State & Local
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September 27, 2024
Delta, PacifiCorp Intangibles Taxable, Ore. Tells State Justices
Oregon's tax court was wrong to exempt Delta Air Lines from taxation of its intangible property and was correct to refuse the exemption for energy provider PacifiCorp, the state's tax department told the Oregon Supreme Court.
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September 27, 2024
La. Dept. Says No Tax Due On Casinos' Gifts To Patrons
Louisiana casinos and gambling businesses are not subject to the state's sales and use tax for complimentary items they give to patrons as incentives, the state Department of Revenue said in a notice.
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September 27, 2024
Tenn. Water Treatment Plant's Piping Ruled Tax-Exempt
Tennessee sales and use tax won't apply to contractors' purchases of piping used in the expansion of a municipal water treatment plant, the state Department of Revenue said in a ruling.
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September 27, 2024
Ind. Tax Dept. Says Ky. Truck Driver Wrongly Taxed
A Kentucky truck driver who worked for an Indiana-based company was incorrectly assessed local income tax for the county where the business is located, the Indiana Department of State Revenue said in a letter ruling.
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September 27, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Skadden, Cleary
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners acquire Smartsheet Inc., Macquarie Asset Management takes a stake in D.E. Shaw Renewables Investment Group, and Apogee Enterprises Inc. buys UW Interco LLC from Heartwood Partners.
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September 27, 2024
Vt. General Revenue Through Aug. Gets $30M Boost
Vermont's general revenue collection from July through August beat the total from the same period last year by roughly $30 million, according to the state Agency for Administration.
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September 26, 2024
Pa. Supreme Court Upholds Taxes On Like-Kind Exchanges
A group of Pennsylvania real estate partners owe the state personal income tax assessed on their like-kind exchange, Pennsylvania's highest court ruled Thursday, with the majority upholding a lower court finding that the state Department of Revenue correctly issued the assessment.
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September 26, 2024
Ohio Justices Nix Woodland Deduction Rate As Arbitrarily Low
The Ohio Supreme Court ordered the state's tax commissioner Thursday to recompute the value of a deduction for clearing woodlands that factors into assessments of agricultural properties, agreeing with a group of landowners who argued the figure was set arbitrarily low.
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September 26, 2024
Calif. Revives Tax Breaks For Manufacture Property
California reinstated a capital investment incentive program that allows local governments to offer partial property tax abatements for qualified manufacturing facilities and expanded the program to include qualifying projects that make lower initial investments under a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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September 26, 2024
Pa. Justices Reject New Tax Hearing For Charter School
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court erred in sending a charter school's retroactive property tax appeal back to a county board, because the charter school had failed to exhaust statutory remedies, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
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September 26, 2024
NJ Atty Rips AG For 'Grossly Distorted' Power Broker Case
A New Jersey attorney charged in the state's sweeping indictment against power broker George E. Norcross III accused the Attorney General's Office on Thursday of "attempting to criminalize the routine practice of law" with its charges against him.
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September 26, 2024
Ind. Tax Dept. Abates Beverage Co.'s Late Filing Penalty
A penalty assessed to an Indiana beverage company for a late corporate income tax filing will be abated, as the delay wasn't due to willful neglect, the Department of State Revenue said in a letter of finding.
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September 26, 2024
Ind. Couple Wrongly Denied Credit For Ky. Local Income Tax
An Indiana couple was wrongly denied an income tax credit for local income tax paid by one spouse while working in Kentucky, but the couple will continue to owe additional tax, the Indiana Department of State Revenue said in a letter of finding.
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September 26, 2024
NY Appeals Court Casts Doubt On $489M Trump Judgment
Judges on a New York state appeals court expressed skepticism Thursday of a $489 million civil fraud judgment against Donald Trump, his sons, companies and their executives, raising the prospect that the fine awarded to the attorney general could be reduced or vacated.
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September 26, 2024
Ind. S Corp. Not Subject To County Income Tax, Dept. Says
An Indiana S corporation was wrongly assessed county income tax on distributions to its lone, out-of-state shareholder, the Department of State Revenue said, because that shareholder was not employed in the state.
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September 25, 2024
Pa. Panel Says Misspellings Don't Sink Service Of Tax Notice
The misspelling of a landowner's name on a notice of an impending tax sale did not prevent the owner from understanding their property would be auctioned off to cover unpaid taxes, a Pennsylvania appellate court ruled Wednesday.
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September 25, 2024
Remote Sales Tax Compliance Burdens Small Biz, Senate Told
The 2018 Wayfair decision has burdened small businesses with significant compliance costs to collect and remit taxes in thousands of jurisdictions across the U.S., state tax experts told a U.S. Senate subcommittee Wednesday.
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September 25, 2024
IBM Urges Justices To Review NY Tax On Foreign Royalties
New York's system for taxing royalty payments would be unconstitutional if every other jurisdiction adopted it, violating an internal consistency test reaffirmed by a 2015 precedent, IBM told the U.S. Supreme Court in asking it to review and overturn New York's high court ruling that allowed the tax regime.
