Eric Carstens
Subscribe to Eric Carstens's Posts
Eric D. Carstens focuses his practice on state and local tax matters, assisting clients with state tax controversy, compliance and multistate planning across all states for a variety of tax types and unclaimed property. Eric engages in all forms of taxpayer advocacy, including litigation, legislative monitoring and audit defense. He works closely with several of the Firm's taxpayer coalitions focused on specific state tax policy issues such as the taxation of digital goods and services and unclaimed property. Read Eric D. Carstens' full bio.
Tax That DC?!?! FCA Suit on Residency Brings Business Intelligence Company into the Crosshairs
By Eric Carstens, Stephen P. Kranz, Michael J. Hilkin and Diann Smith on Sep 2, 2022
Posted In Constitutional Issues, District of Columbia, False Claims Act, Income Tax, Local Tax, Nationwide Importance, Tax Base
For the first time since the enactment of the False Claims Amendment Act of 2020, the DC Attorney General’s (AG’s) Office has used its new tax enforcement powers to pursue an alleged personal income tax deficiency. This development brings to the forefront a long-simmering constitutional problem with DC’s statutory residency law and offers a stern...
Continue Reading
New Mexico Proposes Regulations Addressing Gross Receipts Tax Treatment of Digital Advertising Services
By Eric Carstens, Stephen P. Kranz, Michael J. Hilkin, Mark Nebergall and Jonathan C. Hague on Aug 11, 2022
Posted In Allocation/Apportionment, Constitutional Issues, Local Tax, Nationwide Importance, New Mexico, Sales Tax, Tax Base, Transaction Taxes
On August 9, 2022, the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department published proposed regulations addressing the gross receipts tax (New Mexico’s version of a sales tax) treatment of digital advertising services. The Department states the proposed regulations do not reflect a change in policy but instead ensure the rules are consistent for all advertising platforms....
Continue Reading
Maryland Attorney General’s Office Says Taxpayers May Inform Customers of Increased Charges Resulting from Digital Advertising Tax
By Stephen P. Kranz, Michael J. Hilkin and Eric Carstens on May 3, 2022
Posted In Constitutional Issues, Maryland, Nationwide Importance
In a brief filed on April 29, 2022, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office (Attorney General) agreed that the “pass-through prohibition” of the state’s digital advertising tax “does not purport to impose any restriction on what the taxpayer may say to the customer, or anyone else, about” increased billing charges because of the tax. Last year,...
Continue Reading
Maryland Comptroller Adopts Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax Regulations
By Stephen P. Kranz, Eric Carstens and Jonathan C. Hague on Dec 3, 2021
Posted In Allocation/Appointment, Constitutional Issues, Maryland, Nationwide Importance, Procedure
On December 3, 2021, the Maryland Comptroller published notice of its adoption of the digital advertising gross revenues tax regulations (which was originally proposed on October 8, 2021). Per the Maryland Administrative Procedure Act, the final adopted regulations will go into effect in 10 calendar days, or December 13, 2021. (See Md. Code Ann., State...
Continue Reading
Federal COVID-19 Relief Bill Brings State Tax Policy to a Grinding Halt
By Stephen P. Kranz, Mark Nebergall and Eric Carstens on Mar 16, 2021
Posted In Constitutional Issues, Franchise Tax, Incentives, Income Tax, Local Tax, Nationwide Importance, Property Tax, Sales Tax, Tax Base
On March 11, 2021, US President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), the COVID-19 relief bill that includes $350 billion in relief to states and localities. To prevent states from using federal relief funds to finance tax cuts, Congress included a clawback provision requiring that any relief funds used to...
Continue Reading
False Claims Act Risk for Unclaimed Property Holders
By Diann Smith, Stephen P. Kranz and Eric Carstens on Mar 15, 2021
Posted In False Claims Act, Nationwide Importance
In what has become an unfortunate trend, unclaimed property holders continue to be subject to lawsuits under state false claims acts (FCA – also called a qui tam or whistleblower action) for alleged underreporting and remittance of unclaimed property obligations. More than 30 states have a false claims act with whistleblower provisions and nearly all...
Continue Reading
Maryland Enacts First Digital Advertising Services Gross Receipts Tax: Now What?
By Stephen P. Kranz, Mark Nebergall and Eric Carstens on Feb 12, 2021
Posted In Allocation/Appointment, Connecticut, Constitutional Issues, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, Nationwide Importance, New York, Oregon, Washington
General Assembly Veto Override On February 12, 2021, the Maryland General Assembly overrode Governor Larry Hogan’s veto of HB 732 (2020) (the Act), a bill enacting a first-of-its-kind digital advertising services tax on the annual gross receipts from the provision of digital advertising services in Maryland. The tax only applies to companies having annual gross...
Continue Reading
DC Council Expands False Claims Act to Tax Claims
By Stephen P. Kranz, Diann Smith and Eric Carstens on Dec 1, 2020
Posted In District of Columbia, False Claims Act, Nationwide Importance
The DC Council has passed an amended bill (the False Claims Amendment Act of 2020, B23-0035) that beginning as early as January 2021 will allow tax-related false claims to be raised against large taxpayers for up to 10 years of prior tax periods! This troubling legislation creates a real and imminent possibility of prior tax...
Continue Reading
False Claims Act Tax Expansion Bill Advanced by DC Council
By Stephen P. Kranz, Diann Smith and Eric Carstens on Nov 17, 2020
Posted In District of Columbia, False Claims Act, Illinois, Nationwide Importance, New York
The DC Council has once again advanced a bill (the False Claims Amendment Act, B23-0035) that would allow tax-related false claims against large taxpayers! The bill passed a first reading of the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, November 17, 2020, by a vote of 8-5. The bill is sponsored by Councilmember Mary Cheh, who...
Continue Reading
New York Legislation Proposes to Retroactively Remove FCA Culpability Standard for Tax Law Claims
By Stephen P. Kranz, Diann Smith and Eric Carstens on Oct 14, 2020
Posted In False Claims Act, Nationwide Importance, New York
With Halloween just a few weeks away, a scary proposal is brewing in the New York State Legislature that should give taxpayers chills. Companion bills Assembly Bill 11066 and Senate Bill 8872 were recently introduced by committee chairs (Assembly Ways and Means Chairwoman Helene Weinstein and Senate Committee on Judiciary Chairman Brad Hoylman). This legislation...
Continue Reading
