State & Local
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March 13, 2025
Colo. Senate OKs Suspending Interim Tax Committees
Two legislative interim committees addressing tax issues in Colorado, along with other interim panels, would not meet in 2025 under legislation approved unanimously Thursday by the state Senate.
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March 13, 2025
NY Bill Seeks Tax Break For Residential Green Infrastructure
New York state would provide a partial property tax abatement for owners of residential properties in New York City who undertake green infrastructure projects as part of a bill introduced in the state Senate.
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March 13, 2025
Colo. House OKs Tax Credit To Attract Sundance Film Festival
Colorado would back its current effort to attract the Sundance Film Festival to the state with a 10-year, $34 million tax credit under legislation passed Thursday by the state House of Representatives.
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March 12, 2025
Mich. Appellate Judge Pans Medical Pot Co.'s Sales Tax Claim
A Michigan Court of Appeals judge sounded skeptical Wednesday of a medical cannabis provisioning center's claim that nonbinding guidance from the state tax agency shielded it from collecting sales tax for the first year after a law regulating its type of business was enacted.
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March 12, 2025
Property Tax Can Fund Retired Cops' Insurance, Panel Says
A Michigan state appeals court on Tuesday said property taxes imposed by four municipalities to cover the cost of health insurance for retired firefighters and police officers are not illegal, finding a law established before a constitutional amendment barring new taxes without a public vote allowed taxation for broad retirement benefits.
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March 12, 2025
Digital Ad Tax Bills Filed As States Watch Maryland, Pros Say
States continue to explore taxing digital advertising services, with several filing bills or making adjustments to regulations that would permit such taxation, tax professionals said Wednesday.
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March 12, 2025
Lighting Co. Says Ill. Remote Seller Tax Rule Burdensome
An Illinois law on sourcing of sales for tax purposes places an undue burden on remote sellers, a lighting equipment wholesaler told a state tax tribunal, saying it did not have sufficient nexus with the state to justify being subject to state sales taxes.
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March 12, 2025
Ore. House Bill Seeks Income Subtraction For Tips
Oregon would allow a subtraction modification equal to a taxpayer's tipped income beginning in 2026 under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
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March 12, 2025
ND Lawmakers OK Recommending Tribal Land Taxation Study
North Dakota would direct 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 passed by the state Legislative Assembly and headed to the governor.
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March 12, 2025
Md. Senate Panel OKs Digital Ad Tax Appeal Process
Assessments of Maryland's digital advertising gross revenue tax would be subject to the same administrative appeals process as most other taxes in the state under legislation passed Wednesday by the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.
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March 11, 2025
NY Lawmakers Pitch Tax Hikes, Retaining Entity Tax Deadline
New York would raise the state's top personal and corporate income tax rates in budget plans that state lawmakers released that varied from certain elements of Gov. Kathy Hochul's budget proposal, including by eschewing Hochul's suggestion to push back the annual election date for entity-level taxes.
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March 11, 2025
With Guardrails, AI Is A Valuable Tax Tool, Tax Pros Say
Relevance of artificial intelligence in the tax world is expanding rapidly, and individuals and businesses should consider using it as long as cautions and guidelines are in place, tax professionals who have adopted the technology said Tuesday.
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March 11, 2025
12 Govs. Assert States' Sovereignty Against CTA In 5th Circ.
A dozen Republican governors, led by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, urged the Fifth Circuit to maintain a nationwide block of enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act, arguing the law undermines the traditional authority states have to regulate businesses.
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March 11, 2025
Ohio High Court Orders City Tax Question To Appear On Ballot
An Ohio county board of elections disregarded state law when it stopped a city's proposed extension of an additional income tax levy from appearing on a ballot, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
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March 11, 2025
Carlton Fields Tax Ace Jumps To Trenam Law In Fla.
Florida's Trenam Law has added a past chair of the tax section of the state bar after her 25-year stint at Carlton Fields PA.
