State & Local

  • August 23, 2024

    Wash. Justices Affirm Convicted Ex-State Auditor Disbarment

    The Washington Supreme Court affirmed a recommendation to disbar convicted former state auditor Troy X. Kelley after he was imprisoned on felony theft charges, finding that Kelley's crimes justified the disbarment sanction.

  • August 23, 2024

    Local Assessors Blast Colo. Property Tax Proposal

    A draft bill to reduce property tax increases, to be introduced in Colorado's upcoming special legislative session, would create significant burdens for local administration, a pair of assessors told a legislative property tax commission Friday.

  • August 23, 2024

    Mich. Appeals Panel Denies Cos.' Bids To Adjust Asset Basis

    Two companies may not account for depreciation they didn't receive credit for under Michigan law to increase the basis of assets they sold when determining their state tax liabilities, a state appeals panel said, upholding a trial court.

  • August 23, 2024

    Colo. Board Wrong In Nixing Fees From Valuation, Court Rules

    The Colorado Board of Assessment Appeals improperly applied a state Supreme Court decision that erroneously revived a dispute over whether fees should be included in a resort's property valuation, a state appeals court ruled.

  • August 23, 2024

    Wis. Agency Upholds $4M Sales Tax Bill On Lease Payments

    The Wisconsin Department of Revenue didn't err in finding that a company's lease agreements were taxable as they constituted a sale and lease-back of tangible property, the state Tax Appeals Commission ruled, upholding a nearly $4 million sales tax bill.

  • August 23, 2024

    Issues Lurk In Remote Seller, Marketplace Laws, Tax Pro Says

    States should consider more harmony in their remote seller and marketplace facilitator laws to address a handful of compliance issues that continue to persist for businesses six years after Wayfair, a tax practitioner said Friday.

  • August 23, 2024

    NM General Revenues From July Through March Up $421M

    New Mexico collected $421 million more in revenue than estimated between July 2023 and March 2024, according to a report by the state's Legislative Finance Committee.

  • August 23, 2024

    Ariz. Revenue Collection Starts 2025 Up $83M From Forecast

    Arizona's total general revenue in July was $83 million higher than forecast, according to a report by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

  • August 23, 2024

    Idaho's July Revenue Collection Down $5M From Estimates

    Idaho's general revenue collection at the start of the 2025 fiscal year was $5 million below forecasts, according to a report by the state Division of Financial Management.

  • August 23, 2024

    DC Eyes Joining IRS Direct File For 2026, Revenue Rep Says

    The District of Columbia is considering joining the Internal Revenue Service's free electronic tax filing program, Direct File, in 2026, a representative of the district's tax agency said Friday.

  • August 23, 2024

    Taxation With Representation: Latham, Wachtell, Paul Weiss

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Arch Resources merges with Consol Energy in a deal worth $5.2 billion, Advanced Micro Devices agrees to purchase ZT Systems for $4.9 billion, and Japanese tobacco company JT Group inks a deal to buy Vector Group for $2.4 billion.

  • August 22, 2024

    Chevron's Fall Likely To Surface In State Tax Cases, Pro Says

    Taxpayers likely will raise the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron deference doctrine in challenges to state tax regulations, but it remains to be seen how effective those arguments will be, an attorney for a multistate business trade organization said Thursday.

  • August 22, 2024

    Justices Disfavor External Consistency Test, Mass. Atty Says

    The U.S. Supreme Court likely will decline to hear a construction company's argument that South Dakota's refusal to apportion use tax on its equipment was unconstitutional, a Massachusetts tax agency attorney predicted Thursday, saying the justices have no appetite for applying the external consistency test anymore.

  • August 22, 2024

    StubHub Appeals $8.5M Wis. Sales Tax Assessment

    Online ticket marketplace StubHub told the Wisconsin Court of Appeals that a lower court correctly determined it wasn't on the hook for an $8.5 million sales tax assessment because it didn't directly act as a ticket seller.

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • Taxing The Internet And Remote Workers: SALT In Review

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    From a New York ruling against the taxing of internet services to an attack on Philadelphia's taxing of remote workers, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.

  • How Cities Can Tackle Post-Pandemic Budgeting Dilemmas

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    Due to increasing office vacancies around the country, cities may consider politically unpopular actions to avoid bankruptcy, but they could also look to the capital markets to ride out the current real estate crisis and achieve debt service savings to help balance their budgets, say attorneys at Cadwalader.

  • State Payroll Taxes Need Remote Work Reforms

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    To alleviate employer confusion around remote employee payroll tax, lower enforcement costs and better compete for top talent, states should allow a specific number of remote work days without withholding, simplify their administrative requirements and coordinate their tax policy reforms, say attorneys at Miller Canfield.

  • Cannabis Supercenters: Key Benefits And Legal Issues

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    Barstow, California’s novel plan to convert an abandoned mall into a cannabis supercenter could offer a potential blueprint for cannabis companies to thrive in a saturated market and for communities to repurpose underutilized retail spaces — but certain financing, zoning and leasing issues will need to be assessed, says Christopher Gordon at Fox Rothschild.

  • Taxing The Digital Economy: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

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    U.S. tech companies should watch for important developments in international taxation, including the resolution of Apple's decade-old state aid case, growing frustration with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's global tax plan and adoption of the digital services tax instead, says Joyce Beebe at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

  • Kentucky Tax Talk: Pros, Cons Of The SALT Cap Workaround

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    Recent legislation that allows pass-through entities to be taxed at the entity level — Kentucky’s response to the federal cap on state and local tax deductions — could result in significant savings for taxpayers, but whether it applies to sole proprietorships and other aspects of the law are unclear, say attorneys at Frost Brown.

  • Big Tax Changes For Multinational Cos. In Budget Proposal

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    The Biden administration’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposes changes that would materially alter decades-old Internal Revenue Code provisions, requiring a shift in multinational corporations' tax planning strategies comparable to that required after enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, say Xenia Garofalo and Kyle Colonna at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Home Seized, Tax Paid, Government Enriched: SALT In Review

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    From a Minnesota county's profit on a home seizure to a California proposal to raise corporate income taxes, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.

  • Mich. Statute Of Limitations Cases Carry Nationwide Impacts

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    The outcomes of Dine Brands v. Eubanks and Walt Disney v. Eubanks, currently working their way through the Michigan courts, are likely to affect how statutes of limitations in unclaimed property audits are calculated nationwide as well as within the state, given the widespread adoption of similar model provisions by many other states, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Wash. Fallout And New York Pets: SALT In Review

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    From the early fallout of Washington state's capital gains ruling to a proposed tax credit for adopting pets in New York, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.

  • Inside Calif.'s New Unclaimed Property Compliance Program

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    As California gears up to launch its voluntary compliance program for taxpayers with unreported property owed to the state, eligible holders should be aware of kinks that may initially arise and of potential audit risks, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Missouri's Big Idea And NY's Online Thought: SALT In Review

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    From a Missouri bill that could eventually end the state's corporate income tax to a proposed tax on online deliveries in New York City, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Legitimizes Classwide Injury In Predominance

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent ruling that vacated class certification in Van v. LLR makes clear that the question of injury is highly relevant to the predominance analysis, and underscores the importance of making a persuasive argument that injury is individualized within the class, say attorneys at Skadden.

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