State & Local
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August 22, 2024
NY Court Revives Co.'s Back Tax Payment Allocation Claim
The New York Division of Tax Appeals has the jurisdiction to hear a Bronx-based business's protest over how its tax payments were allocated, a state appeals court ruled.
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August 22, 2024
Ill. Exempts Certain Home-Delivered Meals From Taxes
Purchases of certain home-delivered meals for older and lower-income residents are exempt from an array of state taxes, the Illinois Department of Revenue said.
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August 22, 2024
Local Property Tax Exemptions A Must For Solar, Va. AG Says
Localities are required under state statute to provide an exemption for the taxation of property used for solar photovoltaic systems, or systems that use solar panels to create energy, the Virginia attorney general said in an opinion.
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August 22, 2024
NY AG Tells Appeals Court To Uphold $465M Trump Judgment
Donald Trump has barely challenged the extensive proof of financial statement lies undergirding a $465 million civil fraud judgment against him and his co-defendants, New York's attorney general said in an appeals brief looking to preserve the bench verdict.
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August 22, 2024
Mass. Tax Panel OKs $14M In Research Credits For Bank Co.
A Massachusetts bank holding company is entitled to nearly $14 million in research tax credits because state law does not restrict such corporations from receiving the credit, the state Appellate Tax Board said, reversing the state tax department.
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August 22, 2024
Miss. Justices Asked To Uphold Tax On Biz's Fireworks Sales
A Mississippi company's sales of fireworks and Christmas trees weren't yard sales exempt from sales tax as they were held frequently and consistently, the Mississippi Department of Revenue told the state Supreme Court, adding that a lower correctly found that the company's sales are taxable.
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August 22, 2024
Ohio Board Upholds Partial Valuation Of Old Coal Plant
A decommissioned coal plant had two of its parcels properly valued by an Ohio county, but one additional parcel should have its valuation reduced because the structure built on it added no value, the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals ruled.
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August 22, 2024
Ore. Tax Court Won't Allow Expense Shift To Previous Year
An Oregon business owner's attempt to assign advertising costs to a previous tax year was correctly denied, the state's tax court said, while it allowed a partial deduction for expenses related to home offices.
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August 21, 2024
Tech Cos. Duck Proposed Calif. Bill Via News Funding Deal
Major tech companies, including Google, agreed Wednesday to pay roughly $250 million into a fund that proponents say would support newsrooms across California in a deal that avoids a proposed regulation that would've forced Big Tech to pay the state's media organizations for distributing news content.
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August 21, 2024
NJ Caught Nearly 1 Million Fake Property Tax Relief Bids
New Jersey has increased its security measures for a property tax relief program after the state tax agency identified nearly one million fraudulent applications last year, a state Division of Taxation representative said Wednesday.
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August 21, 2024
FTA To Facilitate Legislative Roundtables Among Tax Admins
The Federation of Tax Administrators is set to facilitate a legislative work group that could foster more collaboration and awareness among state and local tax administrators about legislation circulating nationwide, a Missouri Department of Revenue representative said Wednesday.
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August 21, 2024
3 Questions Raised By Harris' Support For 28% Corp. Tax Rate
Vice President Kamala Harris has proposed increasing the corporate tax rate to 28% to boost revenue if she's elected president, but the proposed hike raises questions about changes to the corporate tax base, the future of the OECD's global tax deal and the potential impact on workers.
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August 21, 2024
Nebraska Caps Local Property Tax Increases
Nebraska will cap property tax increases by local jurisdictions and provide $750 million in property tax relief as part of a bill signed by the governor, who said tax reform efforts aren't over yet.
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August 21, 2024
Calif. Will Waive Interest Charged Because Of State Errors
California's Office of Administrative Law approved an amendment to a regulation freeing taxpayers from paying interest if they didn't pay the correct amount of sales or use tax because of an error or delay by a state agency, a state tax agency said.
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August 21, 2024
Minn. Justices OK Denial Of Homestead Tax Break
A Minnesota property was correctly denied a homestead classification and property tax break because the owner did not live at the home as required, the state Supreme Court said Wednesday, affirming a state tax court decision.
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August 21, 2024
Wisconsin Latest State To Join Direct File For 2025
The Internal Revenue Service's free electronic tax filing program, Direct File, will be available in Wisconsin for the 2025 tax filing season, the IRS and U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday.
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August 21, 2024
Miss. Tax Revenue In July Fell $12.9M From Last Year
Mississippi tax collection in the first month of the 2025 fiscal year was $12.9 million less than last year, according to the state Department of Revenue.
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August 21, 2024
Neb. General Revenues In July Beat Forecast
Nebraska general revenues in July, the start of the 2025 fiscal year, were roughly $855,000 higher than expected, according to a report by the state Department of Revenue.
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August 21, 2024
Minn. Tax Court Cuts $2.5M From Office Building Value
The local valuation of a Minnesota office building recently occupied by the state Department of Education was too high, the state tax court said, cutting about $2.5 million from the assessment.
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August 20, 2024
UN Dives Into Murky Waters Of Taxing Digital Services
The United Nations has its sights set on cross-border services in the digital economy as its framework convention on tax takes shape, but it remains unclear how countries will define that broad and hotly contested topic as they work toward a treaty.
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August 20, 2024
Neb. Lawmakers OK Property Tax Relief In Special Session
The Nebraska Legislature approved emergency legislation Tuesday to provide $750 million annually in property tax relief and limit local tax hikes, rejecting amendments to help pay for the measure by eliminating numerous sales tax exemptions.
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August 20, 2024
Ohio Justices Nix Local Appeal Of Pipeline's $950M Tax Value
An Ohio county auditor cannot appeal a settlement agreement between the state tax agency and an energy company over the $950 million value of a gas pipeline transmission system, the state's highest court ruled Tuesday, upholding the state Board of Tax Appeals.
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August 20, 2024
Temple Law Prof, Kostelanetz Atty To Lead ABA Tax Section
A longtime professor at the Temple University Beasley School of Law and a seasoned tax controversy partner at Kostelanetz LLP will together helm the American Bar Association Section of Taxation for the 2025-2026 term, the firm announced Tuesday.
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August 20, 2024
Mass. Parcels Were Properly Valued Despite Construction
Two parcels of land in a Massachusetts town were properly valued and should not have their value decreased based on construction on a nearby property, the state Appellate Tax Board said in a decision released Tuesday.
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August 20, 2024
Allen Matkins Tax Group Leader Jumps To Covington In LA
Covington & Burling LLP has added to its Los Angeles office a partner with more than 20 years of experience who most recently led Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP's tax group, describing the new hire as "one of the country's leading authorities on partnership tax."
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice
The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
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A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.
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Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.
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Less Power To The People: SALT In Review
Starting with a measure that won't appear on the California ballot in November, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.