SeeSALT Blog

CalTax’s Splitting the Property Tax Roll Webinar Series

Posted September 17, 2020

Pillsbury partners Breann Robowski and Craig Becker will present during CalTax’s Splitting the Property Tax Roll webinar series in October.

Splitting the Property Tax Roll, a webinar series on the Technical Provisions of Proposition 15, will feature a new episode every Tuesday in October.

Breann will present during Episode 1, “California’s Property Tax System” on October 6. The speakers will discuss what California’s property tax system was like prior to the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, provide an overview of the current property tax structure and how the measure has evolved over time, and discuss the provisions of Proposition 15.

Craig will present during Episode 2, “Ready, Set, Split Roll: The Impact of Proposition 15″ on October 13. This webinar will cover the economic impact of Proposition 15, including how the measure would impact consumers and private-sector employment. Speakers will cover how to interpret Proposition 15, drafting flaws, and how the measure would have specific impact on certain industries, including agricultural properties and vineyards, energy, and telecommunications.

For more information and to register, please visit the event page.

Council on State Taxation’s 2020 Property Tax Webinar

Posted September 9, 2020

by Pillsbury SALT

Pillsbury SALT

cost-300x90 Pillsbury attorneys Craig Becker and Robert Merten III will present during COST’s 2020 Property Tax webinar, held in cooperation with the International Property Tax Institute (IPTI).

Craig will present “California – Examining Property Tax Issues in the Golden State” on Wednesday, September 16 at 4:10pm. The presenters will address how business taxpayers may have to deal with split-rolls, transfer taxes as a result of the intersection of the Ardmore decision and Prop 13, the erosion of Proposition 13 protections through post-Uplands litigation that may make it easier to increase taxes at the local level, and technology transfer agreements. In addition, renovations of buildings have the potential to trigger “New Building” assessments in California.

Robert will present “Your Tax Department Should Work as a Team – Strategies to Make it Work – Even When Working Remotely,” on Thursday, September 17 at 2:05pm. In this session, the panelists will provide examples of how the different tax types intersect and how those relationships need to be taken into account, especially in the current stay-at-home COVID-19 environment.

For more information, please click here.

Cold Class Action: Federal Judge in Alaska Rules State and Local Sales Tax Class Action Survives Motion to Dismiss/Strike

Posted August 31, 2020

by Robert P. Merten III

Robert P. Merten III

Co-authored by Malcolm A. Brudigam

In Alaska, a state and local sales tax class action survived a motion to dismiss and motion to strike class allegations after a federal judge determined the plaintiff’s alleged claims were plausible. In Van v. LLR, INC., d/b/a LuLaRoe et al., the plaintiff—an Alaska resident and customer of the defendant retailer—alleged she was improperly charged sales tax on clothing purchased from the out-of-state retailer’s “remote consultants” and shipped to her residence in Anchorage, Alaska. With no state sales tax in Alaska and few local sales taxes, the plaintiff claimed defendant retailer unlawfully collected sales tax on transactions shipped to Alaska for over a year.

Pennsylvania’s Agency Deference Bait and Switch: Synthes USA

Posted August 26, 2020

by Evan M. Hamme and Caroline Koo

Evan M. Hamme

Caroline Koo

This article was originally published by Tax Notes State.

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court released its decision in the much-anticipated Synthes USA HQ Inc. v. Commonwealth case July 24. The case addressed the proper interpretation of Pennsylvania’s sales factor sourcing statute in effect for tax years before 2014, which sourced service receipts to the location where the “income-producing activity” occurred. The commonwealth court deferred to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue’s interpretation, which construed income-producing activities to occur where the service provider’s customer receives the benefit of the services (benefits-received sourcing method).

New York Trial Court Finds State’s Attempt to Tax Storage Services Performed Entirely in New Jersey Arbitrary and Capricious

Posted August 24, 2020

by Zachary T. Atkins and Aruna Chittiappa

Zachary T. Atkins

Aruna Chittiappa

A New York trial court held that charges for storage services rendered in New Jersey were not subject to New York sales tax despite the fact that the property was originally picked up in New York. Vital Records, Inc. v. New York State Dep’t of Taxation & Finance, No. 900088-19 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Albany Cty. Aug. 19, 2020). The case was not heard by the New York State Division of Tax Appeals, which is the typical venue for state tax disputes. Instead, the vendor brought an action against the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (“Department”) and its executive deputy commissioner in a New York Supreme Court (trial court) seeking declaratory, injunctive, and other relief.

Tax Executives Institute New York Chapter State and Local Tax – Summer Update Virtual Meeting

Posted August 19, 2020

by Pillsbury SALT

Pillsbury SALT

TEI-NY-300x202 Pillsbury SALT attorneys Marc Simonetti, Carley Roberts and Nicole Boutros will present during TEI NY’s State and Local Tax Summer Update Meeting, sponsored by Pillsbury, on August 26.

Council on State Taxation’s Pacific Southwest Regional State Tax Webinar

Posted August 12, 2020

by Pillsbury SALT

Pillsbury SALT

cost-300x90 Pillsbury partners Jeff Vesely and Annie Huang will present “Market-Based Sourcing Issues in the Southwestern States with a Focus on California” during COST’s Pacific Southwest Regional State Tax Webinar on August 27.

Council on State Taxation’s 2020 State and Local Tax Webinar for Technology Companies

Posted August 11, 2020

by Pillsbury SALT

Pillsbury SALT

cost-300x90 COST’s 2020 conference for technology companies will provide 6 hours of topics which will cover the key state and local tax issues that technology companies (both start-up and established) are facing over the span of 3 days. Continue Reading ›

California Court of Appeal Concludes That a Trust With a Non-California Trustee May Be Subject to Tax on All of Its Gain from the Sale of Stock

Posted August 6, 2020

by Annie H. Huang and Jeffrey M. Vesely

Annie H. Huang

Jeffrey M. Vesely

The California Court of Appeal recently came down with a published decision in the Paula Trust case, a case involving the taxation of trusts and limited partners—two very nettlesome issues in California. (Steuer v. Franchise Tax Board, No. A154691, 2020 BL 240383 (Cal. Ct. App. 6/29/20)). The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court and held that the trust was taxable on the entire capital gain generated from the sale of stock in various businesses. The case involves California’s unique and somewhat confusing system of taxing trusts. Generally speaking, the taxability of a trust is dependent upon the residency of fiduciaries (i.e., trustee) and beneficiaries. In this case, there were two trustees—one who was a California resident and one who was a Maryland resident, along with a contingent beneficiary who was a California resident.

D.C. Council Abandons Digital Advertising Sales Tax Proposal

Posted July 30, 2020

by Aruna Chittiappa

Aruna Chittiappa

The District of Columbia Council finalized the 2021 fiscal year budget yesterday, which removed the recently enacted digital advertising tax. The Council’s July 28 vote formalized the elimination of a proposed 3% sales tax on gross receipts from traditional and digital advertising services and from the sale of personal information (e.g., IP addresses, , names, phone numbers, biometric data etc.). The proposal defined “digital advertising services” as “advertising services related to advertisements displayed on a digital interface, including advertisements in the form of banner advertising, search engine advertising, interstitial advertising, or other comparable advertising.” “Digital interface” was defined as “any combination of hardware and software that an individual may use to access internet-based platforms such as websites, parts of websites, or applications.”