State & Local
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July 31, 2025
Ore. Farm Tax Break Wrongly Denied, Court Says
An Oregon property was wrongly disqualified from a tax break for farm use, the state's tax court said, agreeing with the owners that the county assessor failed to take the required steps for its decision, including a site visit.
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July 31, 2025
Ind. Meat Co. Can Have Use Exemption, Dept. Says In Reversal
An Indiana meat packing company should be allowed a use tax exemption for cooler and freezer equipment because the equipment qualifies for a predominant use exemption, the Department of State Revenue said, reversing its earlier determination.
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July 30, 2025
Peacock Says Maryland's Digital Ad Tax Violates ITFA
Maryland's digital advertising tax violates the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act by applying only to electronic commerce, Peacock TV told the state tax court Wednesday, providing witnesses who highlighted similarities between digital and traditional advertising methods.
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July 30, 2025
Tax Overhaul Is Mixed Bag For Interest Expense Deductions
Companies that are eager to increase their interest expense deductions under the new federal tax overhaul may end up with a smaller tax break than expected due to how the law factors their foreign income into the deduction calculation.
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July 30, 2025
Groups Warn IRS Policy Shift Could Beget Dark Money Deluge
Leaders of national nonprofit organizations said Wednesday that the IRS' efforts to weaken a 71-year-old tax law banning churches from endorsing political candidates would lead to unlimited amounts of untraceable campaign contributions flowing through the nonprofit sector.
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July 30, 2025
Dechert Adds Tax Pro From PwC In DC
Dechert LLP has continued to grow its financial services platform in Washington, D.C., with the hire of a partner from PwC.
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July 30, 2025
Ore. Clarifies Info Disclosure For Enterprise Zone Tax Breaks
Oregon specified which of a business's records are exempt from disclosure when applying for an enterprise zone property tax exemption and clarified eligibility requirements under a bill signed by the governor.
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July 30, 2025
Car Dealer Seeks Oral Arguments In Ohio High Court Tax Fight
A West Virginia car dealer should be able to present its case in its Ohio commercial activity tax fight to the Ohio Supreme Court in oral arguments, the dealer told the justices Wednesday.
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July 30, 2025
Michigan General Revenue Through June Up $901M
Michigan's general revenue fund revenue from October through June outpaced last year's collection by $901 million, according to the State Budget Office in a report released Wednesday.
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July 29, 2025
Conn. Resident Asks NY Panel To Negate Tax On Remote Work
A Connecticut resident who teaches at a New York university asked a New York state appeals court to grant him a tax refund for days he worked from home, arguing the state unconstitutionally stretched its taxing authority into Connecticut, according to a petition made public Tuesday.
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July 29, 2025
Mass. Couple's Push For Lower Home Value Falls Short
A Massachusetts couple's claim that their home was dated and overvalued by a local assessor was rejected by a state board, which found shortcomings in their sales comparison analysis.
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July 29, 2025
DC Council Rejects Capital Gains Tax Boost In Budget
Washington, D.C., council members narrowly rejected a proposal to impose a capital gains surcharge on high-income earners, passing a funding package that would block the district's earned income tax credit and expand gambling.
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July 29, 2025
State & Local Tax Atty Rejoins Pillsbury In San Francisco
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP continues expanding its tax team, welcoming a state and local tax expert who worked several years as a solo practitioner back to the firm as a partner in its San Francisco office.
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July 29, 2025
Colo. Conservative Group Says New OT Law Violates TABOR
Colorado's new overtime law, which requires overtime deducted from federal gross income to be added back to a taxpayer's federal taxable income for state income tax, violates the state's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, a conservative advocacy group told a state district court.
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July 29, 2025
Calif. Allows Retroactive Tax Exclusion For Solar Property
California will allow the purchaser of a new property a three-year window to apply for a property tax exclusion for solar energy systems under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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July 29, 2025
Utah Justices Back Tax On Spouse Of University Student
The husband of a Utah resident is on the hook to pay income tax despite having resided in another state, the Utah Supreme Court said, ruling that because his wife was attending college in the state, he also qualified as a domiciled resident.