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September 25, 2024
Colo. Panel OKs Expanding Sales Tax License Search Engine
Colorado would expand its online search function for sales and use tax licenses and exemption certificates to allow searches by a retailer's name and federal identification number under draft legislation approved by a legislative task force Wednesday.
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September 25, 2024
Dept. Asks Mich. Justices To Tackle Unitary Tax Case
The Michigan Supreme Court should review an appellate court decision that found that insurance companies that are part of Nationwide should file their taxes as a unitary group because the case poses a significant public impact, the state Treasury Department said.
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September 25, 2024
Texas Court Denies District's Attempt To Boost Valuations
A Texas trial court didn't err in throwing out a counterclaim brought by a local appraisal district to increase the assessed values of two multifamily properties, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.
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September 25, 2024
NJ Bill Would Hike Threshold For Tax On Property Transfers
New Jersey would raise the threshold for the imposition of a controlling interest transfer tax or an additional fee on transfers of various kinds of real property under a bill introduced in the state Assembly.
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September 25, 2024
Wyden Calls On 2025 Tax Bill To Include Partnership Reform
Lawmakers should consider next year how to revise partnership tax laws to better collect on large businesses' income without harming smaller entities as Congress debates over how to address expiring tax provisions, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden said Wednesday.
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September 25, 2024
Puerto Rico Seeking Input On Implementing Global Min. Tax
Puerto Rico's Department of the Treasury is looking for public comments regarding possible implementation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's 15% global corporate minimum tax on large multinational entities.
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September 24, 2024
Mo. Cannabis Shop Asks Appeals Court To Scrap County Tax
A Missouri appeals court should overturn a lower court's ruling that the state's constitution allowed a county to impose a cannabis tax on businesses that are also charged city taxes within its boundaries, a cannabis company told the court.
Colo. Property Tax Deferral Program Could Balloon, Panel Told
Use of a property tax deferral program in Colorado is expected to rise under a recent legislative change opening it to nearly all property owners, the state's treasurer told a legislative commission Thursday, calling the extent of the program's growth difficult to predict.
Colo. Sales Tax Panel OKs More Confidentiality In Audits
Third-party sales tax audits performed on behalf of local jurisdictions in Colorado would face increased confidentiality standards under draft legislation approved Wednesday by a legislative panel.
Microsoft Fights Mich. Tax Treatment Of Cost Share Payments
Microsoft urged the Michigan Tax Tribunal to find that cost sharing agreement receipts from affiliates constituted licenses of intellectual property that should be included in its apportionment formula, arguing that the state's tax agency incorrectly followed federal transfer pricing rules in excluding the payments from its tax calculations.
Editor's Pick
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Law360 Revenue Report Map Tracks Health Of State Coffers
As state coffers fluctuate because of federal pandemic aid drying up, demographics shifting and remote work becoming commonplace, Law360 Tax Authority is providing up-to-date coverage on state tax revenue with the launch of its Revenue Report Map.
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Nev. Sales Tax Revenue In Jan. Rises $23.8M From Last Year
Nevada brought in $23.8 million more in sales tax revenue in January than in the same month last year, the state Department of Taxation said in a monthly report.
Featured Stories
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The Tax Angle: Corporate Inversions, SALT Cap
From a look at criticisms that the 2017 federal tax law failed to stop corporations from moving overseas to GOP efforts to navigate the SALT cap ahead of the November elections, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few of the week's developing tax stories.
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Better Days Ahead For Associates, Recruiters Say
Things are looking up for associates, recruiters say, as a strong economic outlook for the legal industry appears to be driving increased demand for younger attorneys after two straight years of layoffs.
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Candidates' Plans To End Tip Taxes Spark Fairness Concerns
The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have both proposed eliminating taxes on tips for restaurant and hospitality workers, but tax experts say such a policy would unfairly pick winners and losers among workers and its benefits would be unevenly spread.
Expert Analysis
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Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners
Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics
Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.
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It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.
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Frames Of Deference: SALT In Review
From a challenge to New York state regulations that follows on the end of Chevron deference to a court ruling siding with the Nebraska Revenue Department's view of a tax deduction, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls
Despite the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's continued release of guidance for complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, its interpretation remains in flux, making it important for companies to understand potentially problematic areas of ambiguity in the practical application of the law, say attorneys at Sidley.
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How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations
Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.
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Local Taxes And Repercussions: SALT In Review
From a study of local taxes to news that corporations will relocate to tax-friendlier places, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Financial Incentives May Alleviate Affordable Housing Crisis
There is a wide array of financial incentives and assistance that the government can provide to both real estate developers and individuals to chip away at the housing affordability problem from multiple angles, say Eric DeBear and Madeline Williams at Cozen.
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Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles
Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.
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Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.
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5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond
As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.
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Portland's Gross Receipts Tax Oversteps City's Authority
Recent measures by Portland, Oregon, that expand the voter-approved scope of the Clean Energy Surcharge on certain retail sales eviscerate the common meaning of the word "retail" and exceed the city's chartered authority to levy tax, say Nikki Dobay at Greenberg Traurig and Jeff Newgard at Peak Policy.
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How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'
Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.