Diann Smith
Subscribe to Diann Smith's PostsDiann Smith focuses her practice on state and local taxation and unclaimed property advocacy. Diann advises clients at any stage of an issue, including planning, compliance, controversy, financial statement issues and legislative activity. Her goal is to find the most effective method to achieve a client's objective regardless of when or how an issue arises. Diann emphasizes the importance of defining a client's objective - whether it is finality of a frequently audited issue, quick resolution of a stand-alone tax liability, or avoiding competitive disadvantages in the application of a tax. The defined objective then governs the choice of the path to a solution. Read Diann Smith's full bio.
Arizona ALJ: Remote Provider of Subscription Research Service is the Lessor of Tangible Personal Property
By Diann Smith, Eric D. Carstens and Stephen P. Kranz on May 15, 2015
Posted In Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Nationwide Importance, Sales Tax, Tax Base, Transaction Taxes
In a curious decision out of Arizona, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found an out-of-state provider of online research services was properly assessed transaction privilege tax (TPT, Arizona’s substitute for a sales tax) based on the logic that the provider was renting tangible personal property to in-state customers. The Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) decision,...
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D.C. Proposes Law to Allow Indefinite Suspension of Limitation Period for Assessment and Collection
By Diann Smith, Eric D. Carstens and Stephen P. Kranz on May 6, 2015
Posted In Audits, District of Columbia, Income Tax, Procedure, Sales Tax, Transaction Taxes
The Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Support Act of 2015 (BSA), introduced by the Washington, D.C. Council at the request of Mayor Muriel Bowser on April 2, 2015, contains a subtitle (see Title VII, Subtitle G, page 66-67) that would give the Office and Tax and Revenue (OTR) complete discretion to indefinitely suspend the period of...
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Maryland Offers Attractive Amnesty Program – Even for Taxpayers Under Audit!
By Diann Smith, Eric D. Carstens and Stephen P. Kranz on Apr 23, 2015
Posted In Income Tax, Interest and Penalties, Local Tax, Maryland, Sales Tax, Transaction Taxes
Starting September 1, 2015, the Comptroller of Maryland (Comptroller) will offer qualifying taxpayers that failed to file or pay certain taxes an opportunity to remit tax under very attractive penalty and interest terms. The 2015 Tax Amnesty Program (Program) is the first offered in Maryland since 2009, when the state raised nearly $30 million, not...
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District of Columbia’s Transfer Pricing Enforcement Program and Combined Reporting Regime: Taking Two Bites of the Same Apple
By McDermott Will & Emery, Diann Smith and Stephen P. Kranz on Apr 20, 2015
Posted In Allocation/Apportionment, Audits, District of Columbia, Income Tax, Local Tax, Tax Base, Transfer Pricing
In his recent article, “A Cursory Analysis of the Impact of Combined Reporting in the District”, Dr. Eric Cook claims that the District of Columbia’s (D.C. or the District) newly implemented combined reporting tax regime is an effective means of increasing tax revenue from corporate taxpayers, but it will have little overlap with D.C.’s ongoing...
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Delaware’s Unclaimed Property Audit Program Dealt Blow
By McDermott Will & Emery, Diann Smith and Stephen P. Kranz on Mar 13, 2015
Posted In Constitutional Issues, Delaware, Unclaimed Property
The judge in a case challenging Delaware’s use of sampling and extrapolation to determine unclaimed property liability denied the state’s motion to dismiss and in doing so, seriously questioned the State’s approach. Temple-Inland v. Cook, U.S. Dist. Ct. (DE), Civ. No. 14-654-SLR (3/11/2015). Temple-Inland brought a suit against the State following an unclaimed property audit...
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Let the Training Begin: MTC Transfer Pricing Audits Draw Near
By McDermott Will & Emery, Diann Smith, Eric D. Carstens and Stephen P. Kranz on Mar 6, 2015
Posted In Income Tax, Nationwide Importance, North Carolina, Tax Base, Transfer Pricing
Deputy Executive Director Greg Matson (a nice guy at heart) announced this week that the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) has hired its first transfer pricing training consultant and is scheduled to begin training state auditors. The training, titled “Identifying Related Party Issues in Corporate Tax Audits” will be hosted by the North Carolina Department of...
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MTC Puts Designs on Increasing State Transfer Pricing Revenues
By Diann Smith and Stephen P. Kranz on Feb 6, 2015
Posted In Income Tax, Transfer Pricing
This past December, the Multistate Tax Commission’s (MTC) transfer pricing advisory committee and its project facilitator Dan Bucks recommended what it calls the “preliminary design” approach for a proposed Arm’s Length Adjustment Services (ALAS) program. While still subject to approval, states already anticipate that the program will increase their state transfer pricing revenues. The MTC...
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New Market-Based Sourcing in DC: Major Compliance Date Problem Fixed… For Now
By Diann Smith, Eric D. Carstens and Stephen P. Kranz on Feb 5, 2015
Posted In Allocation/Apportionment, District of Columbia, Income Tax, Massachusetts, Tax Base, UDITPA
The Problem On September 23, 2014, the District of Columbia Council enacted market-based sourcing provisions for sales of intangibles and services as part of the 2015 Budget Support Act (BSA), as we previously discussed in more detail here. Most notably the BSA adopts a single sales factor formula for the DC franchise tax, which is...
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Arizona’s 2015 TPT Amendments Have 99 Problems, but Origin Sourcing ain’t One
By McDermott Will & Emery, Diann Smith and Stephen P. Kranz on Jan 29, 2015
Posted In Arizona, Constitutional Issues, Nexus, Sales Tax, Transaction Taxes
Actually, there are really only two issues, but they are big issues. Arizona’s Transaction Privilege Tax has always been an anomaly in the traditional state sales tax system. Contrary to some commentators, however, the recent amendments do not, and could not, impose an origin tax on Arizona retailers for remote sales delivered out-of-state. That is...
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Rate Reduction for D.C. QHTC Capital Gains to Begin… in 2019
By Diann Smith, Eric D. Carstens and Stephen P. Kranz on Jan 23, 2015
Posted In Allocation/Apportionment, District of Columbia, Sales Tax
Investors keeping a close eye on pending legislation (the Promoting Economic Growth and Job Creation Through Technology Act of 2014, Bill 20-0945) promoting investments in D.C. Qualified High Technology Companies (QHTC) will be happy to know it passed—but not without a serious caveat. While the bill was originally set to allow investors to cash in...
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