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March 11, 2025
NY High Court Judges Quiz Attys On Scope Of Information Tax
New York Court of Appeals judges wrestled Tuesday with whether a lower court correctly found that a research company's measuring of the effectiveness of advertising campaigns constituted taxable information services, with the chief judge pondering whether the ruling could render legal services taxable.
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March 11, 2025
Minn. General Revenues In Feb. $116M Ahead Of Forecasts
Minnesota's general revenue collection in February exceeded budget forecasts by $116 million, according to a report by the state Department of Management and Budget.
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March 11, 2025
Indiana Tax Collection Through Feb. Beats Estimate By $151M
Indiana's general revenue collection from July through February outpaced forecasts by $151 million, according to a report from the State Budget Agency.
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March 11, 2025
Calif. Revenues Through February Up $4.3B From Forecast
California's revenue collection from July through February outpaced estimates by $4.3 billion, according to a report by the state Comptroller's Office.
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March 11, 2025
Minn. Panel Advances Flat Tax On Charitable Gambling
Minnesota would reduce its tax rate on receipts of lawful gambling conducted by charitable institutions to a flat 5% under legislation advanced Tuesday by a House Committee.
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March 11, 2025
Wis. Senate Prez Rejects Gov.'s Proposed High-Earner Tax
The president of the Wisconsin Senate rejected the governor's budget proposals, which include a new income tax bracket for high earners and a property tax freeze, saying Republicans would take the lead in crafting tax policy in this year's budget.
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March 11, 2025
Utah Lawmakers OK Min. Tax Rate Consensus Certification
Utah would require a minimum property tax rate imposed by school districts to be certified by the state's tax commission, the governor's Office of Planning and Budget and the state Legislature's Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst under a bill approved by state lawmakers and headed to the governor.
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March 11, 2025
Ore. House Panel OKs Boosting Film Fund Tax Credit
Oregon would boost the amount of tax credits available to those who donate to a state fund promoting the production of films and other media under legislation approved unanimously by a legislative panel.
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March 10, 2025
Cutting IRS Staff May Shift Audit Burden To States, Pros Say
A possible cut in half of the number of Internal Revenue Service employees, floated by President Donald Trump's administration, could profoundly affect state tax administration, particularly if states become more responsible for auditing federal taxable income, tax pros said Monday.
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March 10, 2025
Texas Committee Weighs Financial Transactions Tax Ban
Texas would have voters decide whether to prevent the state from taxing securities transactions under a joint resolution that would put the state on the road to becoming a global capital market, its sponsor told the House Ways and Means Committee on Monday.
Expert Analysis
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Weisselberg's Perjury At Trial Spotlights Atty Ethics Issues
Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg’s recent guilty plea for perjury in the New York attorney general's civil fraud trial should serve as a reminder to attorneys of their ethical duties when they know a client has lied or plans to lie in court, and the potential penalties for not fulfilling those obligations, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.
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Why Supreme Court Should Allow Repatriation Tax To Stand
If the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't reject the taxpayers' misguided claims in Moore v. U.S. that the mandatory repatriation tax is unconstitutional, it could wreak havoc on our system of taxation and result in a catastrophic loss of revenue for the government, say Christina Mason and Theresa Balducci at Herrick Feinstein.
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.
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Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law
A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.
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Speaking Of Ideas Hard To Swallow: SALT In Review
From a Pennsylvania bill that would force corporate tax disclosure to a proposed candy tax in California, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea
A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.
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4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best
As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.
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Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.
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Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
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Neb. Justices Should Weigh IRC Terms In Dividend Tax Case
Nebraska’s highest court, which will hear oral arguments in Precision CastParts v. Department of Revenue on April 1, should recognize that the Internal Revenue Code provides key clues to defining “dividends received or deemed to be received,” and therefore limits Nebraska’s tax on foreign-sourced corporate income, says Joseph Schmidt at Ryan.
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Strange But True, Here And There: SALT In Review
From a confusing proposal to relocate the Louisiana Tax Commission to a perplexing legislative vote on a citizen initiative in Washington state, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.