"I’ve worked closely with Dave for over 15 years on a variety of state income tax matters involving roughly 15-20 states. Over the course of that time, I can attest that Dave’s subject matter knowledge, attention to detail, professionalism and creativity are unsurpassed! Best of all, Dave is a pleasure to work with." – Senior Tax Director
David is a partner in HMB’s State and Local Tax (SALT) Group and is a member of HMB’s Board of Directors. He helps clients limit their state and local tax exposure through sensible planning and, when necessary, vigorous litigation strategies.
David advises Fortune 500 companies, privately-held companies, middle-market businesses and individuals on strategies to minimize their state and local tax exposure, maintain compliance and reduce the risk of audit problems. This includes income tax, sales/use tax, franchise tax, gross receipts tax, and unclaimed property matters involving nexus, apportionment, business income, unitary business groups, credits, losses and exemptions.
Read MoreIn addition to helping clients all over the country structure their businesses to reduce state and local tax liabilities, David represents them in audits, administrative proceedings, litigation and appeals. He has argued cases for clients at the Illinois Supreme Court, the Illinois Appellate Court and the New York Supreme Court (Appellate Division). In addition to Illinois, David is licensed to practice in Wisconsin.
Multistate Expertise, National Impact
David is as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law as well as a Fellow in the American College of Tax Counsel. As an active thought leader and speaker in the SALT community, David offers a unique perspective and knowledge drawn from years of hands-on, practical experience.
Experience
- MeadWestvaco Corp. v. Illinois Department of Revenue, 128 S.Ct. 1498 (2008) (income tax on sale of non-unitary division)
- Irwin Industrial Tool Co. v. Department of Revenue, 238 Ill2d 332, 938 NE2d 459, 345 Ill Dec 20 (2010)(use tax on airplane hangared outside the state)
- Milwaukee Safeguard v. Selcke, 179 Ill 2d 94, 688 NE2d 68 , 227 Ill Dec 731 (1997) (constitutional challenge to insurance premiums tax)
- Borden Chemicals and Plastics v. Zehnder,726 NE2d 73, 312 Ill App 3d 35 (2000) (income tax on non-resident limited partner)
- Home Interiors & Gifts v. Illinois Department of Revenue,251 Ill Dec 820, 741 NE2d 998 (2000) (income tax on interest from non-working capital)
- The Home Depot USA v. Hamer, Illinois Appellate Court unpublished order (2010) (sales tax bad debt deduction)
- Ogden Chrysler Plymouth v. Bower,251 Ill Dec 820, 741 NE2d 998 (2004) (sales tax on car manufacturer incentive payments)
- Exxon Corp. v. Bower,Illinois Appellate Court unpublished order (2004) (income tax on distributive share from non-resident partnerships)
- Stark Materials Company v. Illinois Department of Revenue,812 NE2d 362, 349 Ill App 3d 316 (2004) (sales tax on delivery charges)
- The Dow Chemical Company v. Illinois Department of Revenue,359 Ill App. 3d 1, 832 NE2d 284 , 295 Ill Dec 133 (2005) (unitary business group determination for income tax)
- Nationwide General Insurance Company, et al. v. Shapo, 263 Ill Dec 210 , 767 NE2d 936 (4th Dist. 2002)(insurance premiums tax refunds for unconstitutional tax)
- Nicor Corp. v. Illinois Department of Revenue, No. 1-07-1359 (Illinois Appellate Court, unpublished) (2008) (income tax on sale of subsidiary)
Education
- Columbia University, J.D.
