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State & Local

  • July 31, 2025

    La. Co.'s Tobacco Wraps Not Subject To Higher Excise Rate

    Louisiana's increased tobacco excise tax rate doesn't apply to a tobacco wholesaler's sales of wraps because the wraps are considered nonsmoking tobacco products, the state Board of Tax Appeals found, overruling the state Department of Revenue.

  • July 31, 2025

    Ore. Farm Tax Break Wrongly Denied, Court Says

    An Oregon property was wrongly disqualified from a tax break for farm use, the state's tax court said, agreeing with the owners that the county assessor failed to take the required steps for its decision, including a site visit.

  • July 31, 2025

    Ind. Meat Co. Can Have Use Exemption, Dept. Says In Reversal

    An Indiana meat packing company should be allowed a use tax exemption for cooler and freezer equipment because the equipment qualifies for a predominant use exemption, the Department of State Revenue said, reversing its earlier determination.

  • July 30, 2025

    Peacock Says Maryland's Digital Ad Tax Violates ITFA

    Maryland's digital advertising tax violates the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act by applying only to electronic commerce, Peacock TV told the state tax court Wednesday, providing witnesses who highlighted similarities between digital and traditional advertising methods.

  • July 30, 2025

    Tax Overhaul Is Mixed Bag For Interest Expense Deductions

    Companies that are eager to increase their interest expense deductions under the new federal tax overhaul may end up with a smaller tax break than expected due to how the law factors their foreign income into the deduction calculation.

  • July 30, 2025

    Groups Warn IRS Policy Shift Could Beget Dark Money Deluge

    Leaders of national nonprofit organizations said Wednesday that the IRS' efforts to weaken a 71-year-old tax law banning churches from endorsing political candidates would lead to unlimited amounts of untraceable campaign contributions flowing through the nonprofit sector.

  • July 30, 2025

    Dechert Adds Tax Pro From PwC In DC

    Dechert LLP has continued to grow its financial services platform in Washington, D.C., with the hire of a partner from PwC.

  • July 30, 2025

    Ore. Clarifies Info Disclosure For Enterprise Zone Tax Breaks

    Oregon specified which of a business's records are exempt from disclosure when applying for an enterprise zone property tax exemption and clarified eligibility requirements under a bill signed by the governor.

  • July 30, 2025

    Car Dealer Seeks Oral Arguments In Ohio High Court Tax Fight

    A West Virginia car dealer should be able to present its case in its Ohio commercial activity tax fight to the Ohio Supreme Court in oral arguments, the dealer told the justices Wednesday.

  • July 30, 2025

    Michigan General Revenue Through June Up $901M

    Michigan's general revenue fund revenue from October through June outpaced last year's collection by $901 million, according to the State Budget Office in a report released Wednesday.

  • July 29, 2025

    Conn. Resident Asks NY Panel To Negate Tax On Remote Work

    A Connecticut resident who teaches at a New York university asked a New York state appeals court to grant him a tax refund for days he worked from home, arguing the state unconstitutionally stretched its taxing authority into Connecticut, according to a petition made public Tuesday.

  • July 29, 2025

    Mass. Couple's Push For Lower Home Value Falls Short

    A Massachusetts couple's claim that their home was dated and overvalued by a local assessor was rejected by a state board, which found shortcomings in their sales comparison analysis.

  • July 29, 2025

    DC Council Rejects Capital Gains Tax Boost In Budget

    Washington, D.C., council members narrowly rejected a proposal to impose a capital gains surcharge on high-income earners, passing a funding package that would block the district's earned income tax credit and expand gambling.

  • July 29, 2025

    State & Local Tax Atty Rejoins Pillsbury In San Francisco

    Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP continues expanding its tax team, welcoming a state and local tax expert who worked several years as a solo practitioner back to the firm as a partner in its San Francisco office.

  • July 29, 2025

    Colo. Conservative Group Says New OT Law Violates TABOR

    Colorado's new overtime law, which requires overtime deducted from federal gross income to be added back to a taxpayer's federal taxable income for state income tax, violates the state's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, a conservative advocacy group told a state district court.

