Jonathan C. Hague
Subscribe to Jonathan C. Hague's PostsJonathan C. Hague focuses his practice on state and local tax matters. He assists businesses and individual taxpayers with state and local tax controversies, compliance and multistate planning opportunities across a variety of tax types, including income, sales and use, and tax credits. Jonathan also 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. Read Jonathan Hague's full bio.
Massachusetts Department of Revenue Releases Guidance on a De Minimis Exception for Use Tax on Rolling Stock
By Richard C. Call, Stephen P. Kranz and Jonathan C. Hague on Mar 28, 2023
Posted In Audits, Local Tax, Massachusetts, Nationwide Importance, Sales Tax
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) recently released Directive 23-1, which outlines the conditions for a de minimis exception where the Commissioner will not require a taxpayer to pay the use tax for rolling stock used or stored within the state. This directive comes at a time when the DOR is auditing many companies that...
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Fatally Flawed? Illinois Municipal League’s Model Streaming Subscription Tax
By Stephen P. Kranz, Mark Nebergall, Catherine A. Battin and Jonathan C. Hague on Aug 24, 2022
Posted In Illinois, Local Tax, Nationwide Importance
The Illinois Municipal League (IML) represents the interests of 219 home rule municipalities in Illinois.[1] The IML recently released a revised draft model, “Municipal Streaming Tax Ordinance,” (the model) for use by the home rule municipalities in imposing an “amusement tax” on, inter alia, music and video streaming services and online gaming.[2] If the subscriber’s...
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New Mexico Proposes Regulations Addressing Gross Receipts Tax Treatment of Digital Advertising Services
By Eric D. 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....
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State False Claims Acts: “Knowing” Why They Matter for Tax Professionals
By Stephen P. Kranz, Michael J. Hilkin and Jonathan C. Hague on May 12, 2022
Posted In False Claims Act, Nationwide Importance
Like the federal government, many states have adopted False Claims Act (FCA) provisions that exclude tax matters from coverage. The federal model makes clear that matters under the Internal Revenue Service are not covered by the law,[1] and in the vast majority of cases, states also explicitly exclude tax from coverage.[2] However, there is a...
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Maryland Comptroller Adopts Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax Regulations
By Stephen P. Kranz, Eric D. 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...
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Texas Comptroller Announces Medical or Dental Billing Services are Not Taxable, Effective Immediately
By Richard C. Call and Jonathan C. Hague on Jul 29, 2021
Posted In Insurance Tax, Local Tax, Nationwide Importance, Sales Tax, Texas
On June 4, 2021, the Texas Comptroller issued a policy statement (Accession No. 202106003L) announcing that it is not going to enforce its previously stated policy of taxing medical billing services. This guidance comes in response to a sales and use tax bill that was signed into law April 30, 2021, which excluded “medical or...
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Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Approves Sales Tax Apportionment for Software
By Stephen P. Kranz, Richard C. Call, Mark Nebergall and Jonathan C. Hague on May 25, 2021
Posted In Allocation/Appointment, Constitutional Issues, Local Tax, Massachusetts, Nationwide Importance, Sales Tax
On May 21, 2021, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision affirming the Massachusetts Tax Appeal Board’s decision in favor of Microsoft and Oracle, ruling that the companies may apportion sales tax to other states on software purchased by a Massachusetts company from which the software was accessed and seek a tax refund. The...
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Indiana Tax Court Upholds Pharmacy Benefit Management Costs of Performance Approach
By Richard C. Call and Jonathan C. Hague on May 21, 2021
Posted In Allocation/Appointment, Income Tax, Indiana, Local Tax, Nationwide Importance
The Indiana Tax Court held that a “pharmacy benefit management company” sold services as opposed to tangible personal property for tax years 2011 through 2013. The company’s receipts were properly sourced as revenue from services under the income producing activity/costs of performance rule, which in this case meant that all receipts were sourced outside of...
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Texas Governor Signs Bill Exempting Medical Billing Services from Sales Tax
By Richard C. Call and Jonathan C. Hague on May 4, 2021
Posted In Insurance Tax, Sales Tax, Texas
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed HB 1445 into law, making “medical or dental billing services” exempt from sales tax. Under the statute, a “medical or dental billing service” is defined as “assigning codes for the preparation of a medical or dental claim, verifying medical or dental insurance eligibility, preparing a medical or dental claim...
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Wisconsin Court of Appeals Rules That Department Cannot Deny John Deere DRD Because of the Department’s Prior Guidance on Foreign Distributions
By Jane Wells May, Richard C. Call and Jonathan C. Hague on Feb 26, 2021
Posted In Local Tax, Nationwide Importance, Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals, District IV, issued its decision in Wisconsin Department of Revenue v. Deere & Company, regarding the treatment of distributions from foreign partnerships that are treated as corporations for federal tax purposes. There were two questions presented in the case. The first issue was whether distributions received by John Deere qualified...
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