State & Local
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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.
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June 20, 2024
Mich. Insurer Owes Tax On Mailed Ads, Appeals Court Says
A Michigan life insurance company owes use tax on advertisements mailed by an out-of-state contractor, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, upholding a lower court's decision.
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June 20, 2024
Ore. Water Treatment Plant Not On Farmland, Tax Court Says
Portions of farmland used for a wastewater treatment facility were correctly denied a special farm-use assessment rate, the Oregon Tax Court said, allowing the special rate for other contested areas of the property.
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June 20, 2024
Ind. Car Wash Valued Correctly, State Tax Board Says
An Indiana car wash was correctly valued by the local tax board as the property owner failed to provide market evidence to support a reduction in its assessment, the state tax review board determined.
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June 20, 2024
Group To Appeal Rejection Of Suit Against Colo. Funding Law
Colorado's law creating fees to fund transportation enterprises violates the state's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, a conservative group suing to throw out the fees told a state court, saying it was appealing to the state Court of Appeals.
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June 20, 2024
Ark. Cuts Income Tax Rates, Expands Homestead Credit
Arkansas cut its income tax rates and increased its homestead property tax credit under a bill signed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
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June 20, 2024
Casinos Must Fight Hotel Tax In State Court, 5th Circ. Says
Owners of two Louisiana casinos with attached hotels must challenge Baton Rouge in state court, rather than federal court, over taxes the city says they owe on free hotel stays they gave patrons, the Fifth Circuit ruled, saying the state is entitled to deference.
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June 20, 2024
Nationwide Wins Mich. Combined Filing Tax Fight On Appeal
Nationwide entities can file as a unitary business in Michigan to share tax credits across their group members, the state Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, overturning a state tax tribunal decision that said insurance companies were required to file separate returns.
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June 20, 2024
Repatriation Tax Doesn't Violate Constitution, Justices Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the 2017 federal tax overhaul's mandatory repatriation levy on Thursday, finding the measure applies to the earnings of foreign corporations with U.S. shareholders and therefore does not raise constitutional questions about taxing unrealized income.
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June 18, 2024
The 2 Attys Ensnared In A NJ Mogul's Racketeering Rap
New Jersey businessman George E. Norcross III may be the alleged mastermind of a racketeering scheme to reap millions in tax credits on waterfront property in a distressed city, but the explosive indictment also reveals the purported roles of two attorneys with close ties to the Democratic Party.
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June 18, 2024
Ore. To Adopt IRS' Free E-File Program For 2025 Season
Oregon will participate in the Internal Revenue Service's Direct File free online tax filing program when it returns for the 2025 filing season, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS announced Tuesday.
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June 18, 2024
RI To Allow Sharing Info About Biz Entities' Tax Compliance
Rhode Island will allow its Division of Taxation to share information on business entities' tax compliance with the secretary of state's office under legislation signed by the governor.
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June 18, 2024
NM Appeals Court Says Co.'s Foreign Dividends Not Taxable
New Mexico's administrative hearing office erred in finding an oil and gas company must pay tax on its foreign dividend income as those subsidiaries aren't considered part of its unitary group, the state appeals court ruled.
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June 18, 2024
Okla. To Provide Tax Break For Digital Asset Mining Machinery
Oklahoma will provide a sales tax exemption for machinery used for commercial mining of digital assets under a bill signed by the governor.
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June 18, 2024
La. Tax Chief Backs Digital Goods Tax, Fewer Exemptions
Louisiana's top tax official told a state tax-writing panel Tuesday that eliminating tax exemptions while broadening the sales tax base to include digital goods and services could pay for cutting the state's personal and corporate income tax rates.
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June 18, 2024
Ariz. Tax Court Nixes Valuation Based On Crops Grown
An Arizona county assessor wrongly valued agricultural property based on the crops grown, subjecting the land to enormous valuation increases, the state Tax Court said.
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June 18, 2024
Colo., Tax Group Reach Tentative Ageement In Elections Case
A group challenging Colorado reporting laws for ballot measure advocates has tentatively settled its lawsuit, the group and state officials told a federal court.
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June 18, 2024
Kan. Legislators OK Fewer Tax Brackets, Rate Reductions
Kansas would go from three to two income tax brackets, exempt Social Security income from tax and reduce the bank privilege tax under a compromise omnibus bill passed by the Legislature on Tuesday.
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June 18, 2024
Ky. Church's Tax Protest Must Go Through Local Board
A Kentucky church must work through its property tax appeal with a local review board before the courts can review the issue, a state appeals court said, upholding a lower court ruling.
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June 18, 2024
Missouri Atty's Departure Dooms 2 Sales Tax Protests
The Missouri Court of Appeals denied two businesses' attempts to revive their sales tax protests Tuesday, saying the state Administrative Hearing Commission correctly dismissed the cases for failure to file status reports after the companies' attorney didn't provide notice that she had changed firms.
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June 18, 2024
Ariz. Developer Stuck With $467K Bill For City's Builder Tax
An Arizona developer who built 22 homes qualifies as an "owner-builder" for purposes of Phoenix's speculative builder tax and is liable for $467,000 in tax, interest and penalties, the state's tax court said.
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June 18, 2024
Va. General Revenue Through May Beats Last Year By $1.48B
Virginia general revenue collection from July through May was $1.48 billion higher than in the same period last fiscal year, according to the state Department of Accounts.
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June 18, 2024
Short-Term Rental Laws And The Litigation They've Sparked
Short-term rentals are a contentious topic in the U.S., disrupting the hospitality industry and sometimes the neighborhoods where they’re located. Here, Law360 Real Estate Authority rounds up the state and local policies involving short-term rentals and the ongoing cases challenging them.
Expert Analysis
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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Ohio Tax Talk: The Legislative Push For Property Tax Relief
As Ohio legislators attempt to alleviate the increasing property tax burden, four recent bills that could significantly affect homeowners propose to eliminate replacement property tax levies, freeze property taxes for longtime homeowners, adjust homestead exemptions annually for inflation, and temporarily expand the homestead exemption, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.
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Looking South With A Smile: SALT In Review
From Mississippi's long walk toward repealing its personal income tax to a welcome stroke for open government in Kentucky, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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Tax Assessment: Recapping Georgia's Legislative Session
Jonathan Feldman and Alla Raykin at Eversheds Sutherland examine tax-related changes from Georgia’s General Assembly — such as the governor’s successful push to accelerate income tax cuts — and suggest steps to take before certain tax incentives are challenged in the state's next legislative session.
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Geothermal Energy Has Growing Potential In The US
Bipartisan support for the geothermal industry shows that geothermal energy can be an elegant solution toward global decarbonization efforts because of its small footprint, low supply chain risk, and potential to draw on the skills of existing highly specialized oil and gas workers and renewable specialists, say attorneys at Weil.
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Bad Ideas That Won't Go Away: SALT In Review
From California's latest move toward a digital ad tax to Kansas' proposed tax credits for film production, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Trump Hush Money Case Offers Master Class In Trial Strategy
The New York criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump typifies some of the greatest challenges that lawyers face in crafting persuasive presentations, providing lessons on how to handle bad facts, craft a simple story that withstands attack, and cross-examine with that story in mind, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.