State & Local
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March 20, 2025
NJ Lawmakers Advance Gains Tax Break For Small Biz Stock
New Jersey would offer a capital gains tax deduction for sales of certain qualified small business stock under a bill advanced by a state Assembly committee Thursday that supporters say aims to align the state with the federal tax treatment of the transactions.
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March 20, 2025
IRS SALT Cap Workaround Rule Unlawful, 2nd Circ. Told
The Internal Revenue Service unlawfully created a rule prohibiting workarounds to the federal cap on state and local tax deductions, a New Jersey deputy attorney general told a Second Circuit panel Thursday, asking the appellate judges to overturn a lower court ruling that upheld the rule.
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March 20, 2025
Va. Extends Sales Tax Break For Aircraft Parts
Virginia extended by five years a sales and use tax exemption for parts and supplies used for aircraft maintenance under a bill signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
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March 20, 2025
La. Court Reinstates Cancer Center's Property Tax Appeal
The Louisiana Tax Commission must hear a refund claim brought by a cancer center that said it mistakenly paid assessed property taxes despite being exempt, a state appeals court ruled, finding the center had a right to appeal the assessment.
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March 20, 2025
Jurisdictional Uncertainty Helps Preserve Ill. Tax Bias Suit
Cook County property owners who mistakenly brought discriminatory assessment accusations in state court before taking their allegations to federal court can continue pursuing those claims, an Illinois judge said, rejecting the county's timeliness challenge.
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March 20, 2025
Frost Brown Adds Former Houston City Atty To Finance Team
Frost Brown Todd LLP announced that it has hired an attorney from the ranks of Houston's city government to strengthen its public finance group, adding his expertise in state and local government operations, taxation and economic development.
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March 20, 2025
Mich. House Approves 6-Fold Rate Hike To Old Biz Tax Regime
Michigan would impose a roughly six-fold increase to the tax rate that applies to businesses that elect to continue filing under a former corporate tax system, under legislation the state House approved as part of a package to increase transportation funding.
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March 20, 2025
Former Ore. Doctor's Deduction For Insurance Premiums OK'd
A former Oregon doctor's payments of $2.5 million to a captive insurer are deductible from his state taxable income, the Oregon Tax Court ruled, saying an agreement the taxpayer reached with the Internal Revenue Service did not bar the deductions.
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March 20, 2025
NY Biz Wrongly Denied Sales Tax Certificate, ALJ Says
A New York business was wrongly denied a sales tax certificate by the state's tax agency, an administrative law judge said in a ruling released Thursday, finding the agency failed to provide proof that the company's owner had outstanding tax debt.
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March 20, 2025
Minn. Bill Seeks Tax Credit For Corp. HQ Investments
Minnesota would create a refundable corporate franchise tax credit for large companies that have headquarters or similar facilities in the state and make certain investments under legislation introduced Thursday in the state Senate.
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March 20, 2025
Miss. Revenue Collection Through February Up $4M
Mississippi's general fund revenue from July through February outpaced collections made during the same period last year by $4 million, according to a report by the state Department of Revenue.
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March 20, 2025
Minn. Bill Seeks Millionaire Tax To Offset Medicaid Cuts
Minnesota would create a new tax bracket for individual income above $1 million and set the tax rate at a level to offset estimated changes in federal Medicaid funding under legislation introduced Thursday in the state Senate.
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March 20, 2025
Minn. Senate Bill Would Require Franchise Tax Info Disclosure
Minnesota would require disclosure of corporate franchise tax information for certain large companies under legislation introduced Thursday in the state Senate.
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March 20, 2025
ND Directs Lawmakers To Consider Tribal Land Tax Study
North Dakota directed state lawmakers to consider studying issues related to the taxation of land owned by enrolled tribal members who reside on Native American reservations under a bill signed by the governor.
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March 19, 2025
La. Top Court Tosses Lawsuit Seeking To Block Tax Overhaul
The Louisiana Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit from a group of state residents to halt a referendum that, if approved, would allow for a state constitutional change to carry out an overhaul of the state's tax regime.
