Advantous Law

Advantous Law Managing Partner, Jason R. Brown, will join other industry experts at the National Association of Property Tax Representatives - Transportation, Energy, Communications (NAPTR-TEC) Annual Conference, taking place October 21-23 at the Sheraton Tucson Hotel and Suites in Tucson, AZ. On Tuesday, October 22, Jason will provide insights into the national property tax landscape, including recent and proposed changes in state laws and new and emerging trends in property taxation. We hope to see you there!

There's so much to look forward to at this year's Sales Tax Symposium! We're starting with the first pitch at the Ranger's game on Sunday and finishing up with a State Tax Administrators' Roundtable on Wednesday morning. You can expect this week to be the perfect blend of deep-dive education and fun professional networking. We can't wait to welcome you to Texas!

Next week at Institute for Professionals in Taxation’s 2024 Sales Tax Symposium in Grapevine, Texas, Advantous Law’s Managing Partner Jason R. Brown will reprise his role moderating a panel discussion of top- and high-level state tax administrators from around the country. This year’s session, From the Collectors’ Point of View: State Tax Administrators Roundtable, will feature a broad, open-ended discussion of all things related to tax administration, including the most prominent administrative, policy and compliance issues they are seeing in their states, and nationally, with Glen White, Deputy Tax Commissioner for the Nebraska Department of Revenue; Luke Morris, Assistant Secretary, Office of Legal Affairs for the Louisiana Department of Revenue; and Phillip Ashley, Associate Deputy Comptroller for Tax Administration for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. This session is always one of the most well-attended and well-regarded sessions of the entire symposium and this year’s panel promises to be no different. The panel will take place Wednesday, September 25, 2024, from 10:30am to Noon. We hope to see you there. https://lnkd.in/gtZV3mzd

The Louisiana Tax Commission has published its 2024 Open Book Dates. Once fully updated, the annual publication will identify each parish’s 15-day open rolls period during which property taxpayers can review the assessor’s determination of their property’s fair market value; informally discuss/dispute the valuation with the assessor; and consider filing a formal appeal. The Open Book Dates also describe the dates by which an appeal must be filed. Each parish’s open rolls period occurs between August 15th and September 15th – other than Orleans Parish, which has a four-week period occurring between July 15th and August 15th – but the specific dates vary. The LTC’s Open Book Dates publication does not yet include each parish’s open roll period. It is imperative, therefore, that taxpayers check for updates and with their local assessor’s office. If you have questions regarding your property’s specific open rolls period or would like to discuss an appeal to the assessor’s fair market value determination, please contact one of our attorneys. We are ready to assist you.

Advantous Law’s Managing Partner Jason R. Brown attended Independent SALT Alliance’s Summer Meeting in Chicago, Illinois this week, joining with members from Washington to Maine, from California to Florida, and nearly all points in between, for a two-day meeting of learning and fellowship. ISA is a nationwide network of SALT practitioners (lawyers, CPAs, and consultants) which provides Advantous Law a nationwide reach that benefits our clients greatly.

I had a great time representing Advantous Consulting and Advantous Law today at our booth during Tax Executives Institute (TEI) - Houston Chapter’s 2024 Tax School Week 2! I met new people and caught up with old friends. Can’t wait for day 3!

Blaike Ordes, J.D., D.C.L., Advantous Law Associate, teamed up with Jason DeCuir, Advantous Law Founding Partner, to present “SALT Cases and Litigation Updates” and “SALT Policy Trends” at Tax Executives Institute (TEI) - Houston Chapter’s 2024 Tax School yesterday. Blaike discussed recent notable tax decisions, while Jason provided updates on trending state and local tax issues and developments across the country. Thanks for having us, TEI!

