By Jonathan Bender and Christina Gomez (April 24, 2019, 3:24 PM EDT) -- On April 9, the Colorado Supreme Court heard argument in two similar state income tax cases, Agilent Technologies Inc. v. Department of Revenue,[1] and Oracle Corp. v. Department of Revenue.[2] Both cases present the question of how Colorado's "water's edge" statutory provision applies to companies with no property or payroll. The cases also involve Colorado's general anti-abuse provision, which affords the Colorado Department of Revenue the discretion, in some circumstances, to allocate gross income and deductions among commonly-controlled corporations to avoid abuse and to clearly reflect income. Finally, the cases address the fundamental issue of whether taxpayers are entitled to rely on express provisions of state statutes and regulations — both of which, in these instances, support the lower courts' conclusions in favor of the taxpayers....