California’s New Escheat Reporting Requirement on Income Tax ReturnsAugust 26, 2022By Jordan M. Goodman and Joe Carr, Tax Partner, BDO USA. Please feel free to reach out to the authors with questions. A new trend in state and local tax reporting in California combines certain income tax and unclaimed property reporting requirements on 2021 and future business income tax returns to enhance compliance. The increased compliance efforts of the California…
California Franchise Tax Board to Share Unclaimed Property Information with State ControllerJanuary 31, 2022Effective January 1, 2022, the California Franchise Tax Board (“FTB”) has the authority under Assembly Bill 466 to share information with the State Controller’s Office (“SCO”) relating to a taxpayer’s compliance with the California’s unclaimed property laws. To gather this information, the FTB has added a few questions to California’s business entity tax returns for tax year 2021, including whether…
Cover Your SaaS – Issue V, Q3 2021October 4, 2021As we move into harvest season, we here at Cover Your SaaS (CYS) have cultivated a fresh crop of updates for your enjoyment. Keen observers will note that there has been a somewhat larger gap than usual between newsletters and we admit, it has been a minute. Of course, absence makes the heart grow fonder so we are excited to…
Chicago Department of Finance Issues Nexus GuidanceJanuary 25, 2021On January 21, 2021, the Chicago Department of Finance (“Department”) issued an anticipated Information Bulletin (“Nexus Bulletin”) providing guidance on nexus and establishing a prospective “safe harbor” for certain taxes, including electronically delivered amusements under the Chicago’s Amusement Tax (“Amusement Tax”) Ordinance and nonpossessory computer leases taxed under the Chicago Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax (“Transaction Tax”) Ordinance.
Chicago Lease Transaction Tax Rate Increase for "Cloud" Software ProductsDecember 16, 2020On November 16, 2020, the City Council for the City of Chicago (“City Council”) amended the Chicago Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ordinance (“Ordinance”), eliminating the lower rate of tax on a nonpossessory lease of a computer, which includes “cloud” software products.
Cover Your SaaS - Issue IVDecember 8, 2020With the holidays upon us, it seems like a good time to take a pleasant stroll through the cloud computing and digital product SALT developments you and your clients should be aware of. We returned to the “classic” format for this edition, organizing the stories by jurisdiction, headlining them in summary fashion, and then providing context and snappy analysis. If you have follow-up questions, please let us know.
Cover Your SAAS - Issue IIIAugust 18, 2020Welcome to the third edition of Cover Your SaaS. Following a brief mid-summer hiatus from which the authors returned pale as ever, we dive once more into the cloud computing and digital product SALT developments you and your clients should be aware of. This is a bumper edition, so we have organized the updates by general topic rather than solely by jurisdiction.
Cover Your SaaS - Issue IIJune 22, 2020Welcome to the second edition of Cover Your SaaS, your new favorite(ish) semi-regular publication from HMB Legal Counsel’s State & Local Tax team. Far from accepting a sophomore slump, this edition boldly delves into SALT developments in the digital products sphere, the importance of separately stating charges, and the dangers of straying into taxable telecommunications.
Cover Your SaaS: A Semi-Regular Publication on State and Local Tax Developments in the Cloud Computing and Digital Space - 4/10/20April 10, 2020Welcome to the first edition of Cover Your SaaS, a new semi-regular publication from HMB Legal Counsel’s State & Local Tax team. Using the latest in news-scanning technology, i.e., the daily emails that land in our inbox, our goal is to keep you updated on key SALT developments in the digital and cloud computing space.
Illinois House Bill Requires Public Corporations with Principal Executive Offices in Illinois to Report to Secretary of StateJanuary 7, 2020House Bill 3394, approved by the Governor on August 27, 2019 and effective immediately (Public Act 100-589), amends the Business Corporation Act of 1983 (“BCA”) to add new Section 8.12 and amend Section 14.05.
Applying the Chicago Lease Transaction Tax to “Cloud” Software ProductsSeptember 11, 2019In a prior post, I explained the basics of the Chicago Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax (“Transaction Tax”), including the applicability of the tax to tangible personal property and software, potentially applicable exemptions and exclusions from the tax, and collection issues. This follow-up post in the Practitioner Series further clarifies the application of the Transaction Tax to “cloud” software products and explores the interplay with the Illinois Retailers’ Occupation Tax (“ROT”).
State Tax Developments for Pass-Through Entities, Apportionment of Income for Corporate PartnersJune 18, 2019State taxation of corporate partners in multistate partnerships raises interesting issues. In many circumstances, the corporate partner is subject to multistate taxation and is therefore engaged in the process of allocating and apportioning its income on a multistate basis.
Cook County Taxes: Parking Lot and Garage Operations TaxDecember 11, 2018The "Parking Lot Tax" has recently been targeted by the Cook County Department of Revenue. In the past 3-5 years, we have seen a significant uptick in the Department's audit activity, and challenges to Taxpayer positions. Their efforts have primarily focused on the enforcement of its Amusement, Tobacco, and Gasoline and Diesel Taxes. However, more recently, the Department has turned its attention to its Parking Lot Tax.
Illinois' Unique Treatment of Leases and Traps for the Unwary LessorMay 22, 2018Illinois? treatment of leases is an anomaly when compared to almost all other jurisdictions. While most jurisdictions impose sales tax on the lease receipts collected from the lessee, the user of the equipment, Illinois differs by treating the lessor as the user of the equipment. As such, the lessor is subject to Illinois use tax.
Navigating a Cook County Department of Revenue Audit and the Procedure for a Formal ProtestApril 17, 2018A recent national trend in the practice field of state and local tax has been the uptick in local jurisdictions' audit activity. The Cook County Department of Revenue has taken aggressive positions in the interpretation of its tax ordinances which has led to increased litigation in the administrative proceedings before the Cook County Department of Administrative Hearings. This post provides an overview of the Department's audit and ensuing D.O.A.H. processes and will highlight some of the procedural differences compared to other jurisdictions such as Chicago and Illinois.
What Illinois Auto Dealers, Financial Institutions and other Lessors Need to Know About Taxing Post Lease ChargesMarch 12, 2018Three years ago, Illinoisans cheered the changes to the motor vehicle leasing law that were to lead to tax savings for lessees and level the playing field with other state's leasing laws. Now, as the first wave of three-year leases comes to an end, lessors can no longer afford to overlook these changes regarding the post-lease charges.
The Cubs Won the World Series and Illinois Finally Has a Budget!July 7, 2017Today marks the first time in over two years that Illinois will be operating under a budget. This is a result after the House voted to override Governor Rauner?s veto of Senate Bill 9. The House garnered the necessary votes to end the two year stalemate full of political puffery and sparring. Some of the relevant changes that Illinois? taxpayers should be aware of are noted below. All changes are effective July 1, 2017, unless otherwise noted.