The California Office of Tax Appeals (OTA)—in a 3-0 pending precedential opinion granting the Appeal of Jali, LLC—has rejected the Franchise Tax Board’s (FTB) 0.2 percent ownership threshold as the new bright-line standard for determining whether an out-of-state LLC member is actively “doing business” (and thereby required to file and…
Articles Posted in California
California Appellate Court Holds Abercrombie Sought to Create Rather than Eliminate Discriminatory Tax Reporting Treatment
The Fifth Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal has struck another blow to taxpayers claiming California unconstitutionally discriminates against interstate commerce by permitting intrastate unitary businesses to file using either a combined reporting method or separate accounting method, while requiring interstate unitary businesses to file under the combined…
California Prop C Taxpayers Should File Protective Refund Claims
(This article originally was published by Law360 on August 21, 2019.) The repercussions of the California Supreme Court’s August 2017 opinion in California Cannabis Coalition, et al. v. City of Upland, et al.1 continue to reverberate, leading San Francisco’s business taxpayers to wonder what practical precautions to consider. In a February article, we analyzed…
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…
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…
“California Municipal Gross Receipts Taxes”
Craig A. Becker presents “California Municipal Gross Receipts Taxes” at the Palo Alto Chamber Business Connections Group event.
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…
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…
“California Law: The Case of the Overburdened Taxpayer”
On March 26, Carley Roberts presents “California Law: The Case of the Overburdened Taxpayer” at the CalTax 93rd Annual Meeting in Sacramento.
State Income Tax Issues
Pillsbury attorneys speak on a number of tax-related issues at the TEI Mergers & Acquisitions Seminar on March 7. Topics include Corporate, Sales/Use Tax, State Income Tax, Federal Income Tax, Property/Transfer Taxes, Regulatory, and Employment and Labor.