State & Local

Expert Analysis

• Private Equity Owners Can Remedy Law Firms' Agency Issues

  

  Nonlawyer, private-equity ownership of law firms can benefit shareholders and others vulnerable to governance issues such as disparate interests, and can in turn help resolve agency problems, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.

• Kentucky Tax Talk: Taking Up The Dormant Commerce Clause

  

  Attorneys at Frost Brown examine whether the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to review Foresight Coal Sales v. Kent Chandler to consider whether a Kentucky utility rate law discriminates against interstate commerce, and how the decision may affect dormant commerce clause jurisprudence.

• TCJA Workarounds And A Misstep In Va.: SALT In Review

  

  From federal SALT deduction workarounds to Virginia's missed opportunity, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.

• How Taxpayers Can Prep As Justices Weigh Repatriation Tax

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court might strike down the 2017 federal tax overhaul's corporate repatriation tax in Moore v. U.S., so taxpayers should file protective tax refund claims before the case is decided and repatriate previously taxed earnings that could become entangled in dubious potential Section 965 refunds, say Jenny Austin and Gary Wilcox at Mayer Brown.

• Digital Services And Asphalt Production: SALT In Review

  

  From Massachusetts' proposed gross receipts tax on digital providers to a dispute over equipment used to make asphalt in North Carolina, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.

• What's Notable In Connecticut's New Cannabis Laws

  

  The Connecticut Legislature recently passed four bills containing cannabis provisions — ranging from applicable tax credits to labor agreement requirements — that may prove to be a mixed bag for state operators, say Sarah Westby and Deanna McWeeney at Shipman & Goodwin.

• NJ Justices Clarify Bribery Law Scope, But Questions Remain

  

  The New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent State v. O'Donnell decision clarified that the state’s bribery law unambiguously applies to candidates for public office, but there are still unresolved questions about how the ruling may affect lobbyists, undeclared candidates and political speech, says Scott Coffina at Pietragallo Gordon.

• Parsing Tax Implications Of NYC Office Leasing Transactions

  

  Though New York City's tax laws generally do not require negotiated contractual risk allocation in the case of sublease and early lease termination transactions, it is still helpful for counsel to both landlords and tenants to understand the laws' nuances, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

• Digital Biz Purchases And Tax Cuts In Texas: SALT In Review

  

  From the taxing of digital business purchases to proposed tax cuts in Texas, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.

• 3 Principles Should Guide MTC's Digital Products Tax Work

  

  As the Multistate Tax Commission's project to harmonize sales tax on digital products moves forward, three key principles will help the commission's work group arrive at unambiguous definitions and help states avoid unintended costs, say Charles Kearns and Jeffrey Friedman at Eversheds Sutherland.

• OECD Treatment Of Purchased Ga. Film Credits Isn't Peachy

  

  Producers considering Georgia as a prospective location for filming may already be concerned that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's July decision will hamper the eventual 2026 or later sale of their Georgia film tax credits, says Alan Lederman at Gunster.

• A Milestone For Offshore Wind In Maine

  

  Recently signed legislation directing Maine to procure up to 3 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2040 offers indisputable promise that the state will soon welcome commercial-scale offshore wind development off its shores, says Joshua Rosen at Foley Hoag.

• Mallory Ruling Doesn't Undermine NC Sales Tax Holding

  

  Contrary to the conclusion reached in a recent Law360 guest article, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Mallory ruling shouldn't be read as implicitly repudiating the North Carolina Supreme Court’s sales tax ruling in Quad Graphics v. North Carolina Department of Revenue — the U.S. Supreme Court could have rejected Quad by directly overturning it, says Jonathan Entin at Case Western Reserve.