State & Local
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June 24, 2024
Conn. Gov. Calls Special Session To Address Tax On Cars
Connecticut's governor called on the state Legislature to convene a special session Wednesday to consider legislation affecting taxes imposed on motor vehicles and other provisions governing assessments on insurance companies and interest payments imposed on certain businesses that kept employees on payroll during the pandemic.
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June 24, 2024
MTC Modifies Draft Rule On Sourcing Trucking Receipts
The Multistate Tax Commission released a tweak to its draft alternative trucking sourcing rule that would strictly source receipts from ground transportation companies to the state of delivery during a meeting Monday.
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June 24, 2024
La. To Provide Sales Tax Rebates For Data Center Purchases
Louisiana will provide state and local sales and use tax rebates for taxes paid on the lease or purchase of eligible data center equipment and the development, acquisition or repair of qualified data centers under a bill signed by the governor.
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June 24, 2024
Hawaii Lowers Pass-Through Tax, Allows Credit Carryover
Hawaii cut the rate of tax it imposes on pass-through entities that elect to be taxed at the entity level and will allow pass-through tax credits to be carried forward to subsequent years under a bill signed by the governor.
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June 24, 2024
Tax Preparers Win Recommendation For Class Cert. In OT Suit
A group of tax preparers have met the requirements to form a class in a suit accusing their former employer of failing to pay overtime, a New York federal magistrate judge said, rejecting the employer's argument that their request for class status came too late.
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June 24, 2024
NM Sued Over Sustainable Building Credit Award Process
A New Mexico apartment complex alleges that the state violated its due process rights after it was denied sustainable building tax credits for most of its units, according to a complaint filed in federal court.
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June 24, 2024
Mass. Tax Board Won't Trim Home Value Over Area Conditions
A Massachusetts homeowner's testimony of the poor condition of nearby properties was insufficient to lower his home's assessed value, a state tax panel said in a decision released Monday, upholding the value found by a local assessor.
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June 24, 2024
Ariz. Includes New Jet Fuels In Definition For Excise Tax
Arizona expanded the definition of jet fuel subject to the state's 3.05-cent-per-gallon excise tax under legislation signed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
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June 24, 2024
La. Cuts Severance Tax Rates On Certain Oil, Gas Production
Louisiana will temporarily reduce its severance tax rates on production from inactive and orphan oil and gas wells under a bill the governor signed.
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June 21, 2024
Supreme Court Leaves Lifeline For Billionaire Income Tax
The U.S. Supreme Court narrowed but did not entirely block the path to billionaire income tax legislation when the majority's opinion declined to weigh constitutional questions about taxing unrealized gains in its decision to uphold a mandatory repatriation levy.
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June 21, 2024
Vt. Lawmakers Override Veto Of Short-Term Rental Surcharge
Vermont legislators overrode the governor's veto of legislation that imposes a 3% surcharge on short-term rentals.
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June 21, 2024
Ore. High Court Affirms Tax On Out-Of-State Tobacco Co.
An out-of-state tobacco company is liable for Oregon's excise tax, the state high court said, agreeing with the Oregon Tax Court that the company's in-state sales activities nullified protections in federal law against triggering state taxation.
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June 21, 2024
Texas Justices Say Settlement Doesn't Bar Oncor's Tax Fight
A settlement agreement doesn't preclude Texas power company Oncor from seeking to correct the value of its electric transmission lines on county appraisal rolls, the state's high court ruled Friday, weighing in on a dispute that divided two lower appeals courts.
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June 21, 2024
Ohio House Bill Would Tax Car Condos As Residential Parcels
Ohio would classify car condominiums as residential property for property tax purposes under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
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June 21, 2024
Ex-Chicago Alderman Burke Can't Delay Sentencing
Former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke can't postpone his Monday sentencing on charges of racketeering, extortion and bribery to await a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the scope of federal bribery law, an Illinois federal judge ruled Friday, saying that decision will have "little or no impact" on Burke's fate.
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June 21, 2024
Ex-Mass. Pol Hit With New Charges In COVID Fraud Case
A former Massachusetts state senator already accused of pandemic-related fraud has been charged alongside his sister with attempting to cover up a scheme to make him eligible for unemployment benefits, the U.S. attorney's office announced Friday.
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June 21, 2024
Ohio Board Says Zoning Change Doesn't Cut Properties' Value
The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals rejected on Friday arguments from an owner of five parcels that changes to their zoning that occurred within a year of when they were purchased warranted reducing the properties' values below their sales prices.
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June 21, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Travers Smith, Potamitis Vekris
In this week's Taxation With Representation, RSK Group Ltd. gets a £500 million ($632 million) investment, Boston Scientific Corp. acquires Silk Road Medical Inc., Masdar takes a part of Terna Energy SA, and Tate & Lyle PLC buys CP Kelco from JM Huber Corp.
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June 20, 2024
Trump Calls For Engoron's Recusal In Civil Fraud Case
Former President Donald Trump and other defendants fighting a $465 million civil fraud judgment called on New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron to recuse himself Thursday in light of a once-suspended real estate attorney's recent judicial misconduct claims, which have since sparked a judicial investigation.
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June 20, 2024
Nebraska Net Revenue Misses Estimate By $49M
Nebraska's net general fund receipts for July through May came in $49 million below a budget projection, according to a monthly report by the state Department of Revenue.
