Marilyn A. Wethekam

10/23/19 Washington, DC The Council on State Taxation 50th Annual Meeting will provide updates on important SALT topics for professionals at all levels. Marilyn Wethekam will present on what it means to have direct and indirect ownership. This session will discuss the concepts of ownership, possession and constructive receipt from income and sales tax perspectives. If you would like to…

09/23/19 Orlando, FL Breen Schiller, Marilyn Wethekam, Jordan Goodman, Chris Lutz and David Machemer present various topics at the IPT Sales Tax Symposium. Breen serves as Vice Chair of the symposium. If you would like to attend or have questions about a presentation, click here to contact Breen, Marilyn, Jordan, Chris and David. Marilyn Wethekam presents "Mergers & Acquisitions -…

10/24/19 JW Marriott Washington, DC Fred and Marilyn will co-present with fellow Paul Frankel Award recipients at COST's 50th annual meeting. Over his long career, Paul Frankel, the "Godfather of COST", spearheaded a number of issues that evolved over the years. In this session, presenters will discuss those issues, their evolution and Paul's impact on them. If you want to…

9/11/19 2019 North East State Tax Officers Association Annual Meeting Roger Williams Park Providence, Rhode Island Marilyn Wethekam will discuss important state tax policy issues including final IRS regulations on federal charitable contributions and state law enactment of state tax credit for these federal deductions, “qui tam” cases involving taxation pros and cons and a recap of Taxpayer Advocates in…

8/7/19 The Multistate Tax Commission 52nd Annual Meeting The Grove Hotel Boise, Idaho A panel discussion addressing the challenges faced by both state and local taxing authorities to modernize their tax structures to address the changing landscape of digital products and other business models. The discussion is from the view of both tax administrators and tax practitioners.…

Disclosing tax return information has always been a dicey topic. Under the guise of transparency, there have been several proposals by tax advocates over the years to disclose tax information. The focus of these proposals has generally been on the taxes paid by corporate America and the use of tax planning strategies. As a general principle, this type of limited…

Should states embrace GILTI? Marylin Wethekam gives her opinion: "While the rationale for GILTI may work at the federal level, its adoption at the state level raises several issues and concerns." Read the full brief here.

State and Local Tax Attorneys Fred Marcus, Jordan Goodman and Marilyn Wethekam recently authored "Sales and Use Taxes: The Machinery and Equipment Exemption" for Bloomberg BNA's Tax Management Portfolios, 1330 3rd edition. This portfolio discusses sales and use tax incentives for machinery and equipment used in manufacturing operations. HMB offers a limited number of hard copies for clients. Click here to…

2017 was to be the year of federal tax reform. The initial federal tax reform proposals were more theoretical than detailed. There was, however, a common theme. The proposed reform was focused on territorial concepts, taxing imports, encouraging repatriation of foreign earnings by reducing the rate of tax on those earnings and stimulating the expansion of domestic manufacturing by expensing cost recovery.

The focus of the SALT community's discussion generally has been on the states' search for revenue and the creation of new revenue sources. What has been overlooked in that discussion, however, is the revenue needs of cities, counties, and other local governmental bodies.

State and local governments are trying to apply older tax laws to modern technologies such as streaming services. This one-size-fits-all ideology of the decades-old regulations leaves the law on shaky ground. Marilyn Wethekam discussed how shoehorning old tax laws to modern business services can be a setback at the Multistate Tax Commission's annual meeting in Boise, Idaho. "Ordinances and statutes…

This award is presented to one or more individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Institute over an extended period of time. Examples of the activities for which this award has been previously given include sustained and substantial contributions to one of the Institute's designations or educational programs. Learn more about the Institute for Professionals in Taxation here. …

An article published by Checkpoint discusses how states are responding to the South Dakota v. Wayfair  decision. Less than six months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the physical presence rule for sales and use tax nexus with its ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair, the vast majority of states have enacted or announced economic nexus policies, and the trend…

An article published by State Tax Notes discusses how the Alabama remote sales tax law could be the model for other states on taxing remote sellers. Alabama's Simplified Sellers Use Tax Remittance Act created a dual system under which local jurisdictions maintain control over the sales taxes of local businesses but not over remote sellers. State and Local Tax attorney,…

Be careful what you wish for, because you may get it is a fitting epitaph for the Wayfair decision. In the prophetic words of Justice Byron White, the "vagaries of physical presence" were tested and the concept as applied in a sales tax context has been laid to rest.

The New Mexico Office of Administrative Hearings granted Conagra Foods? Motion for Summary Judgment concluding the interest earned on notes was properly characterized as non-business income.

Today 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.

A recent Chief Counsel?s Ruling issued by the California Franchise Tax Board illustrates the issues and potential opportunities that arise as a result of adopting a factor presence nexus standard.

Increasingly, taxpayers are seeing the imposition of penalties on deficiency assessments. In fact in a number of situations the imposition of the penalty is automatic upon the issuance of the assessment. The penalties, which may range from 20% to 25% of the liability, are imposed for late payment or underpayment of taxes. Such penalties are generally imposed without taking into consideration the fact there is a lack of guidance or legal authority with respect to the substantive issue which gave rise to the tax underpayment...