Civil Procedure › Tax Law › Commercial Law & Contracts

Daishowa-Marubeni: A Tree Fell In The Forest And The SCC Caught It!

In Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd. v. The Queen, 2013 SCC 29, Justice Rothstein marries tax philosophy and tax practice by asking and answering the question: If a tree falls in the forest and you are not around to...more

Navigating Pennsylvania’s Tax Appeals Process -- Updated

Pennsylvania’s tax appeal system has long been criticized as very complicated, expensive and lacking impartiality. A few years ago, the PA Chamber and other interested groups were able to work with the General Assembly to...more

Alabama DOR Issues Controversial Local Nexus Regulation: Would Dramatically Alter the Rule on Delivery Nexus

On April 30, the Alabama Department of Revenue (ADOR) issued a proposed regulation regarding sellers’ obligations to collect and remit sales or use tax to Alabama cities and counties that would radically change the landscape...more

Illinois Tax Developments - A Reed Smith Quarterly Update (1st Quarter 2013)

Welcome to the first of a new series of quarterly updates from Reed Smith on state tax developments in Illinois. Every three months we will be giving you updates on the key cases and administrative releases, as well as...more

South Carolina Supreme Court Rules on Tax Exemptions in Bodman v. South Carolina

Close to a year and a half after hearing oral arguments in Bodman v. South Carolina, the South Carolina Supreme Court has upheld the “seven caps” and “eighty seven exemptions” found under the State’s sales tax. (Op. No. 27248...more

Sales Of Condominium Units Under Audit By Canada Revenue Agency

A Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) audit initiative is targeting taxpayers who have recently sold condominium units they did not occupy or occupied for only a short period of time (the “CRA Condo Project”)....more

Sutherland SALT Shaker: April 2013 Digest

In this issue: - California Court of Appeal: No Man May Profit From His Own Wrongdoing in a Court of Justice - The (True) Object of My Affection: A Nontaxable Stock Screening Service - Alternate Universe...more

Massachusetts Tax Developments - A Reed Smith Quarterly Update (1st Quarter 2013)

The first quarter of 2013 saw Massachusetts developments for some the biggest tax issues facing the state, including taxation and sourcing of cloud computing, SaaS and other web-based software products and services;...more

Taxpayer Challenges Validity of IRS Transfer Pricing Regulation

In a petition recently filed in the U.S. Tax Court, a taxpayer has challenged the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulation that provides that the IRS can reallocate income between affiliates even when foreign law prohibits...more

Software Vendor Challenges Massachusetts’ Restrictive Policy on Multiple Points of Use Certificates

Software purchasers that have paid Massachusetts sales tax on the full purchase price for software that was also concurrently available for use by employees outside Massachusetts, should consider filing protective refund...more

Federal Appeals Court Holds That Supplemental Unemployment Compensation Benefits Are Not ‘Wages’ Subject To FICA Taxation,...

In an important recent decision, United States v. Quality Stores, Inc., et al., Case No. 01-1563, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 18820 (6th Cir. Sept. 7, 2012), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that supplemental...more

Judicial Review Applications Challenging Minister’s Alleged Violation Of Voluntary Disclosure Policy And MAP Agreement Allowed To...

In Sifto Canada Corp. v. Minister of National Revenue, 2013 FC 214, Prothonotary Aalto of the Federal Court rejected the Crown’s motion to strike out judicial review applications filed by Sifto Canada Corp. challenging...more

Tax Court Of Canada Appeal Of Large Corporation Thwarted By Wording Of Objection

Since 1995, the Large Corporation Rules found in subsections 165(1.11), 169(2.1) and 152(4.4) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) have applied to discourage large corporations from objecting to tax assessments as a means of...more

Market Sourcing Comes to New Jersey … Or Not

Later this month, the New Jersey Division of Taxation is expected to propose a regulation that will adopt a market-based approach to source receipts from services. On the surface, it appears difficult to reconcile the...more

April 2013: London Litigation Update

Piercing the Corporate Veil: VTB Capital plc v. Nutritek International Corp and Others [2013] UKSC 5 - In a recent case, the United Kingdom Supreme Court unanimously refused to pierce the corporate veil in order to treat an...more

FCA Provides Guidance On Role Of Intent In Determining Status Of Worker

The role of intent in the determination of whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor has taken on greater significance in the last decade or so. However, despite a series of decisions on the issue from the Tax...more

Spotlight on SALT: New York Court of Appeals Upholds the State's "Click-Through Nexus" Statute

On March 28, 2013, in Overstock.com, LLC v. New York State Dept. of Taxation and Finance, the New York Court of Appeals, New York's highest court, upheld the New York State "click-through nexus" statute against a challenge...more

March 2013 - SALT Shaker Newsletter

In this issue: - Delivered by Independent Contractors, Undelivered by P.L. 86-272: Order Fulfillment Activities Subject Out-of-State Seller to New York Corporation Franchise Tax - Everything’s Bigger in Texas,...more

Burr Alert: Hop, Skip And Jump Through The Thorns Of Justice

Every so often, we might not realize that, by our actions, we are doing exactly what the opposing party wants us to do. Perhaps we do not have an appropriate amount of time for each and every decision to consider ‘the forest’...more

Section 409A Tax Assessed An Discounted Stock Options – Taxpayer Sues For Refund In Federal Court Of Claims

Code Section 409A which was effective in January 1, 2005, provides strict rules that must be applied to most deferred compensation arrangements accruing benefits after the effective date. Failure to comply with the Code and...more

FTB Announces Temporary Reprieve on Retroactive Assessment of Qualified Small Business Stock Taxes

On January 8, 2013, we published a newsletter (a copy of which can be found here) detailing the Franchise Tax Board's ("FTB") questionable legal and policy decision to begin collecting on a retroactive basis approximately...more

Assessment Appeals Commission Holds that Personal Property is Valued at Capitalized Cost

The Assessment Appeals Commission (“AAC”) of the Tennessee State Board of Equalization has reversed a 2011 administrative law judge decision, holding that intangible costs (such as freight, installation, engineering costs and...more

Lessons from Thomas v. UBS AG (7th Cir. 2013) -- Multistate Class Actions & Applicable Law in Federal Diversity

This week's article looks at the disastrous result of the 7th Circuit class action case Thomas v. UBS AG and the lessons in multistate class action practice that can be learned from it....more

R (on the application of Prudential plc and another) v Special Commissioner of Income Tax

Privilege – Lawyers Only

The Supreme Court has given judgment in a long awaited case on whether or not legal advice given by accountants is privileged. The case is R (on the application of Prudential plc and another) (Appellants) v Special...more

Tax Alert: FTB Disallows California Qualified Small Business Stock Benefits

The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) recently issued FTB Notice 2012-03, stating that the FTB will disallow the exclusion or deferral of gain under California's qualified small business stock (QSBS) statute for all tax...more