appeals ruled.
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August 06, 2024
Wash. Appeals Court Reverses On Gas Chain Owing State Tax
A Pacific Northwest gas station chain that issued fuel cards to customers must pay the Washington state business tax when cardholders purchase gas from other participating gas station chains as well as from nonparticipating chains, a state appeals court panel said Tuesday, reversing an earlier opinion.
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August 06, 2024
Calif. Hoteliers Denied Tax Break On Property Sale
The owners of a California hotel were correctly assessed taxes on the gains from sale of a property, the state Office of Tax Appeals said, finding the owners did not demonstrate they qualified for a tax deferral.
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August 06, 2024
Ohio Board Affirms Nix Of Tax Break For Church's Rec Site
A recreation field owned by an Ohio-based church doesn't qualify for a property tax exemption because it wasn't used as a place of worship, the state Board of Tax Appeals affirmed.
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August 06, 2024
Bressler Grows In NJ With New Litigation, Tax Experts
Bressler Amery & Ross PC added longtime experts in tax law, trusts and estates, and commercial litigation in a recent round of expansion in New Jersey announced this week.
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August 06, 2024
Calif. Investor Can't Exclude $15.2M In Gains, OTA Finds
A real estate investor may not exclude about $15.2 million in capital gains from his California tax return for the 2012 tax year, the state Office of Tax Appeals found, siding with the Franchise Tax Board that the income was not subject to double taxation.
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August 06, 2024
Calif. Biz Not Entitled To Cost Of Goods Deduction, OTA Says
A California construction business is not entitled to an income tax deduction for the cost of goods sold, the state Office of Tax Appeals ruled.
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August 06, 2024
Mont. July Revenue Collection Up $5M From Last Year
Montana's general revenue collection for July outpaced last year's total by $5 million, the state Department of Revenue said Tuesday.
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August 06, 2024
Mass. Revenue Collection In July Trails Last Year By $18M
Massachusetts' revenue collection in July was down $18 million from July 2023, the state Department of Revenue said.
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August 06, 2024
Calif. OTA Says Biz Owes Use Tax On Vehicle Purchase
California's use tax still applies to a business's purchase of a commercial vehicle despite the business's argument that it was used for interstate and foreign commerce and therefore exempt, the state Office of Tax Appeals ruled.
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August 06, 2024
Arnold & Porter Adds Abramson Cancer Center Chief Counsel
Throughout her career and while working in progressive leadership roles for the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Mir Masud-Elias, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP's newest counsel, has asked herself the same question: Is this role the best use of her time on Earth?
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August 05, 2024
Netflix, Hulu Reject Owing Missouri Video Service Fees
A new Missouri law that exempts streaming and satellite television services from video service provider fees was a clarification and does not prove the fees previously applied to streaming services, Netflix and Hulu told a state Circuit Court in a filing released Monday.
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August 05, 2024
Va. Owes Refund To Remote Worker, Tax Commissioner Says
Virginia wrongly denied an individual income tax refund to a man who worked remotely in another state to cover the amount withheld by his Virginia employer, the state tax commissioner said in a ruling published Monday.
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August 05, 2024
Va. Biz Correctly Classified Contractors, Tax Boss Says
Workers for a Virginia drywall and painting business did not qualify as employees, the state tax commissioner said, reversing a state tax department finding that the business owed withholding taxes on the workers' payroll.
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August 05, 2024
Va. Tax Head Says Man Must File Return Despite Move To Md.
A Virginia resident who moved to Maryland to work at a hospital was still considered a domiciled resident of Virginia and required to file a state tax return there, the Virginia tax commissioner determined, saying the man maintained several links to the state.
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August 05, 2024
Chamber Asking 4th Circ. To Revive Md. Digital Ad Tax Fight
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups are seeking Fourth Circuit review of a federal district court decision throwing out their First Amendment complaint against Maryland's digital advertising tax, the groups told the lower court.