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June 20, 2024
La. Tax Agency Proposes Expanding Informal Payment Plans
Louisiana taxpayers with less than $50,000 in taxes due would be able to pay over five years in an informal installment plan, the Louisiana Department of Revenue said in a proposed rule that would increase the current threshold.
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June 20, 2024
NY High Court To Review Tax On Co.'s Ad Analysis Services
New York's highest court agreed Thursday to hear a research company's appeal of a lower court's finding that its services that measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns constitute taxable information services.
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June 20, 2024
Ind. Rental Property Value Incorrectly Increased, Board Says
An Indiana rental property's assessment will be reduced to its value from a previous tax year because the local assessor's market-based rent analysis failed to support an increased valuation, the state tax review board determined.
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June 20, 2024
Online Photos Not Proof Of Taxable Sales, Miss. Justices Told
A Mississippi trial court erred in ruling that a couple's yard sale transactions were taxable as the decision relied upon Facebook photos used by the state tax department as evidence, the couple told the state Supreme Court.
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June 20, 2024
Ariz. Delays Certification Of 3rd-Party Sales Tax Sourcing
Arizona delayed by two years the implementation of a recently enacted requirement that the state Department of Revenue create a certification process for third-party providers of sales tax sourcing services under a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
![Flanked by family members and attorneys, former Ald. Edward Burke (14th) walks out of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse after being found guilty of racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023 in Chicago. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)](https://assets.law360news.com/1850000/1850708/e595faac4dc63a75a8eddb8d5a4f65128fd8c288-aptopix_former_alderman-corruption-chicago_33281.jpg)
Ex-Chicago Alderman Gets Two Years For Boosting Law Firm
An Illinois federal judge on Monday sentenced former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke to two years in prison and fined him $2 million for using his official position to steer tax business to his personal law firm, closing what prosecutors called "another sordid chapter" in the city's history of public corruption.
![Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly had vetoed previous tax legislation, then called a special legislative session, which resulted in the bill she signed Friday. (Photo by Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)](https://assets.law360news.com/1849000/1849975/26947dd59bad41cab8e82a1ea604451bfacfbfdf-kansas-gov.-laura-kelly.jpg)
Kansas Adopts Fewer Tax Brackets, Reduces Bank Tax
Kansas will go from three to two income tax brackets, reduce the state's bank privilege tax and make other tax changes under a bill signed Friday by Gov. Laura Kelly, who previously had resisted shifting to two brackets.
![An exterior of the State Capitol is shown in Sacramento, Calif. on Friday Sept. 15, 2023. California lawmakers finished their work for the year on Thursday. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)](https://assets.law360news.com/1849000/1849310/93ec451863b052aa31550b3c64c090abb9f2ef90-california_legislature_63909.jpg)
Calif. High Court Strikes Anti-Tax Measure From Nov. Ballot
A ballot measure that would make it more difficult to raise taxes in California would revise the state constitution and cannot be enacted by citizen initiative, the state's highest court held Thursday in an opinion that ordered the measure struck from the ballot.
Editor's Pick
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Law360 Revenue Report Map Tracks Health Of State Coffers
As state coffers fluctuate because of federal pandemic aid drying up, demographics shifting and remote work becoming commonplace, Law360 Tax Authority is providing up-to-date coverage on state tax revenue with the launch of its Revenue Report Map.
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Nev. Sales Tax Revenue In Jan. Rises $23.8M From Last Year
Nevada brought in $23.8 million more in sales tax revenue in January than in the same month last year, the state Department of Taxation said in a monthly report.
Featured Stories
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Supreme Court Leaves Lifeline For Billionaire Income Tax
The U.S. Supreme Court narrowed but did not entirely block the path to billionaire income tax legislation when the majority's opinion declined to weigh constitutional questions about taxing unrealized gains in its decision to uphold a mandatory repatriation levy.
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The Tax Angle: More GOP TCJA Teams, Nonprofit Hospitals
From a look at efforts by the Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee to prepare for next year's expiration of the 2017 tax overhaul law to a new call for nonprofit hospitals to provide more charity care, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few of the week's developing tax stories.
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Staffing Hurdles Could Slow Impact Of IRS Audit Boost
The Internal Revenue Service's intended ramping up of enforcement on wealthy people, large corporations and complex partnerships may not have a meaningful impact in the short term because of challenges in hiring and training people to do the work.
Expert Analysis
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Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers
BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.
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Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence
As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Credit Cards And Trading Cards: SALT In Review
From Mastercard's loss in a South Carolina court case to the taxability of trading cards imported to California, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Calif. Budget Will Likely Have Unexpected Tax Consequences
A temporary suspension of net operating loss deductions and business incentive tax credits, likely to be approved on June 15 as part of California’s next budget, may create unanticipated tax liabilities for businesses that modeled recently completed transactions on current law, says Myra Sutanto Shen at Wilson Sonsini.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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How Cannabis Rescheduling May Alter Paraphernalia Imports
The Biden administration's recent proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana use raises questions about how U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement policies may shift when it comes to enforcing a separate federal ban on marijuana accessory imports, says R. Kevin Williams at Clark Hill.
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Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.