State & Local

Expert Analysis

• 3 Principles Should Guide MTC's Digital Products Tax Work

  

  As the Multistate Tax Commission's project to harmonize sales tax on digital products moves forward, three key principles will help the commission's work group arrive at unambiguous definitions and help states avoid unintended costs, say Charles Kearns and Jeffrey Friedman at Eversheds Sutherland.

• OECD Treatment Of Purchased Ga. Film Credits Isn't Peachy

  

  Producers considering Georgia as a prospective location for filming may already be concerned that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's July decision will hamper the eventual 2026 or later sale of their Georgia film tax credits, says Alan Lederman at Gunster.

• A Milestone For Offshore Wind In Maine

  

  Recently signed legislation directing Maine to procure up to 3 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2040 offers indisputable promise that the state will soon welcome commercial-scale offshore wind development off its shores, says Joshua Rosen at Foley Hoag.

• Mallory Ruling Doesn't Undermine NC Sales Tax Holding

  

  Contrary to the conclusion reached in a recent Law360 guest article, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Mallory ruling shouldn't be read as implicitly repudiating the North Carolina Supreme Court’s sales tax ruling in Quad Graphics v. North Carolina Department of Revenue — the U.S. Supreme Court could have rejected Quad by directly overturning it, says Jonathan Entin at Case Western Reserve.

• Calif. Policymakers Should Aid Crashing Cannabis Market

  

  As California’s cannabis sector nears the brink of financial collapse, it may be time for the state government to seriously consider potential bailout programs for the embattled industry — though the crisis also presents strategic buying opportunities for those with a high tolerance for uncertainty, says Michelle Mabugat at Greenberg Glusker.

• What Came Of Texas Legislature's Long-Promised Tax Relief

  

  Following promises of historic tax relief made possible by a record budget surplus, the Texas legislative session as a whole was one in which taxpayers that are large businesses could have done somewhat better, but the new legislation is clearly still a positive, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

• Looking Behind The Curtain Of Residential Transition Loans

  

  As residential transition loans and securitizations of such loans grow increasingly popular, real estate stakeholders should take care to understand both the unique features and potential challenges offered by this novel asset class, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

• Where Tax Policies Go Wrong: SALT In Review

  

  RSM's David Brunori reviews the worst tax policies employed by state and local governments, then critiques recent tax developments in Oregon, New York and Boston.

• Mallory Opinion Implicitly Overturned NC Sales Tax Ruling

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review Quad Graphics v. North Carolina Department of Revenue, but importantly kicked the legs from under Quad's outcome a week later, stating in its Mallory decision that the high court has the prerogative to overrule its own decisions, says Richard Pomp at the University of Connecticut.

• Delicious In Conn., Less Tasty In La.: SALT In Review

  

  From Connecticut reducing its beer tax to Louisiana retaining its franchise tax, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.

• Review Of Repatriation Tax Sets Justices On Slippery Slope

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to review the constitutionality of the repatriation tax in Moore v. U.S. has implications for many tax rules involving unrealized amounts and could leave the court on the brink of invalidating large swaths of the Internal Revenue Code, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

• How To Avoid A Zombie Office Building Apocalypse

  

  With national office vacancy rates approaching 20%, policymakers, investors and developers will need to come together in order to prevent this troubling trend from sucking the life out of business districts or contaminating the broader real estate market, say Ryan Sommers and Robyn Minter Smyers at Thompson Hine.

• Ohio Tax Talk: Building On Federal Affordable Housing Credit

  

  Ohio's soon-to-be-implemented low-income housing tax credit could significantly affect the state's affordable housing landscape and influence tax-credit deal financing for these projects, though Senate changes may have dampened the new credit's immense potential, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.