McDermott Will & Emery

Washington Department of Revenue Announces LendingTree Decision Does Not Prevent Sourcing of Services to Customer’s Customer Location
By McDermott Will & Emery on Aug 17, 2020
Posted In Allocation/Apportionment, Constitutional Issues, Washington
The Washington State Department of Revenue (the “Department”) recently announced its interpretation of the Washington Court of Appeals’ March 30, 2020, adverse ruling in LendingTree, LLC v. Dep’t of Revenue, no. 80637-8-I (Wash. App. Ct. Mar. 30, 2020). See here for our prior analysis of the LendingTree opinion. In its interpretation, the Department takes the...
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Washington Surtax on “Big Banks” Struck Down as Unconstitutional
By Kathleen M. Quinn, Alysse McLoughlin, Stephen P. Kranz and McDermott Will & Emery on May 18, 2020
Posted In Local Tax, Maryland, Oregon, Washington
On May 8, Washington’s 1.2% surtax on “specified financial institutions” (banks with at least $1 billion a year in net revenue) was struck down by a King County Superior Court judge. Judge Marshall Ferguson ruled that the tax, which is imposed on top of all other taxes, violates the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution...
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Alert: California False Claims Expansion Bill Preparing to Advance
By Charles Moll, III, Stephen P. Kranz and McDermott Will & Emery on May 8, 2020
Posted In California, False Claims Act, Illinois, Nationwide Importance
The revived False Claims expansion bill in California, A.B. 2570, is on the agenda to be heard by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on May 11 at 10:00 am PDT. The proposal would authorize tax-based false claims actions, allowing private, profit-motivated parties to bring punitive civil enforcement lawsuits—an abusive practice that is prohibited under current law...
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Déjà Vu – Marketplace Model Debate May Resume Again
By Diann Smith, Stephen P. Kranz and McDermott Will & Emery on Apr 20, 2020
Posted In Nationwide Importance, Nexus, Sales Tax, Transaction Taxes
The debate over state marketplace laws may resume again, after the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) announced it has set up a committee to study whether to draft a uniform state law on online sales tax collection, focusing on marketplaces. The study committee is chaired by Utah Sen. Lyle Hillyard. The lead staffer (“reporter”) will be...
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Washington Appellate Court Rejects Department’s B&O Tax Apportionment Method
By McDermott Will & Emery on Apr 17, 2020
Posted In Allocation/Apportionment, Washington
In a recently issued taxpayer-favorable opinion, the Washington Appellate Court rejected the apportionment methodology used by the Department of Revenue, which sourced service receipts to the location of a taxpayer’s customers’ customers. The Court then affirmed the taxpayer’s methodology, which sourced the receipts to the location of its customers. LendingTree, LLC v. State of Wash....
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The Digital Advertising Tax Trend Continues: New York Introduces Another Bill
By Stephen P. Kranz and McDermott Will & Emery on Apr 15, 2020
Posted In Nationwide Importance, New York, Sales Tax, Transaction Taxes
On April 13, S. 8166 was introduced in the New York Senate, which would expand the sales tax base to include receipts from the sale of digital advertising services. The bill would dedicate the revenue raised to student loan relief. As introduced, “digital advertising services” would be broadly defined as “advertisement services on a digital...
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DC and New Jersey Join Mississippi in Disregarding Coronavirus-Caused Remote Work for Tax Purposes
By Stephen P. Kranz and McDermott Will & Emery on Apr 14, 2020
Posted In District of Columbia, Federal Tax, Franchise Tax, Income Tax, Mississippi, Nationwide Importance, New Jersey, Nexus
As part of our open letter to state tax administrators urging relief of undue tax administration burdens in light of COVID-19, we urged the disregarding of remote work for tax purposes. The public health necessity for businesses to close central operations and direct employees to work from home should not be used as an “opportunity”...
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Iowa Responds to McDermott’s Call to Drop Unnecessary or Dangerous Tax Administration Requirements
By Stephen P. Kranz and McDermott Will & Emery on Apr 14, 2020
Posted In Federal Tax, Income Tax, Interest and Penalties, Iowa, Nationwide Importance, Property Tax, Sales Tax
In late March, we wrote an open letter to state tax administrators requesting that they take steps to relieve undue tax administration burdens in the wake of the COVID-19 situation. We gave five suggestions, including postponing deadlines for tax filing and payment, waiving requirements to use hard-copy documents or checks, suspending accrual of interest on...
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Tax Commissioners: Please Drop Unnecessary or Dangerous Tax Administration Requirements
By Alysse McLoughlin, Stephen P. Kranz and McDermott Will & Emery on Mar 27, 2020
Posted In Federal Tax, Income Tax, Interest and Penalties, Local Tax, Nationwide Importance, Sales Tax
This week we wrote a letter to state tax administrators, sharing five key suggestions for relieving undue tax administration burdens in the wake of this difficult COVID-19 situation. As explained, “at a time when many people are working from home and should not or cannot go to post offices or banks, a business-as-usual attitude for...
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Illinois Department of Revenue to Waive Penalty for Late Filing of Business Income Tax Returns Due October 15
By Mary Kay McCalla Martire and McDermott Will & Emery on Oct 12, 2018
Posted In Federal Tax, Illinois, Income Tax, Interest and Penalties, Procedure
The Illinois Department of Revenue (Department) announced that it will grant abatement of late filing penalties for taxpayers that file their Illinois business income tax returns on or before November 15 and request penalty waivers for reasonable cause. The Department stated that it will waive late penalties due to the “complexity” of recent federal tax...
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