Constitutional Issues Archives

Nebraska Supreme Court Affirms Denial of “Deemed Dividend” Deduction For IRC §965 Income

September 25, 2024 By Drew Hemmings and Leah Regan 4 Mins Read

The one-time IRC §965 income inclusion for untaxed foreign earnings generated by a controlled foreign corporation (“CFC”) is not eligible for deduction from Nebraska taxable income as a “deemed dividend” according to a recent Nebraska Supreme Court decision, Precision Castparts Corp. v Nebraska Dept. of Revenue, 317 Neb. 481 (2024). Precision Castparts Corp. (“Taxpayer”), an aerospace component manufacturer, sought a declaratory order from the Nebraska Department of Revenue (“Department”) authorizing the company to amend its…

Massachusetts Court Takes A Bite Out of Cookie Nexus

December 23, 2022 By Maria Eberle and Dmitrii Gabrielov 5 Mins Read

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that an online retailer was not required to collect and remit the state’s sales and use tax prior to the United States Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair because its use of apps, cookies, and content delivery networks (CDNs) did not create “physical presence” nexus, as required prior to the Wayfair decision, and the Wayfair “economic nexus” standard could not apply retroactively. U.S. Auto Parts Network,…

Maryland State Judge Strikes Down Digital Ad Tax

October 19, 2022 By Maria Eberle, Ted Bots, Lindsay LaCava, Stephen Long, Mark Yopp, Dmitrii Gabrielov and David Simon-Fajardo 2 Mins Read

On October 17, 2022, a Maryland state judge in the Circuit Court of Anne Arundel County struck down the state’s Digital Advertising Tax (“Digital Ad Tax”) as violating the Internet Tax Freedom Act (“ITFA”) and the Commerce Clause and First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Comcast of California/Maryland/Pennsylvania/Virginia/West Virginia LLC, et al. v. Comptroller of the Treasury of Maryland, Case No. C-02-CV-21-000509 (Md. Cir. Ct. Anne Arundel Cnty.). The judge issued her ruling from the…

Wayfair: The Sequel

August 16, 2022 By Lindsay LaCava, Rob Galloway and David Simon-Fajardo 6 Mins Read

A new lawsuit filed by Wayfair, LLC in Jefferson County Court (Colorado) seeks to address a question left open by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2018 Wayfair decision that permits states to impose a sales or use tax collection obligation based on an economic nexus threshold: Does this decision apply to locally-administered sales or use taxes? While many localities have asserted that the same economic nexus standards should apply at the state and local levels,…