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Articles Posted in California

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The 5 Supermajority Tax Challenges Facing California

(This article originally was published by Law360 on July 22, 2019.) On July 5, the San Francisco Superior Court issued a pair of rulings in favor of the city and county of San Francisco, finding that two local special taxes introduced by voter initiatives were valid even though they passed…

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COST’s Inaugural 2019 State and Local Tax Workshop for Technology Companies

On July 23-24, members of Pillsbury SALT will lead discussions at COST’s much anticipated state and local tax technology workshop in Foster City, Calif. This one-and-a-half day event promises to deliver in-depth state and local tax content tailored to technology businesses—everything from startups to long established companies. The varied presentations…

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California Governor Signs Marketplace Facilitator Legislation, Preview to New Rules

TAKEAWAYS New legislation sets California’s sales and use tax economic nexus threshold to $500,000. New legislation creates Marketplace Facilitator Act, statutorily defining marketplace facilitators as retailers and sellers. On April 25, 2019, California enacted comprehensive marketplace facilitator legislation. Many said last fall this would be an impossible feat given the…

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California Business Tax May Provide High Court Nexus Test

(This article was originally published by Law360 on April 16, 2019.) In recent years, many have openly criticized California for its income tax litigating position involving out-of-state companies that hold passive, minority interests in pass-through entities doing business in California. The state argues these out-of-state companies are doing business in California…

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The Upland Ripple Effect: A California Supermajority Tax Showdown

Despite the narrow issue it originally addressed, the August 2017 decision by the California Supreme Court in California Cannabis Coal. v. City of Upland has sparked a much larger debate regarding whether local special taxes introduced by voter initiative are subject to the long-standing requirement in the California Constitution that…

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Transparency Versus Confidentiality in 2019 Tax Disputes

(This article was originally published by Law360 on January 15, 2019.) The growing tension between government promises of transparency and taxpayers’ right to confidentiality is likely to continue in 2019. Although the spirit of government transparency to enhance public access is well-meaning, this lofty goal often conflicts with taxpayer confidentiality and…

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Revisiting California Tax Residency after the TCJA

(This article originally appeared in the Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives, Vol. 28, No. 9.) The question of whether or not an individual is a resident of a particular state has always been an important issue in the area of state personal income taxation. California, because of its top marginal…