State Tax Alerts - This Week's Stories Worth a Second Look

Rusty Little


In case you missed them, the following is a summary of a few key state tax developments, news articles, and observations during the past week:

• Still Alive and Kickin’: “Cost of Performance” Sourcing for Sales - While many states are moving away from the cost of performance approach in favor of marketplace sourcing, cost of performance is still alive and kickin’. Re-discover some of the benefits and considerations of using cost of performance and examine whether an opportunity still exists to take advantage. Read entire SALT To Taste article here.
• The Marketplace Equity Act was introduced to Congress this week. This new online sales tax collection bill differs from the Mainstreet Fairness Act in many ways – from the Tax Foundation Tax Policy Blog
• eBay Voices Disapproval of Current Internet Sales Tax Bills – from eBay’s public policy blog
• The New York Department of Taxation and Finance will eliminate 37 of its 42 in-house legal counsel positions (no, that’s not a typo – this will have major ramifications in a lot of areas) – from timesunion.com
• How will the IRS amnesty program to convert independent contractors to employees affect the state treatment? Article from Forbes
• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Files for Bankruptcy – from Businessweek

SALT To Taste: Still Alive and Kickin': "Cost of Performance" Sourcing for Sales

Kellie Lanford; Marshal Kline

While many states are moving away from the cost of performance approach in favor of marketplace sourcing, cost of performance is still alive and kickin'.  Re-discover some of the benefits and considerations of using cost of performance and examine whether an opportunity still exists to take advantage.

Read our latest newsletter here.

State Tax Alerts - This Week's Stories Worth a Second Look

Rusty Little

A few state tax developments, blog posts, news articles, and observations from the past week:

• Surprise, Surprise, Surprise . . . state tax auditors are looking at your company website - Avoid surprises!
• Indiana Tax Court Issues Interesting Opinion on Sourcing of “Dock Sales” - from Tax Executives Institute's Daniel De Jong
• Ohio's consumer use tax amnesty program begins Oct 1, 2011 - click here for the details
• New York is the 48th state to do this:  Cuomo Signs Mobility Law for New York CPAs - from Accounting Today 
• IRS to roll-out fingerprinting process for preparer registration program - From CPA Letter Daily 
• Momentum grows to swap income tax for sales tax in states - from the Kansas City Star 
• States Pursue Sales Tax Revenue Vanishing Into Computing Cloud - from Bloomberg
• Bloomberg to acquire BNA for $990 million - from Washington Post
• H&R Block to sell RSM McGladrey back to McGladrey & Pullen - from Boston Business Journal

Reminder - Dow Lohnes Price launched its new website design this week at www.dlptax.com.  Check it out when you have a minute.

State Tax Alerts - This Week's Stories Worth a Second Look

Rusty Little
In case you missed it, the following is a summary of a few key state tax developments, news articles, and observations during the past week:

• Amnesty Alert: MEDIA COMPANIES Voluntary Disclosure Initiative in New Jersey Details here
• The New Jersey Supreme Court Determined That "You Can't Throw Out The Baby With The Bath Water" More here
• Tax Patents: What's Good for the Goose May Not Be Good for the Gander - More here
• The Tax Foundation notes that the Texas margin tax experiment is failing due to collection shortfalls, perceived unfairness for taxing unprofitable and small businesses, and confusing Rules. More here

The past few weekends, many states have had their annual back-to-school sales tax holidays.  Since these sales tax holidays are top of mind right now, they are a popular subject in the mainstream media.  But wait, here are a couple of articles that conclude sales tax holidays may not be such a great idea:

• The True Cost of State Sales Tax Holidays - Article from TheStreet.com here

• Sales Tax Holidays: Not All that Meets the Eye - Article from FOXBusiness here

Tax Apportionment Shift Hits Multistate Companies

Geoff Christian comments on a troublesome area of state taxation for multistate businesses and how income is apportioned among various states in an interview with CFO magazine.

Click here to read the full article.

A Perspective on Change - Where Does Fair Apportionment Stand?

In the November/December issue of Journal of State Taxation, Geoffrey Christian and James Helms explore the concept of fair apportionment in light of Media General Communications, Inc. et al. v. South Carolina Department of Revenue and other recent decisions.

Click here to view full article.

Reprinted with permission by Journal of State Taxation.

SALT To Taste: To What Extent Should Taxpayers Rely on State Statutes and Regulations in Flowing Through Apportionment Factors of a Partnership to Corporate Partner?

Properly acknowledging critical U.S. Constitutional principles when apportioning the income of a partnership is key when preparing state corporate income tax returns and guarding against erroneous state assertions involving the state's interpretation of statutes and regulations. In this article, see an example of how a state could misapply these Constitutional principles.

Read this SALT To Taste newsletter here.