The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on December 3, 2019 in Simon E. Rodriguez v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., 18-1269 (Sup. Ct.). At dispute in the case is whether a $4.1 million tax refund belongs to a failed bank (the FDIC, as receiver for defunct United Western Bank) or its corporate parent in bankruptcy (Rodriguez, as … Continue Reading
The State of Arizona has asked the Supreme Court of the United States to hear a challenge to the State of California’s taxation of nonresident members of California LLCs and nonresident shareholders of California corporations. The crux of the dispute relates to California’s “doing business” tax on all entities that conduct business in the State. … Continue Reading
In the late nineteenth century, Annie Oakley was arguably the most famous woman in the country. She was renowned for her skill as a sharpshooter and traveled the country in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show performing mind-blowing feats. She is credited with shooting the ashes off a lit cigarette hanging out of someone’s mouth and … Continue Reading
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, overturning Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U. S. 298 (1992) and National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Department of Revenue of Ill., 386 U. S. 753 (1967), that required businesses to have a physical presence in a taxing jurisdiction in order to … Continue Reading
In a narrow 5-4 decision, the Court in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. overruled its long-held precedent and held that under the Commerce Clause physical presence is no longer the touchstone for sales tax nexus. Dating back to its decision in National Bellas Hess in 1967, the Court had been clear that a state sales … Continue Reading
Sales and use tax compliance is complicated. Both sellers and purchasers are required to determine where they have nexus, where the purchased products or services should be sourced, and whether the product or service itself is subject to tax. While this sounds simple enough, in practice, it is extremely difficult.… Continue Reading
Like the premise of Back to the Future, state governments are tinkering with time. To improve future budget revenues, states are enacting retroactive tax levies. Much to the disappointment of taxpayers, the U.S. Supreme Court recently denied review in several state tax cases challenging the reach of retroactive tax laws. These laws can have a … Continue Reading
