SALT

On January 5, 2016, TEI submitted a letter to Senator Braun and Representative Jinkins of the Washington Legislature urging the legislature to enact legislation establishing an independent tribunal to hear appeals of tax assessments and other matters administered by the Washington Department of Revenue.

On January 5, 2016, TEI filed an amicus brief in support of the taxpayer's application for leave to appeal the Michigan Court of Appeals' decision in Gillette Commercial Operations North America v. Department of Treasury, Case No. 152588, and its four companion cases. Gillette upheld the validity of 2014 PA 282, which the Michigan Legislature enacted to retroactively overrule the Michigan Supreme Court's decision in International Business Machines Corp v Department of Treasury, 496 Mich. 642 (2014).

On November 20, 2015, a delegation from TEI's State and Local Tax Committee had a liaison meeting with the Federation of Tax Administrators' Board of Trustees, which is comprised of 20 commissioners of revenue for various states. TEI discussed the need to standardize the timing, triggers, and format for reporting federal revenue changes to state governments, as well as best practices for audit procedures.

In November 2015, TEI issued five state and local tax policy statements: (1) Reporting Federal Income Tax Changes, (2) Audit Procedures, (3) Corporate Tax Return Due Dates, (4) State and Local-Imposed Audit Fees, and (5) Interest Rates. TEI's policy statements reflect TEI's position on important state and local administrative and procedural issues. They are intended to enable TEI to respond quickly to issues as they arise across the country and to facilitate advocacy by providing formal position papers TEI's members can use when communicating with taxing agencies.

On September 30, 2015, TEI recommended four state tax reforms that would further the Maryland Economic Development and Business Climate Commission (the Augustine Commission) goals of making Maryland a better place to do business and keeping Maryland competitive in economic and private sector growth and prosperity. TEI recommended: (1) a reduction of the interest rate on underpayments of tax, (2) a legislative directive narrowing the application of the principles espoused in Gore Enterprise Holdings, Inc. v.

On July 16, 2015, TEI submitted a letter to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker urging his veto of the Legislature's proposed repeal of Massachusetts' FAS 109 deduction as part of the Commonwealth's fiscal 2016 budget. The FAS 109 deduction was adopted as part of Massachusetts combined reporting regime in 2008 and was designed to mitigate the financial reporting impact for publicly-traded companies whose net deferred tax liabilities increased as a result of the shift to combined reporting. 

On July 2, 2015, TEI filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in a Massachusetts case challenging the application of the internal consistency test, First Marblehead Corp. v. Massachusetts Commissioner of Revenue, No. 14-1422. First Marblehead involves the proper apportionment of financial institution's income under Massachusetts' financial institutions excise tax.

On May 18, 2015, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in Comptroller v. Wynne, holding that Maryland's personal income tax- which did not offer its residents a full credit for income taxes paid to other states on income they earned in those states - was unconstitutional. The majority opinion (5-4), authored by Justice Alito, held that the tax violated the dormant Commerce Clause because it discriminated against interstate commerce. Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Ginsburg authored dissenting opinions on varying grounds.

On September 26, 2014, TEI filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving the limitations imposed by the federal Commerce Clause on a state's ability to tax business income earned outside the borders of that state (Comptroller v. Wynne). In a line of cases beginning with Complete Auto Transit v. Brady, the Court has consistently held that corporate income earned in multiple jurisdictions must be apportioned, with the domiciliary state taxing only its fair share.

On January 17, 2014, TEI submitted a letter in support of Alabama legislation (SB 74) that would establish a pre-payment, independent tribunal to hear appeals of tax assessments and other matters administered by the Alabama Department of Revenue, as well as certain taxes levied by or on behalf of counties and municipalities. TEI has long supported independent state tax tribunals, and the ABA Model Act is consistent with the Institute's Policy Statement on Independent State Tax Tribunals.