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July 29, 2025
NJ Offers Penalty, Interest Waivers For Nonresident Partners
Partnerships with nonresident partners that owe New Jersey tax can request relief from late filing penalties and interest on underpayments of estimated taxes if they have calculated tax based on a former method that was altered in 2024, the state tax agency said.
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July 29, 2025
Calif. Extends Filing Allowance For Taxpayers Without SSNs
California indefinitely extended provisions of a preexisting law allowing nonresidents without a Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number to file state income tax returns or be included on group returns under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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July 28, 2025
Trade Group Asks NY Appeals Court To Void PL 86-272 Rules
A business trade group asked a New York state appeals court to negate a state regulation that outlines when out-of-state businesses' online activities exceed P.L. 86-272's state income tax protections, arguing that a lower court incorrectly found the rule wasn't preempted by the federal statute.
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July 28, 2025
NY Tax On Verizon Services Is Barred, Tribunal Affirms
New York's imposition of gross receipts tax on certain Verizon services is preempted by the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act, and the company is not liable for about $12 million in additional tax, the state's Tax Appeals Tribunal affirmed in a decision obtained Monday by Law360.
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July 28, 2025
SALT Cap Complexity Could Rewrite Tax Planning Strategies
The new $40,000 cap on state and local tax deductibility in the GOP's 2025 tax overhaul will likely prompt a new wave of strategic tax planning activity among wealthy business owners and individuals seeking to maximize their deductions and make use of state-level workarounds before the temporary relief expires.
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July 28, 2025
Jones Walker Launches In Minnesota With Tax Partner Hire
Jones Walker LLP announced its first expansion into the state of Minnesota with the hire of an experienced tax partner from Fredrikson & Byron PA who also spent nearly a decade with PwC.
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July 28, 2025
10th Circ. Says Carbon Group Can't Appeal Tax Assessment
An entity that owns interest in a carbon producer can't appeal a $2 million tax assessment made by a Colorado county on a carbon unit operator that the entity owns interest in because the federal court doesn't have jurisdiction, the Tenth Circuit said Monday.
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July 28, 2025
Neb. Tax Board Backs Assessment Of Vacant Commercial Lots
A Nebraska county correctly valued three vacant commercial lots at a combined $540,000, despite the owners' claim that the parcels were purchased for a fraction of that amount, the state Tax Equalization and Review Commission said.
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July 28, 2025
NM Revenues Through Feb. Up $272M From Forecasts
New Mexico's general fund revenue from July 2024 through February outpaced forecasts by $272 million, according to a report by the state's Legislative Finance Committee.
Expert Analysis
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Maryland 'Rain Tax' Ruling May Offer Hope For Tax Credits
A Maryland state appellate court's recent decision in Ben Porto v. Montgomery County echoes earlier case law upholding controversial stormwater charges as a valid excise tax, but it also suggests that potential credits to reduce property owners' liability could get broader in scope, says Alyssa Domzal at Ballard Spahr.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.
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How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market
Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.
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Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step
From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Shake-Ups For Courts In Different Fields: SALT In Review
From the end of Chevron deference in the courts to the planned sale of the NBA's reigning champion, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Kentucky Tax Talk: Appeals Court Revisits Leases' Tax Effects
With better facts and greater emphasis on the Kentucky Constitution, Walgreen Co. may succeed in its latest Kentucky Court of Appeals challenge to a tax assessor's method of valuing leaseholds on real property for purposes of determining ad valorem tax, say Mark Sommer and Elizabeth Ethington at Frost Brown Todd.
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Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity
The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
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Reading Between The Lines Of Justices' Moore Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Moore v. U.S. decision, that the Internal Revenue Code Section 965 did not violate the 16th Amendment, was narrowly tailored to minimally disrupt existing tax regimes, but the justices' various opinions leave the door open to future tax challenges and provide clues for what the battles may look like, say Caroline Ngo and Le Chen at McDermott.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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Another Crack In The Shield: SALT In Review
From the latest assault on a federal shield against taxing out-of-state businesses to an update on beer taxes, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.