State and Local

Corporate Apportionment of Partnership Income
Virginia ruling could have multistate implications

A decision issued by the Virginia Court of Appeals, FJ Management, Inc. v. Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Taxation, No. 0701-23-2 (Virginia Appeals Court 2024), addressed the computation of a corporation’s Virginia-apportioned taxable income, when the corporation owns a partnership interest. The Court of Appeals determined that, in this case,… Read more »

Playing Ball in the Lone Star Stadium
Tax curveballs to watch for when conducting business in Texas

Over the last few years, some top US companies have relocated their headquarters to Texas or committed to doing so (among them Tesla, Chevron, SpaceX, and Coinbase). Similarly, the New York Stock Exchange announced that it would relocate its Chicago branch to Dallas. This move, of course, is a natural… Read more »

Sales Tax Traps for Disregarded Entities
A handful of states pose hidden compliance risks

Sales tax rules can be confusing, because states often take different approaches to the same tax concept. In most cases, sales tax obligations apply at the level of each separate legal entity—even if that entity is disregarded for federal or state income tax purposes. Although this rule generally applies in… Read more »

How Does Conformity Impact State Revenues After the OBBBA?
Changes in federal tax law reverberate across state budgets, with conformity choices shaping revenues in vastly different ways

State conformity with the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) refers to how states’ tax codes align with the federal tax code. Most states, for ease of administration and compliance, base their state income tax regimes on the federal IRC, either by using federal taxable income as a starting point or by… Read more »

Transfer Pricing in Transition
Mitigating state tax risk while preserving value

Although states experienced significant tax revenue growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, many experienced revenue declines in fiscal year 2024, some for the second consecutive year.1 In response to economic downturns, state governments often intensify audit activity to raise revenue. One major focus for state tax audits has been, and will… Read more »

Preparing for Successful SALT Audits
Most of the work should occur long before the state tax notice arrives

Audit preparedness is crucial, since federal and state agencies have increased auditing to make up for budget deficiencies. In the complex, ever-evolving state and local tax (SALT) landscape, maintaining audit readiness and efficiently managing the audit process can be challenging for businesses, especially for entities operating in multiple tax jurisdictions.… Read more »

Inequitable Barriers to Equitable Apportionment
When petitioning for equitable apportionment, taxpayers face motley state-imposed obstacles

Every state that imposes a corporate income tax requires multistate businesses to apportion business income. The states’ methods of apportioning income, however, vary considerably and can produce inconsistent results. The United States Supreme Court sanctioned these differences in Moorman Mfg. Co. v. Bair1 when the Court allowed Iowa to deviate… Read more »

Who Is the Customer?
The ins and outs of market-based sourcing

Compared to the complexity of cost-of-performance (COP) sourcing of services for income tax purposes, a market-based approach to apportionment sounds downright simple. Instead of comparing the location of all payroll and material costs of generating revenue as in a COP calculation, for market-based sourcing one looks only to the location… Read more »

State and Local Tax Implications for a Remote Workforce
As remote work becomes more common, withholding and nexus are among key considerations

State and local tax issues related to remote workforces have existed for many years. However, the pandemic—with the attendant drastic increase in employees working from home or elsewhere—has intensified these issues and brought them to the forefront of taxpayers’ attention. The remote work trend continues even as we emerge from… Read more »

Sales Tax and the M&A Process
Understanding the entire journey—from diligence through post-transaction

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) play an active role in the corporate landscape, facilitating growth, consolidation, and strategic realignment among businesses. Companies often include M&A activity in their short-term and long-term strategies. To successfully navigate M&As, tax directors and chief financial officers identify areas that tend to present pitfalls that can… Read more »