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March 19, 2025
Comerica Awarded Interest On $11M Mich. Tax Credit Win
Comerica is entitled to interest on a nearly $11 million business tax refund it received following the Michigan Supreme Court's upholding of transfers of tax credits that occurred during a merger, the state Tax Tribunal ruled.
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March 19, 2025
NC Gov. Wants To Freeze Some Tax Cuts, Institute Others
North Carolina would maintain its current corporate income tax rate of 2.25%, the lowest among the 44 states with such a tax, rather than continuing to phase it out, under a Wednesday biennium budget proposal from new Gov. Josh Stein.
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March 19, 2025
Ohio Tax Board OKs Regs To Streamline Appeal Resolution
The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals amended regulations to clarify its authority to issue orders in response to several common, rarely contested types of filings and streamline the resolution of tax disputes in such cases, according to a final rule.
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March 19, 2025
Colo. Senate OKs Lowering Family Leave Premium
The premium rate for Colorado's paid family medical leave insurance program would dip and a benefit for parents of newborns in intensive care would increase under a bill passed Wednesday by the state Senate.
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March 19, 2025
Colo. Senate OKs Dropping Some Revenue From TABOR Limit
Revenue received by Colorado from damage awards and certain property sales would be excluded from the revenue limit in the state's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights under legislation passed Wednesday by the state Senate.
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March 19, 2025
Tax On Services In Proposed Minn. Budget Hits Opposition
Minnesota business groups criticized on Wednesday a provision in the governor's budget proposal to expand the state sales tax to certain accounting, banking and legal services, telling a state Senate committee that it would hurt heavily taxed residents even more.
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March 19, 2025
Mo. Auditor Faults State For Lack Of Cannabis Tax Probes
Missouri's state auditor faulted the state Department of Revenue for not auditing any cannabis tax returns since sales of medical cannabis began in 2020, saying the tax agency failed to establish a robust compliance environment for the filings.
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March 19, 2025
Ala. Bill Seeks To Regulate, Tax Cannabinoid Products
Alabama would impose a 6% tax on cannabinoid product sales beginning in 2026 under a bill introduced in the state Senate.
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March 19, 2025
NC Tax Revenue Collection Through February Up $707M
North Carolina's total revenue collection from July through February exceeded last year's collection during the same time period by $707 million, according to a report by the Office of the State Controller.
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March 19, 2025
Law360 Announces The Members Of Its 2025 Editorial Boards
Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2025 Editorial Advisory Boards.
Expert Analysis
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Maryland 'Rain Tax' Ruling May Offer Hope For Tax Credits
A Maryland state appellate court's recent decision in Ben Porto v. Montgomery County echoes earlier case law upholding controversial stormwater charges as a valid excise tax, but it also suggests that potential credits to reduce property owners' liability could get broader in scope, says Alyssa Domzal at Ballard Spahr.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.
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How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market
Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.
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Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step
From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Shake-Ups For Courts In Different Fields: SALT In Review
From the end of Chevron deference in the courts to the planned sale of the NBA's reigning champion, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Kentucky Tax Talk: Appeals Court Revisits Leases' Tax Effects
With better facts and greater emphasis on the Kentucky Constitution, Walgreen Co. may succeed in its latest Kentucky Court of Appeals challenge to a tax assessor's method of valuing leaseholds on real property for purposes of determining ad valorem tax, say Mark Sommer and Elizabeth Ethington at Frost Brown Todd.
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Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity
The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
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Reading Between The Lines Of Justices' Moore Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Moore v. U.S. decision, that the Internal Revenue Code Section 965 did not violate the 16th Amendment, was narrowly tailored to minimally disrupt existing tax regimes, but the justices' various opinions leave the door open to future tax challenges and provide clues for what the battles may look like, say Caroline Ngo and Le Chen at McDermott.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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Another Crack In The Shield: SALT In Review
From the latest assault on a federal shield against taxing out-of-state businesses to an update on beer taxes, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.