SALT Blog - SALT Blawg

Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s SALT Practice Chair, Stewart Weintraub, recently wrote an article about Philadelphia RAR Overpayments for the Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives.

His article, “Philadelphia RAR Overpayments – Not for the Faint of Heart,” discusses a recent Philadelphia case in which a statute of limitations barring a refund did not prohibit credits against future taxes.

Stewart outlined the Philadelphia Business Income and Receipts Tax (BIRT) structure, the facts of the case, the statute of limitations issues and the case’s conclusion. The ...

Chamberlain Hrdlicka tax attorney honored by ALM Media publication

PHILADELPHIA (June 2014) – The Philadelphia office of Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry is proud to announce that shareholder Stewart M. Weintraub has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Legal Intelligencer, a publication of ALM Media. Presented at a celebratory dinner on May 29, 2014, the award honors a select number of Pennsylvania’s most influential lawyers and jurists.

The Legal Intelligencer selected individuals who have helped to shape the law in Pennsylvania ...

by Jennifer Karpchuck

ARIZONA

Arizona Senate Approves Bill Aimed at Amazon.com

The Arizona Senate Commerce and Energy Committee approved a bill, SB 1338,which is designed to affect Amazon.com by expanding the definition of “retailer” to include companies that have warehouses or distribution centers in the state. Amazon.com currently maintains four (4) warehouses within Arizona.  As we noted in last week’s update, the Arizona Department of Revenue has issued a bill to Amazon.com alleging that it owes $53 million in uncollected taxes in the state.

CALIFORNIA

California ...

by Stewart Weintraub and Jennifer Weidler

Earlier this week, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, affirmed a decision of the Tax Court of New Jersey finding that a lack of nexus existed for distributions made to a foreign limited liability partner from a partnership with an in-state presence. See, BIS LP Inc. v. Division of Taxation, Docket No. A-1172-09T2 (NJ Super. Ct. 2011).

BIS, the taxpayer at issue, was a foreign corporation with no place of business, property, employees or agents in the state of New Jersey.  Its only interest was its ninety-nine percent (99 ...

by Stewart Weintraub and Jennifer Weidler

Arizona is preparing to launch a tax amnesty program, slated to run from September 1, 2011 through October 1, 2011.  To participate in the program, taxpayers must file an original or amended return, an amnesty application, and pay in full any tax and interest due by October 1, 2011.  With the exception of the estate tax and property tax, the tax recovery program applies to every state and/or local tax obligation, including individual and corporate income tax, sales and use tax, withholding tax and partnership tax.  For annual tax filings ...

This is the year of the Amazon. Multiple sources, including individual affiliates, are reporting that Amazon, Overstock and other Internet retailers are severing ties with their affiliates in Connecticut and Arkansas. Both of those states recently enacted changes to their sales tax laws that required Internet retailers to collect sales tax on transactions made with persons in those states. The states were able to “reach” the Internet retailers through an expanded nexus by means of the “associate” or “affiliate” programs commonly used by such vendors.

Meanwhile ...

Alabama House Bill 434, signed by Governor Robert Bentley, enacts three significant changes to Alabama’s apportionment provisions for tax years beginning on or after December 31, 2010:

* Double weight the sales factor for determining apportionment to 50%;

* Change from focusing on the location of income production for apportionment purposes to the taxpayer’s market for the sale for transactions other than tangible personal property; and

* Adoption of a “throwout” rule (similar to that recently rejected by New Jersey), by which a transaction that cannot be assigned to a ...

 By Paul Masters

Any Material Damage Enough to Avoid Sales Tax on Installation Costs for a Roller Coaster, But Likely Not in Texas

The New York Tax Appeals Tribunal has summarily affirmed a recent decision of the Division of Tax Appeals analyzing the applicability of sales and use tax to the $2,000,000 purchase and installation costs paid by Amusements of WNY, Inc. (“WNY”) for the Silver Comet roller coaster. The Tax Appeals Tribunal rejected the Division of Taxation’s appeal on the basis that the Silver Comet could be unbolted from its cement footings and re-erected elsewhere ...

Some two weeks ago, we commented on the passage of House Bill No. 2403, a stand-alone version of the Amazon law that would have clearly required Amazon and other Internet retailers subject to collecting Texas sales and use tax on sales of tangible personal property if there was a link to a physical presence in Texas. Amazon had such a link via its distribution center near Dallas. A bill introduced by Rep. Harper-Brown to protect Amazon from such a requirement to collectTexas sales and use tax was buried in the House Ways & Means Committee.

On May 31, 2011, Texas Governor Rick Perry vetoed this ...

The New York Division of Tax Appeals, an Administrative Court, recently ruled in Decision DTA Nos. 822750 and 822751 on the basis of whether the auditor properly used estimated techniques to determine the amount of tax due in connection with an audit of a full-service Japanese restaurant.  The taxpayer, a full-service Japanese restaurant with small bar, was audited for the period of March 1, 2004 through November 30, 2006 in connection with sales and use tax.  The audit period was subsequently amended to include that period through May 31, 2007.  During the course of the audit, the ...