- University of Notre Dame, B.A., magna cum laude
Professional Memberships
- Adjunct Professor, LLM Tax Program at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
- American College of Tax Counsel, Fellow
- Chicago Tax Club, Board of Directors and Chair, Indirect/Operational Tax Committee
- American Bar Association, SALT Committee Vice Chair
- Chicago Bar Association, former SALT Committee Chair
- Illinois CPA Society, former SALT Committee Chair
- Taxpayers Federation of Illinois (Sales/Use Tax and Local Taxes Committees)
- Association of Consumer Vehicle Lessors (ACVL)
- Unclaimed Property Professionals Organization (UPPO)
- Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
News
- David A. Hughes Discusses Taxation of Gains from the Sale of Interests in Pass-Through EntitiesMarch 15, 2023
State tax partnership law is seeing an increased focus on what happens when a nonresident owner of a partnership or LLC sells his or her ownership interest. David A. Hughes discusses this emerging topic with Law360 and shares his insights on investee apportionment.
- David Hughes Elected Fellow of the American College of Tax CounselMarch 9, 2023
Congratulations David Hughes for being elected a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel! David was selected for his extraordinary accomplishments and demonstration of a high standard of excellence and ethical performance in tax law.
- Client Success: HMB Obtains Appellate Court Judgment, Sets Important Precedent for Chicago Lease Transaction TaxDecember 16, 2022
HMB’s litigation team, led by David S. Ruskin, and State and Local Tax attorney, David A. Hughes, began their representation of PACCAR in late 2019 when RN Acquisition, LLC filed a complaint alleging breach of contract and seeking a declaratory judgment arising from PACCAR’s alleged failure to pay the Chicago Lease Transaction Tax.
- David A. Hughes Discusses Maryland’s Digital Advertising Tax Ruling with Tax NotesOctober 21, 2022
A Maryland Circuit Court judge recently struck down the state’s tax on digital advertising services. David A. Hughes told Tax Notes, “The judge, to her credit, took a more holistic view and said advertising is advertising, and if Maryland chooses not to tax traditional advertising, then the Internet Tax Freedom Act bars digital advertising.”
- David A. Hughes Discusses Apple’s Settlement with Law360July 25, 2022
After years of legal back-and-forth, Apple has settled its challenge against Chicago’s amusement tax. David A. Hughes discusses Apple’s settlement with Law360 and says businesses that had hoped this case would shed light on how the tax might apply to their services will be left with open questions.
Events
- David A. Hughes Presents at the Illinois Taxpayers' Federation SALT Conference - 9/21/23September 21, 2023
David A. Hughes is moderating and presenting at the Illinois Taxpayers' Federation State and Local Tax Conference on September 21, 2023.
- David A. Hughes Presents at The Chicago Tax Club Fall Seminar - 10/26 - 10/27/23September 21, 2023
Join David A. Hughes for The Chicago Tax Club Fall Annual Seminar on October 26-27, 2023! David will speak on a variety of state and local tax topics including the top recent sales and use tax cases and gross receipts taxes.
- David A. Hughes Presents at COST’s 54th Annual Meeting – 10/19/23September 12, 2023
Join David A. Hughes for an engaging session at COST’s 54th Annual meeting on October 19th. David will discuss various methods to obtain information from revenue agencies such as interrogatories, requests to produce, depositions and FOIA requests.
- HMB at IPT’s 2023 Sales Tax Symposium – 10/1 - 10/4/23September 11, 2023
Are you attending the IPT Sales Tax Symposium in Chicago? Be sure to connect with our SALT team David A. Hughes, Jordan M. Goodman and Samantha K. Breslow! They will be speaking on a variety of sales tax concepts, including retail issues, newer tax types & fees and all things SAAS.
- David A. Hughes Joins COST for an Unclaimed Property Webinar – 9/20/23September 1, 2023
Join David A. Hughes and COST on September 20th for an engaging live webinar that will cover significant unclaimed property issues across the nation. Don’t miss this insightful program!
blog
- California Franchise Tax Board to Share Unclaimed Property Information with State ControllerJanuary 31, 2022
Effective 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, 2021
As 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…
- Cover Your SaaS - Issue IVDecember 8, 2020
With 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, 2020
Welcome 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, 2020
Welcome 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.
