State & Local
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April 02, 2024
No Agent Tax Break For Aramark, Ohio Tells State Justices
Ohio's tax appeals board correctly found that Aramark does not qualify for an agency exclusion for reimbursements it received from clients on purchases made on their behalf, Ohio's tax agency told the state Supreme Court on Tuesday.
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April 02, 2024
Boston Bomber Case Offers Clues For Trump Jury Selection
A recent ruling that may undo the Boston Marathon bomber's death sentence holds lessons for Donald Trump's upcoming trials, where attorneys will need to make prospective jurors comfortable enough to admit bias before they're picked — and potentially avoid years of appellate fights.
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April 02, 2024
Ariz. Senate OKs 3rd-Party Sourcing Certification Plan
The Arizona Department of Revenue would create a certification process for third-party providers of sourcing services to taxpayers that sell tangible personal property in the state under a bill passed in the Senate.
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April 02, 2024
Pa. Revenue In March Tops Estimate
Pennsylvania's collected revenue in March was 4.8% higher than previously estimated, the state Department of Revenue said.
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April 01, 2024
Trump's Gag Order Expands Over 'Attacks' On Judge's Family
Donald Trump has a constitutional right to respond to alleged political attacks, but he does not have a right to attack family members of the state judge overseeing his criminal case in New York, the judge ruled late Monday, expanding the former president's gag order in his hush money case.
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April 01, 2024
Combined Reporting Could Fight Tax Avoidance, Group Says
States lose at least $10 billion annually as multinational corporations shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions, according to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, but enacting worldwide combined reporting could help remedy the problem.
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April 01, 2024
Chamber Says Md. Digital Ad Tax Rule Violates Free Speech
Maryland's law against passing through its digital advertising tax to consumers is an unconstitutional restriction on free speech, business groups told a federal court, responding to its order for briefs on the meaning of the provision.
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April 01, 2024
Berkshire Unit Merits Neb. Deduction, State Justices Told
Nebraska's deduction for certain dividends should apply to income repatriated under the 2017 federal tax overhaul, an attorney for a Berkshire Hathaway entity told the state Supreme Court on Monday.
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April 01, 2024
Fla. High Court Says Voters Will Choose Whether To Legalize Pot
Florida voters will have the opportunity to legalize recreational marijuana at the ballot box this November, after the state Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge brought by the state's attorney general and ruled that the proposal didn't violate a state rule restricting ballot measures to only one subject.
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April 01, 2024
Kan. March Revenue Slightly Above Monthly Projection
Kansas' tax collections for March were $7 million above the monthly estimate, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's office announced Monday.
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April 01, 2024
BakerHostetler Adds Partner To Tax Practice Group
BakerHostetler's Washington office has added a partner from Morris Manning and Martin LLP to join its tax practice group, Baker said in a statement Monday.
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April 01, 2024
Baker Donelson Adds EY Tax Pro To Houston Office
A former EY senior manager has joined Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC's tax group in Houston as counsel, the firm announced.
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April 01, 2024
Vt. Senate Passes Tax On Netflix, Apple TV, Other Streamers
Vermont would assess a tax on Netflix, Apple TV and other streaming services based on their gross revenues from video streaming services in the state as part of a bill passed by the state Senate.
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April 01, 2024
W.Va.'s Revenue $95M Above Estimate For March
West Virginia's general revenue collection for March came in $94.8 million above the state's estimate, the governor's office said Monday.
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April 01, 2024
Arizona Limits Multiple Local Sales Tax Audits
Arizona will allow the state's Department of Revenue to deny a local jurisdiction's request to audit a company's transaction privilege tax liability if it is operating in more than one jurisdiction, under a law signed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
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April 01, 2024
Ore. Tax Court Upholds Nursing Home's $10.6M Valuation
The owner of an Oregon nursing home did not present enough evidence to change the $10.6 million valuation found by a local assessor, the state tax court said.
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March 29, 2024
Manhattan DA Says Trump Violated Hush Money Gag Order
Donald Trump may have already violated a New York state judge's gag order in the former president's hush money case by impugning the judge's daughter on social media, Manhattan prosecutors said, while Trump's attorneys say prosecutors are trying to improperly expand the order.
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March 29, 2024
Mass. Tax Board Won't Lower Value Of Boston House
A Boston home was correctly assessed, the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board said in a decision published Friday, finding that an analysis of nearby homes failed to show it was overvalued.
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March 29, 2024
Ark. High Court Says Dealership Owes Tax On Loaned Cars
An Arkansas car dealership that let its employees use designated cars as an employee benefit owes sales tax on the cars because the employees enjoyed the vehicles without restriction, the state Supreme Court ruled.
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March 29, 2024
Green Energy Credit Sales Spur Surge In Tax Insurance
A new way for project owners to monetize clean energy tax credits by selling them for cash has turbocharged demand for insurance policies to cover various risks tied to the transactions, which can often be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
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March 29, 2024
Baltimore Key Bridge Collapse Prompts Md. Biz Tax Leniency
Maryland will waive certain late penalties and interest for business taxpayers through May 31 to mitigate the impact of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, the state comptroller announced Friday.
