Catherine A. Battin
Subscribe to Catherine A. Battin's PostsCatherine (Cate) A. Battin represents clients in state and local tax controversies at the audit, administrative and judicial levels in numerous jurisdictions. She provides national state tax strategies for clients on a full range of state tax issues, including income tax apportionment, nexus, combination and sales tax characterization of products and services. She has defended numerous internet sellers in cases brought under the Illinois False Claims Act alleging fraudulent failures to collect and remit use tax. Read Catherine A. Battin's full bio.
In Chicago, Taxing the Cloud Will Wait (Mostly) Until 2016
By Catherine A. Battin on Aug 12, 2015
Posted In Illinois, Local Tax, Nexus, Sales Tax, Transaction Taxes
The City of Chicago has announced that it will be delaying the effective date for its recent ruling under the Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax until January 1, 2016. Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ruling #12 takes a broad view of how the 9 percent tax applies to cloud-based services. It was scheduled to come...
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Chicago, Searching for Tax, Taxes Searchable Websites
By Catherine A. Battin on Jul 1, 2015
Posted In Illinois, Sales Tax, Transaction Taxes
Taxpayers providing services over the internet need to carefully consider two recent City of Chicago rulings: Lease Transaction Tax Ruling #12 and Amusement Tax Ruling #5. Issued together on June 9, 2015, the rulings extend a 9 percent tax to most services provided online. Charges for video streaming, audio streaming, computer game subscriptions, and other...
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Decoding Combination: What Is a Unitary Business
By Catherine A. Battin on Apr 14, 2015
Posted In Allocation/Apportionment, California, Constitutional Issues, Illinois, Income Tax, Nationwide Importance, Tax Base
This article is the first of our new series regarding common issues and opportunities associated with combined reporting. Because most states either statutorily require or permit some method of combined reporting, it is important for taxpayers to understand the intricacies of and opportunities in combined reporting statutes and regulations. In this article, we will explore...
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Illinois Retailers Beware: Class Action Complaint Filed Against Grocer for Collecting Illinois Sales Tax on Manufacturers’ Coupons Lacking Specific Language
By Catherine A. Battin on Mar 5, 2015
Posted In Illinois, Sales Tax, Tax Base
A class action complaint was filed in federal court last week against the operator of a grocery chain, alleging failure to deduct manufacturers’ coupons from the tax base on which sales tax was calculated and collected from customers. This latest attack on a retailer relies on an interpretation of a Department of Revenue regulation that, if...
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Pennsylvania Unwraps Final Market-Sourcing Guidance
By Catherine A. Battin on Dec 19, 2014
Posted In Allocation/Apportionment, Income Tax, Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue (the Department) recently finalized its Information Notice on sourcing of services for purposes of determining the appropriate net income and capital franchise tax apportionment factors. The guidance also addresses the Department’s views on the sourcing of intangibles under the income producing activity test. Since Pennsylvania is not a member of...
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Demystifying the Sales Factor: Conduit Receipts
By Catherine A. Battin on Dec 17, 2014
Posted In Allocation/Apportionment, Income Tax, Nationwide Importance
This is the sixth article in a series on the composition of the sales factor and the potential tax saving opportunities hidden within state statutes and regulations. As more states shift to a single or more heavily weighted sales factor, it is important for taxpayers to understand the intricacies of the sales factor and the...
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Take Two: Massachusetts Department of Revenue Releases Revised Market-Based Sourcing Regulation
By Catherine A. Battin on Nov 7, 2014
Posted In Allocation/Apportionment, Income Tax, Massachusetts
Late last week, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (the Department) released a revised draft regulation on Massachusetts’s new market-based sourcing law. The changes made by the Department to purportedly address practitioner and taxpayer concerns were relatively modest. The rules remain lengthy, complex and cumbersome. There are still various assignment rules that apply to each of...
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MTC’s Market-Based Sourcing Recommendations for UDITPA: Too Little, Too Late?
By Catherine A. Battin on Sep 3, 2014
Posted In Allocation/Apportionment, Income Tax, Nationwide Importance, UDITPA
Member states of the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) voted to adopt proposed amendments to Article IV of the Multistate Tax Compact during their annual meeting in late July. The proposed amendments likely to have the most widespread impact on taxpayers are the amendments to the Uniform Division of Income for Tax Purposes Act (UDITPA) Article...
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New Jersey Issues Ominously Vague Guidance on New Click-Through Nexus Law
By Catherine A. Battin on Aug 11, 2014
Posted In New Jersey, Nexus, Sales Tax, Transaction Taxes
The New Jersey Division of Taxation issued a Notice last week that is hardly reassuring to remote sellers. The Notice basically paraphrases the new click-through statute, noting that the statutory definition of “seller” was amended to create a rebuttable presumption that an out-of-state seller, who makes taxable sales of goods or services, is soliciting business...
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The Illinois Two-Step: Final Sales Tax Sourcing Regulations May Cause Sales to be Sourced outside the State
By Catherine A. Battin on Aug 8, 2014
Posted In Illinois, Local Tax, Sales Tax
Localities expecting more tax dollars due to the elimination of the controversial order acceptance test may be sorely disappointed. Application of the final sales tax sourcing regulations, effective as of June 25, 2014 (see 38 Ill. Reg. 14292), may actually increase the number of sales that are sourced outside of the state, such that more...
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