SeeSALT BlogIn 1993, the California Legislature amended Revenue and Taxation Code (RTC) sections 6011 and 6012 to exclude from California sales and use tax amounts charged for intangible personal property transferred with a technology transfer agreement (TTA) if the TTA separately stated a reasonable price for the tangible personal property (TPP). Nine years later, the State Board of Equalization (SBE) adopted Regulation 1507, Technology Transfer Agreements, to implement and interpret the TTA statutes and to incorporate the California Supreme Court’s holding in Preston v. State Board of Equalization, 25 Cal.4th 197 (2001). Subsequent litigation over the next 13 years in Nortel Networks, Inc. v. State Board of Equalization, 191 Cal.App.4th 1259 (2011) and Lucent Technologies, Inc. v. State Board of Equalization, 241 Cal.App.4th 19 (2015), invalidated portions of Regulation 1507, as well as Regulation 1502 (Computers, Programs and Data Processing). In the nine years since the Lucent decision, the SBE and its successor, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA), have been engaged in a seemingly endless regulation project.
Articles Posted in States
Carveouts Count! Taxpayer Wins New Mexico Statutory Carveout Issue Regarding Unity
The New Mexico Court of Appeals has held that a multinational oil and gas production company did not constitute a “unitary corporation” with its foreign subsidiaries, pursuant to statutory carve-out language regarding the term “unitary corporation.”
New Jersey Tax Court Approves Use of Market-Based Sourcing for Years Prior to Legislature’s Adoption of Market-Based Sourcing
The New Jersey Tax Court held that a taxpayer was entitled to a refund of corporation business tax (CBT) for tax years 2011 and 2012 after determining the taxpayer correctly used a market-based sourcing methodology to source service receipts to New Jersey. In its unpublished April 11, 2024, opinion, the court rejected the argument that the law and regulations in effect during the tax years at issue, which preceded 2018 legislation adopting market-based sourcing, required the use of a cost of performance (COP) methodology.
Tennessee Taxpayers Could Reap Billions in Past and Future Tax Savings
Zack Atkins’ comments in Law360 Tax Authority regarding newly passed legislation in Tennessee that could provide taxpayers with up to $1.6 billion in rebates for portions of three years of past payments and up to $400 million in new savings each year.
Read more here.
California’s 2024-2025 Budget Seeks to Block $1.3 Billion of Refunds for Water’s Edge Taxpayers, Suspend NOL Deductions, and Limit Tax Credit Utilization
The May Revision of California’s 2024-2025 state budget seeks to block refund claims, worth approximately $1.3 billion for historical tax years, and $200 million per year going forward, by codifying informal guidance recently rejected by the Office of Tax Appeal’s (OTA) decision in the Matter of the Appeal of Microsoft Corporation & Subsidiaries (Appeal of Microsoft) and by granting the Franchise Tax Board’s (FTB) quasi-legislative rulemaking authority exempt from the procedural protections afforded by the Administrative Procedure Act. The May Revision also proposes to suspend net operating loss (NOL) deductions and limit tax credit utilization to $5 million per year for tax years 2025-2027; however, the legislature proposes to apply the changes to tax years 2024-2026 instead.
Proposed Initiative to Amend San Francisco Business Taxes
A proposed initiative (available here) is being circulated to place on the November 5, 2024 ballot, an ordinance amending the Business and Tax Regulations Code effective January 1, 2025.
New Jersey Issues Guidance on Adoption of Federal Partnership Audit Regime
On April 5, 2024, the New Jersey Division of Taxation issued guidance discussing New Jersey’s adoption of the federal centralized partnership audit regime enacted as part of the federal Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, P.L. 114-74. The guidance was released over a year after the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey approved P.L. 2022, c. 133 on December 22, 2022. This law applies to any adjustments to a taxpayer’s federal taxable income on or after January 1, 2020.
South Carolina Legislature Forces New Standards for Forced Combination on Revenue Department
Under a new bill signed into law on March 11, 2024, the South Carolina Department of Revenue will have to satisfy additional standards before it may force affiliated corporate taxpayers to file a unitary combined return. These new standards, enacted as part of Senate Bill 298, are expected to rein in the Department’s aggressive use of forced combination, which has led to considerable tax controversy in the state.
Reminder: “Gross” Does Not Mean “Net” – California OTA Holds All Repatriated Dividends Must Be Included in Sales Factor
The California Office of Tax Appeals (OTA), in a decision marked “not precedential” in the Matter of the Appeal of Microsoft Corporation & Subsidiaries, held 100 percent of repatriated dividends under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) must be included in the taxpayer’s sales factor denominator.
- First, the OTA rejected the “matching principle” included in FTB Ruling 2006-01, and supported its holding based primarily on the plain language of Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 25120(f)(2), and legislative history.
- Second, the OTA rejected the FTB’s argument that repatriated dividends constitute a substantial and occasional sale of property under FTB Regulation 25137(c)(1)(A).
- Last, the OTA determined the FTB failed to carry its burden to show the taxpayer’s inclusion of 100 percent of repatriated dividends in the sales factor denominator is distortive under Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 25137.
- Anyone may submit a request to the OTA requesting the decision be marked “precedential.”
Winter Storm Relief – California’s 2024 Extended Deadlines to File and Pay Taxes
The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB), California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) and California Employment Development Department (EDD) announced tax relief for certain California counties affected by severe winter storms.