On April 25, 2024, the Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation (HB 1893/SB 2103) repealing the state’s franchise tax. Importantly, the legislation (which Governor Bill Lee is expected to sign) provides a three-year refund opportunity for businesses that paid franchise tax for periods ending on or after March 31, 2020 and reported on returns filed on or after January 1, 2021. Estimates suggest the state will pay out approximately $1.6 billion in refunds to 100,000 businesses as part of the repeal and refund package. State officials suggest the refunds were made part of the repeal package to avoid additional lawsuits challenging the tax as unconstitutional for failing the state constitution’s internal consistency test. Litigation under that theory is currently making its way through the state’s judicial system, and the legislation requires taxpayers seeking and receiving a refund to waive their right to file a lawsuit challenging the tax on those grounds. It is important that taxpayers finding themselves in a refund position take note that the refund is shorter than the general statutory period and runs from May 15-November 30, 2024. So, taxpayers will need to act quickly to secure their refund. The Tennessee Department of Revenue issued Notice #24-05 (“Franchise Tax Property Measure Repeal”) last Friday, May 3, 2024 — link below — describing which taxpayers qualify for the refund and how to file a refund claim. The process includes filing amended returns for the period(s) at issue and, thereafter, filing a Franchise Tax Property Tax Measure (Schedule G) Repeal refund claim form. A link to the refund claim form is provided in Notice #24-05. Generally, to determine whether a refund is due and in what amount, taxpayers should review their Franchise and Excise Tax returns (FAE 170) for 2020 through 2023. If a taxpayer paid tax based on Line 2, “Total Real and Tangible Personal Property,” the taxpayer will be entitled to a statutory refund of the difference between the tax calculated based on Line 1 and Line 2 of the FAE 170.

Managing Partner Jason R. Brown is quoted in today’s Law360 article by Paul Williams discussing the unprecedented move by the Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers to formally intervene in two local sales/use tax appeals filed in the Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals’ Local Division. In the lawsuits, ASD Healthcare Services, LLC, a remote seller of pharmaceutical drugs, challenges head-on Louisiana’s two-tiered system of independent state and local tax levy, administration, and enforcement, on constitutional grounds – specifically, that the system is unduly burdensome and discriminatory in violation of the Commerce Clause. These challenges will not face arguments under the Tax Injunction Act, like the Halstead Bead, Inc. v. Lewis case, which was dismissed on those grounds late last year, because these were brought before the state’s tax tribunal. Yet, while the cases appear to present the best opportunity to have the constitutional questions heard and decided since the Supreme Court of the United States’ 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., the Commission’s intervention — perhaps by design — will add some procedural complexities that could prevent a full, thorough hearing and consideration of the claims. Advantous Law is following these proceedings closely and will be presenting a full analysis on its tax blog.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has signed HB 2024-1041, which provides that Home Rule jurisdictions in the state which collect their own sales tax but do not use the state’s centralized electronic tax remittance system are prohibited from automatically imposing collection/remittance requirements on retailers with no physical presence in the state. Under the new law, a Home Rule jurisdiction may enter into a voluntary collection agreement with a retailer so situated, but such agreements must be made with each individual retailer – blanket requirements are now prohibited by law. The legislation comes as Wayfair, the plaintiff in the landmark lawsuit against South Dakota, is pursuing a separate lawsuit against Lakewood, Colorado, a Home Rule city, alleging its decentralized collection/reporting regime for out-of-state retailers places an undue burden on those business in violation of the Commerce Clause.?It is not immediately clear how the legislation will affect the pending litigation – indeed, the new law does not address all the ways Wayfair alleges the city’s regime violates the constitution, at least not directly – but HB 2024-1041 is nevertheless a positive development for out-of-state retailers selling into Colorado. The bill is scheduled to take effect Tuesday, August 6, 2024. Louisiana’s two-tiered system of state- and local-level sales/use levy, collection and enforcement now remains the biggest outlier among the states. The most prominent litigation challenging the system post-Wayfair (Halstead Bead, Inc. v. Richard) was dismissed on procedural grounds last year; and a constitutional amendment that would have paved the way for a centralized state and local tax regime narrowly failed at the ballot box in 2022. The state has taken steps to alleviate some burdens on out-of-state retailers, but there remains much to do. The 2025 legislative session will be fiscal session where tax bills of all types can be taken up; and there is currently a flurry of activity in the executive and legislative branches to prepare for what promises to be a very busy, impactful session. Information on the Wayfair Colorado lawsuit can be found here: Wayfair Sues Lakewood, Colorado over Home-rule Sales Tax Complexity | TaxValet (thetaxvalet.com) Click here for the signed bill: https://lnkd.in/dAFAAxpg