Texas Supreme Court Rejects Texas Comptroller’s “Receipt-Producing, End-Product” Act Test for Sourcing Receipts from Services

By Montaye Sigmon and David Blum on April 8, 2022 Posted in Texas

On March 25, the Texas Supreme Court issued a highly-anticipated decision concerning the proper test to source receipts from services for purposes of Texas franchise tax. By statute, receipts from a “service performed in this state” must be sourced to Texas, as the first step in calculating the amount of franchise tax owed by a service provider. See Tex. Tax Code § 171.103(a)(2).

The primary issue before the Court was whether Sirius XM’s receipts from Texas subscribers were receipts from a “service performed in this state.” Sirius XM contended they were not; the Comptroller disagreed and took the position that all subscription receipts from subscribers in Texas must be sourced to Texas. Continue Reading

Louisiana Launches Unique State Transfer Pricing Initiative

By Stefi George on November 10, 2021 Posted in Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina, Transfer Pricing

Joining Indiana and North Carolina, Louisiana last week became the third state to offer an alternative to the burdensome and expensive process of enduring a state transfer pricing audit.

The Louisiana Department of Revenue announced a short-term voluntary initiative (the “Louisiana Transfer Pricing Managed Audit Program”) for taxpayers to come forward to resolve intercompany state transfer pricing issues. The program is open from November 1, 2021 through April 30, 2022 and, according to the Department’s Revenue Information Bulletin announcing the program, is “aimed at proactively and efficiently resolving intercompany transfer pricing issues.” Continue Reading

Updated: Maryland’s Latest Attempt to Fix its Digital Ad Tax May Lead to More Litigation

By Stefi George on April 16, 2021 Posted in Maryland

Shortly after the Maryland passed the country’s first “Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax”, H.B. 732, the Maryland Senate went to work attempting to fix a few known glitches in the law. Senate Bill 787, which passed the Maryland General Assembly on April 12, 2021, is now headed to the Governor’s desk for signature. If the Governor does not act within 30 days (from April 12^th), the bill will automatically become law. Continue Reading

Lights! Camera! Action! Shuttered Venue Operators Grants (SVOG) Takes Center Stage on April 8

By David Blum and Felicia Leborgne Nowels on April 8, 2021 Posted in Federal Tax

On April 8, The Small Business Administration (SBA) finally opens its Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program, which was established by the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act, as part of the the Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed into law on December 27, 2020, and as amended by the American Rescue Plan Act on March 11, 2021.

Word Play: The Curious Case of Economic Nexus Legislation in Florida

By Michael Bowen on March 22, 2021 Posted in Florida

In June 2018, the United States Supreme Court in Wayfair held that the physical presence of the taxpayer was no longer a prerequisite for imposition of a sales tax. In so doing, the Court blessed the concept of “economic nexus” for sales tax purposes. Since that landmark decision, many states seized the opportunity to raise sales tax revenue by enacting economic nexus laws. At this moment, forty-four states have economic nexus laws in place. Of the six states without such laws, four – Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon – do not impose a statewide sales tax.[1] The remaining two states – Florida and Missouri – have long-been holdouts. Recently, Florida economic nexus legislation has gained substantial momentum. So, why now? What has changed? Continue Reading

What Will Come of Maryland’s Unique and Controversial Digital Advertising Tax?

By Stefi George and David Blum on February 23, 2021 Posted in E-Commerce, Maryland

On February 12, 2021, overriding the Governor’s veto, Maryland enacted a first-of-its-kind tax “Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax” that has already sent shockwaves through the industry. As widely anticipated, within one week of the enactment four trade associations representing industry leaders filed suit in Maryland federal court to attempt to overturn the tax. Continue Reading

In Search of Revenue – Chicago Issues Bulletin on Economic Nexus For Streaming and Cloud Services

By Akerman Law on February 16, 2021 Posted in Chicago, E-Commerce, Illinois, Nexus, Sales Tax

On January 21, 2021, the City of Chicago’s Department of Finance issued an informational bulletin clarifying its position regarding economic nexus for Chicago’s amusement tax as applied to streamed amusements and Chicago’s personal property lease transaction tax (“PPLTT”). It also announced a “safe harbor” that businesses can rely upon when analyzing nexus. Chicago states that it will utilize the state of Illinois’ thresholds (i.e., (i) the sales of tangible personal property or services to customers in Illinois are $100,000 or more; or (ii) the retailer or service provider enters into 200 or more separate transactions for sales of tangible personal property or services to Illinois customers in the past 12 month period[1]) as applied to customers in the City to analyze whether a business has nexus with the City. Continue Reading

Summary of Tax Provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021

By Bill Sullivan, Peter Larsen and Jiyeon K. Barta on January 26, 2021 Posted in Federal Tax

On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the new $900 billion stimulus package – the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the CAA), which, among other things, advances legislation intended to provide additional help for Americans and businesses to survive a continued public health and economic crisis due to COVID-19. This article provides a summary of certain key tax provisions in the CAA. The CAA also extended various expiring tax provisions, which are not included in this summary.

New York Broadly Applies Information Service Tax to Marketing Analytic Services

By Stefi George and David Blum on January 19, 2021 Posted in New York, Sales Tax

A year and a half following the New York Court of Appeals’ significant 2019 decision in Matter of Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. v. Tax Appeals Tribunal of State of New York, 33 NY3d 587 (2019), New York continues to grapple with the sales tax treatment of information services. Continue Reading

Illinois’ New Fast Track Resolution Program: A Tax Appeal Option Worth Considering

By David Blum and Akerman Law on September 21, 2020 Posted in Illinois, Use Tax

The Illinois Audit Fast Track Resolution (“FTR”) program is now available for all Illinois sales and miscellaneous tax audits except for Motor Fuel Use Tax. The Department published Informational Bulletin FY 2021-01 this month highlighting the details of the program, including information on the application process, the program’s advantages, the conference process, and withdrawals. Additionally, the bulletin clarifies that if a resolution is not reached through FTR, the taxpayer will retain all its original statutory review, protest, and appeal rights.

The idea behind the FTR program is simple — provide a forum for the prompt resolution of disputed audit issues while the case is still under the jurisdiction of the Audit Bureau. It started out as a pilot program to reduce the appeal backlog and was modeled after the IRS Fast Track program. This is also similar in concept to New York’s Conciliation Program. The two main advantages of the program are (1) expedited review (the Department anticipates that the FTR conference would be held approximately 60 days after being accepted into the program); and (2) the Department can involve its legal team to consider both legal and factual issues as well as “hazards of litigation.” This is in contrast with the Department’s current Informal Conference Board program in which the potential hazards of litigation are not considered.