With the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Reform”) fully enacted, taxpayers and practitioners are racing to find last-minute planning opportunities prior to the new year, and states are looking for ways to assist their residents prospectively. The most talked about planning opportunity, currently, is prepaying property taxes for 2018 to create a 2017 tax benefit around Section 11042(a)(6), which limits the state and local tax deduction to $10,000 beginning in 2018. However, imprecise wording contained within Section 11042(a)(6) could feasibly be interpreted to permit a deduction for state and local income taxes as well – depending on how you read the provision.
On December 15, 2017, the conferees working on reconciling the differences between the House and Senate versions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Bill”) released legislative text and a Joint Explanatory Statement. It is expected that the Tax Bill will be passed and signed into law by President Trump. The Tax Bill contains numerous provisions impacting the personal income tax, the estate tax, the taxation of pass through entities, and the corporate income tax. This blog focuses on the U.S. state and local corporate income tax implications of the most significant aspects of the corporate income tax provisions of the Tax Bill.
Baker McKenzie’s SALT practice secured a win for Leadville Insurance Company (“Leadville”) in Maryland Tax Court. The Court ruled in favor of Leadville on its Motion for Summary Judgment and held that the Comptroller’s assessment of Maryland corporate income tax on Leadville was in error. Leadville Insurance Co. v. Comptroller of the Treasury, Case No. 13-IN-OO-0035 (Md. Tax Ct. Mar. 30, 2017). The Court found that Leadville, a Vermont insurance company with interest income from an affiliate with Maryland operations, was not subject to Maryland corporate income tax.