  • July 29, 2025

    Calif. Allows Retroactive Tax Exclusion For Solar Property

    California will allow the purchaser of a new property a three-year window to apply for a property tax exclusion for solar energy systems under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

  • July 29, 2025

    Utah Justices Back Tax On Spouse Of University Student

    The husband of a Utah resident is on the hook to pay income tax despite having resided in another state, the Utah Supreme Court said, ruling that because his wife was attending college in the state, he also qualified as a domiciled resident.

  • July 29, 2025

    NJ Offers Penalty, Interest Waivers For Nonresident Partners

    Partnerships with nonresident partners that owe New Jersey tax can request relief from late filing penalties and interest on underpayments of estimated taxes if they have calculated tax based on a former method that was altered in 2024, the state tax agency said.

  • July 29, 2025

    Calif. Extends Filing Allowance For Taxpayers Without SSNs

    California indefinitely extended provisions of a preexisting law allowing nonresidents without a Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number to file state income tax returns or be included on group returns under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

  • July 28, 2025

    Trade Group Asks NY Appeals Court To Void PL 86-272 Rules

    A business trade group asked a New York state appeals court to negate a state regulation that outlines when out-of-state businesses' online activities exceed P.L. 86-272's state income tax protections, arguing that a lower court incorrectly found the rule wasn't preempted by the federal statute.

  • July 28, 2025

    NY Tax On Verizon Services Is Barred, Tribunal Affirms

    New York's imposition of gross receipts tax on certain Verizon services is preempted by the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act, and the company is not liable for about $12 million in additional tax, the state's Tax Appeals Tribunal affirmed in a decision obtained Monday by Law360.

  • July 28, 2025

    SALT Cap Complexity Could Rewrite Tax Planning Strategies

    The new $40,000 cap on state and local tax deductibility in the GOP's 2025 tax overhaul will likely prompt a new wave of strategic tax planning activity among wealthy business owners and individuals seeking to maximize their deductions and make use of state-level workarounds before the temporary relief expires.

  • July 28, 2025

    Jones Walker Launches In Minnesota With Tax Partner Hire

    Jones Walker LLP announced its first expansion into the state of Minnesota with the hire of an experienced tax partner from Fredrikson & Byron PA who also spent nearly a decade with PwC.

  • July 28, 2025

    10th Circ. Says Carbon Group Can't Appeal Tax Assessment

    An entity that owns interest in a carbon producer can't appeal a $2 million tax assessment made by a Colorado county on a carbon unit operator that the entity owns interest in because the federal court doesn't have jurisdiction, the Tenth Circuit said Monday.

  • July 28, 2025

    Neb. Tax Board Backs Assessment Of Vacant Commercial Lots

    A Nebraska county correctly valued three vacant commercial lots at a combined $540,000, despite the owners' claim that the parcels were purchased for a fraction of that amount, the state Tax Equalization and Review Commission said.

Expert Analysis

  • This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Letting The People Decide: SALT In Review

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    RSM's David Brunori offers a look at tax-related ballot questions before the voters in 16 states this fall.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Colorado Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    In the third quarter of 2024, Colorado's banking and financial services sector faced both regulatory updates and changes to state law due to recent federal court decisions — with consequences for local governments, mortgage lenders, state-chartered trust companies and federally chartered lenders serving Colorado consumers, says Sarah Auchterlonie at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics

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    Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.

  • It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers

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    Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.

  • Frames Of Deference: SALT In Review

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    From a challenge to New York state regulations that follows on the end of Chevron deference to a court ruling siding with the Nebraska Revenue Department's view of a tax deduction, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.

  • Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls

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    Despite the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's continued release of guidance for complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, its interpretation remains in flux, making it important for companies to understand potentially problematic areas of ambiguity in the practical application of the law, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • Local Taxes And Repercussions: SALT In Review

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    From a study of local taxes to news that corporations will relocate to tax-friendlier places, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.

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