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March 29, 2024
Flint Residents Can't Show Profit From Hasty Water Rate Hike
Residents challenging the city of Flint's rushed implementation of higher water and sewage rates couldn't show how the city unjustly profited from the change or whether the increased rate was unreasonable, a Michigan appellate panel said in upholding the dismissal of the residents' suit.
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March 29, 2024
Vt. Revenues Through Feb. Up $9M From Last Year
Vermont collected $9 million more in revenue from July through February compared with the same period last fiscal year, according to a monthly report by the Agency of Administration.
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March 29, 2024
Missouri House Advances Property Tax Cap Ballot Measure
Missouri voters would be asked to approve a 2% annual cap on increases to assessments of primary residences under a constitutional amendment the state House of Representatives passed.
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March 29, 2024
NM General Revenue Through Nov. Up $351M Over Forecast
New Mexico general revenue collection from July through November was $351 million higher than budget estimates, according to a report from the state's Legislative Finance Committee.
Expert Analysis
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Mass. Bills Will Have Broad Impact On Cannabis Industry
Legislation recently passed by both chambers of the Massachusetts Legislature will make sweeping changes to the commonwealth’s cannabis industry, altering everything from municipal agreements to on-site consumption, and improving social equity while reducing businesses' tax burdens, says Cloe Pippin at Foley Hoag.
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Critiques Of NY Tax Whistleblower Bill Are Untenable
Amending the New York False Claims Act to allow whistleblower actions against those who fail to file tax returns will combat invisible fraud and return stolen revenue to the state, and recent objections that the pending bill to do this would dangerously expand the act do not pass muster, say Neil Getnick and Courtney Finerty-Stelzner at Getnick & Getnick.
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Ohio Tax Talk: Unpacking The New Property Tax Procedures
New procedures for challenging real property tax valuations in Ohio may reduce tax revenue for political subdivisions and school districts, but are also likely to help boost development in the state and streamline its real estate tax, say Yazan Ashrawi and Raghav Agnihotri at Frost Brown.
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Calif. Supermajority Ruling May Change Local Tax Landscape
The California Supreme Court's 2017 decision in California Cannabis Coalition v. City of Upland, which provided an easy path to pass special taxes while avoiding the Constitution's supermajority voting requirements, may lead to a rise in taxes that benefit specific populations, as more special tax initiatives are introduced at a local level, say Timothy Gustafson and John Ormonde at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Kentucky Tax Talk: Unpacking The 2022 Legislative Session
Individual Kentuckians will feel the changes made this legislative session as cuts to state income tax increase their net pay, while new sales taxes make many purchases more expensive, a change unlikely to help or hurt most Kentucky businesses, say attorneys at Frost Brown.
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Crypto Investors May Face Increasing State FCA Tax Liability
Cryptocurrency investors who fail to report the state tax consequences of transactions are poised to encounter increased civil or criminal legal exposure as a growing number of states bring tax fraud under the purview of their whistleblower statutes, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.
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What Ohio Tax Bill Would Mean For Business Sales
A pending Ohio bill would codify two situations in which selling an equity or ownership interest in a business would be considered business income, clarifying a number of ambiguous tax situations, say attorneys at Taft.
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Mich. Marijuana Bill Could Boost Tribal Economic Growth
New legislation in Michigan could help Native American tribes raise revenue for government services by creating a pathway for their marijuana businesses to interact with state-licensed facilities — a cooperative approach that supports tribal sovereignty and provides a model for resolving related jurisdictional challenges, says Paul Mooney at Dykema.
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The Efficacy Of Real Estate Joint Venture Exit Strategies
The pandemic has highlighted the importance of negotiating exit strategies for joint ventures, but more may not be better — parties should carefully assess which options are best suited to the particular venture, factoring in certain helpful considerations, say Kris Ferranti and Jonathan Newman at Shearman.
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NY Tribunal Ruling Instructive On Sales Taxation Of Artwork
A recent ruling from the New York Tax Appeals Tribunal in a case involving purchase of a Picasso painting sheds light on two important tax-structuring issues in the art industry — the form-over-substance nature of sales tax and the proper analysis to determine whether property is purchased exclusively for resale, say Joseph Endres and Joshua Lawrence at Hodgson Russ.
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Justices Must Apply Law Evenly In Shadow Docket Rulings
In recent shadow docket decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court has inconsistently applied the requirement that parties demonstrate irreparable harm to obtain injunctive relief, which is problematic for two separate but related reasons, says David Hopkins at Benesch.
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Federal Cannabis Bill Needs A Regulatory Plan To Succeed
The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, is laudable but fundamentally flawed because it lacks a robust regulatory plan that would allow for bipartisan support, says Andrew Kline at Perkins Coie.
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Ohio Tax Talk: How Small Business Relief Would Work
Yazan Ashrawi and Raghav Agnihotri at Frost Brown discuss how a bill recently approved by the Ohio Senate would reduce federal income tax liability for pass-through entity owners of small businesses, and offer planning considerations for those taxpayers.