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August 05, 2024
North Dakota Ballot Initiative Seeks To End Property Tax
North Dakota would prohibit political subdivisions from imposing property taxes if a constitutional amendment is approved by voters in November.
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August 05, 2024
Fla. Net Revenue In Fiscal Year 2024 Beat Estimates By $1B
Florida's net revenue collection in the 2024 fiscal year was $1.09 billion higher than estimates, according to the state Office of Economic and Demographic Research.
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August 05, 2024
Ala. Net Tax Collection Through July Up $226M From Last Year
Alabama's net general revenue from October through July was $226 million higher than the same period last fiscal year, according to the state Department of Revenue.
Expert Analysis
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Kentucky Tax Talk: Trouble With The Incentive Oversight Bill
The potential retroactivity of a bill to increase the transparency and General Assembly oversight of Kentucky’s tax incentive programs would be problematic for businesses that received awards in recent years, despite the legislation being aimed toward future development, say attorneys at Frost Brown.
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Justices' MoneyGram Opinion Could Spur State Legislation
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision that federal law governs the escheatment of over $250 million in unclaimed MoneyGram checks provides clarity for some issuers, but aspects of related common law remain uncertain and states may take the opportunity to pass multistate escheatment legislation, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Justices Leave Questions Open On Dual-Purpose Atty Advice
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury on grounds that certiorari was improvidently granted leaves unresolved a circuit split over the proper test for deciding when attorney-client privilege protects a lawyer's advice that has multiple purposes, say Susan Combs and Richard Kiely at Holland & Hart.
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Biz Purchases In Nebraska, Lobsters In Maine: SALT In Review
From a proposed tax exemption on business purchases in Nebraska to an attempt to punish lobster boycotts in Maine, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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High Court Ax Of Atty-Client Privilege Case Deepens Split
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury as improvidently granted maintains a three-way circuit split on the application of attorney-client privilege to multipurpose communications, although the justices have at least shown a desire to address it, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.
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Comparing NY And NJ Reverse False Claims Statutes
Michael Horn and Lilli Wofsy at Archer & Greiner examine the New York and New Jersey False Claims Acts that give private parties a right to file suits alleging failure to pay the government money, and important distinctions between these state statutes and the federal law that could protect companies facing lawsuits amid substantial incentives for private litigants.
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Ohio Tax Talk: Amnesty Or Voluntary Disclosure?
Ohio's governor recently signed legislation to allow a two-month tax amnesty if the revenue is needed, but considering Ohio's current tax surplus and the fact that many taxpayers would be precluded, those owing back taxes should consider whether voluntary disclosure remains a better option, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.
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Property In Pa. And Corporate Income In Mo.: SALT In Review
From the latest attempt to do away with Pennsylvania's property tax to an assault on Missouri's corporate income tax, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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The Forces Defining Sales Tax Policy And Compliance In 2023
In the coming year, expect to see tax policymakers grapple with the complexity of state and local tax compliance, cryptocurrency, metaverse transactions, and more, says Scott Peterson at Avalara.
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Start The Revolution Without Me: SALT In Review
From a sweeping push toward taxing the rich to a proposed tax review board in Indiana, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Atty-Client Privilege Arguments Give Justices A Moving Target
Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case regarding the scope of the attorney-client privilege appeared to raise more questions about multipurpose counsel communications than they answered, as the parties presented shifting iterations of a predictable, easily applied test for evaluating the communications' purpose, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.
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States Must Align Distribution Age Rules With Secure 2.0
To prevent unintended escheatment of retirement benefits, states will need to undertake legislative efforts to amend unclaimed property standards that conflict with the Secure 2.0 Act's required minimum distribution age increases, says Michael Giovannini at Alston & Bird.
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Va. Tax Nixed, NJ Shoplifter Targeted: SALT In Review
From a tax declared unconstitutional in Virginia to a New Jersey prosecutor's attempt to include sales tax in a shoplifting charge, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.