Business and Occupation (B&O) Tax Archives

New Year, New Digital and Data Tax Proposals

February 11, 2021 By Maria Eberle, Lindsay LaCava, Mark Yopp and Dmitrii Gabrielov 6 Mins Read

State legislators have already proposed a number of digital and data tax bills in 2021, some of which are new proposals while others reintroduce proposals from previous legislative sessions. The proposed bills fall into one of three categories: taxes on digital advertising services, taxes (or fees) targeting social media providers, and taxes on the sale or monetization of personal data. Most of the proposals are in the early stages, but a Maryland bill originally introduced last year is moving closer to a legislative vote on whether to override the governor’s veto.

The Trend Continues: Washington State Legislators May Propose Digital Advertising Tax

November 19, 2020 By Maria Eberle, Lindsay LaCava, Mark Yopp and Dmitrii Gabrielov 4 Mins Read

Washington legislators may introduce a digital advertising tax bill in the state’s upcoming legislative session. See H-0028.1 (advance copy; not yet introduced). Washington’s potential legislation is the latest in a recent trend of digital advertising tax proposals (including in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Nebraska, New York, and West Virginia, none of which have become law as of the date of this blog post).

Washington DOR Responds to the LendingTree Decision: Benefit of the Service May Still Occur at the Customer’s Customer Location

August 5, 2020 By Mark Yopp 4 Mins Read

On July 21, the Washington Department of Revenue (“DOR”) issued its analysis of the Court of Appeals’ decision from March 30, 2020, in LendingTree, LLC v. Dep’t of Revenue, no. 80637-8-I (Wash. App. Ct. Mar. 30, 2020). As set forth in the analysis, from the DOR’s perspective, the LendingTree court followed the existing Washington Business and Occupation tax (“B&O”) attribution rules and guidance and did not create a new interpretive legal framework.[1] Although the DOR lost the case, and the court held that LendingTree’s receipts could not be sourced based where its customers’ customers were located, the DOR’s response suggests that they are factually distinguishing the case and will continue to attribute receipts to the customer’s customer location if that is where it determines the benefit of the services occurs.