JW SALT Partners Quoted in Recent Publications

By Jones Walker LLP on Posted in Jones Walker Announcements, Tax News

SALT Team partners Bill Backstrom, Andre Burvant, and Matt Mantle were quoted in numerous media outlets in October discussing the tax administration implications of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair, allowing states to collect taxes on purchases from remote sellers. Bill was quoted in articles published by Law360 and State Tax Today following his presentation “Treasures in the Attic – Forgotten Favorites for Attacking Economic Nexus” at the Paul J. Hartman State and Local Tax Forum in Nashville on October 18, 2018.  Andre and Matt were quoted in the State Tax Today article “Louisiana Commission Debates ‘Remote Seller’ Definition,” commenting on the commission’s efforts to establish Louisiana’s sales tax compliance mechanism for remote sellers following Wayfair. Additionally, Matt was quoted in the Law360 articles “La. Ponders Uniformity As Remote Seller Target Date Looms” and “La. Commission Seeks Input Crafting Remote Seller Definition.”

SALT Team Member John Fletcher Supports the Jackson Metro Heart Walk

By John Fletcher on Posted in Jones Walker Announcements

Thanks to everyone who has helped me move toward my goal of raising $5,000 to support the Jackson Metro Heart Walk. We have two weeks left to hit that goal and help Mississippi by supporting research and education for heart disease and stroke – two of the biggest health issues we have in our state. Anything you might be able to contribute to the cause is greatly appreciated and I hope you can join us on November 17 for the Heart Walk!

Thanks again for supporting the 2018 Heart Walk!

Thank you for attending!

By Jones Walker LLP on Posted in Jones Walker Announcements, Presentations

Thank you for attending the 10th Annual State & Local Tax Seminar presented by Jones Walker LLP! We hope that you enjoyed the seminar and found the topics interesting, informative, and relevant.

We would like to thank Kimberly L. Robinson, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Revenue, Meg Bartlett, Associate Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Revenue, and Karey Barton, Associate Deputy Comptroller for Tax of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts for being our luncheon speakers.

We sincerely appreciate your attendance and the opportunity to assist you in your legal needs. If there are other specific issues that would be of interest to you in 2019, please let us know!

Best,

The Jones Walker SALT Team

Cooking with SALT Goes Back to the Future

By Jones Walker LLP on Posted in Jones Walker Announcements, Presentations

Great Scott! The Jones Walker LLP State & Local Tax team is back with a day-long program on October 10, 2018, titled Cooking with SALT Goes Back to the Future! In honor of the 10th anniversary of the Cooking with SALT seminar, our SALT scientists travel back in time to provide some old twists to fresh topics. Morning classes begin with a lesson in Louisiana state and local procedure taught by two docs too hip to be square. Then…you know that new sound you’re looking for? Well, listen to this! – A riff of legislative and administrative updates. Next, we provide the scientific formula to add the perfect amount of SALT to your contract documents. Lunch is then served in the principal’s office with a round table discussion featuring some principals of state tax administration for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

  • Kimberly Robinson, Secretary, Louisiana Department of Revenue
  • Meg Bartlett, Associate Commissioner, Mississippi Department of Revenue
  • Karey Barton, Associate Deputy Comptroller for Tax, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

These principals will provide the administrative prospective on recent tax developments to ensure you’re not left stranded in the near future.

View the full brochure.

When: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 | 8:00 AM–5:30 PM

Where: Hilton Americas-Houston | 1600 Lamar St | Houston, TX 77010

Fee: $150 per registrant
Company group rate: $150 for first registrant, $100 for each subsequent registrant

To register: Contact Courtney Farley at cfarley@joneswalker.com

Jones Walker SALT Team Members to Present at 25th Annual Paul J. Hartman State and Local Tax Forum

By Jones Walker LLP on Posted in Jones Walker Announcements, Presentations

Jones Walker SALT Team members Bill Backstrom and John Fletcher will present at the 25th Annual Paul J. Hartman State & Local Tax Forum October 17-19, 2018 in Nashville, TN.

The Professor Paul J. Hartman State and Local Tax (SALT) Forum, sponsored in conjunction with the Vanderbilt University Law School, provides industry, practitioners and state revenue employees the opportunity to participate in a quality forum exploring significant national developments and trends in state and local taxation. The Forum welcomes your participation. Please click here to register for the forum.

Bill will speak on a panel focusing on ‘Forgotten Favorites for Attacking Economic Nexus.’ With economic nexus spreading throughout the states, it is time to dust off some classic arguments to fight back against the long arm of Johnny Law. This panel will examine well-worn concepts like due process, doing business, and the safe harbor provided by P.L. 86-272 and discuss how those protections can be used to defend against a state’s attempt to impose tax under its economic nexus provisions.

John’s panel will focus on ‘Best Practices in SUT Audits.’ Even though no company wants to be audited, SUT audits are an unavoidable part of doing business. This presentation will help taxpayers, government auditors, and practitioners avoid, deal with, and resolve audit issues at all stages of the audit.

Louisiana Remote Seller Commission Issues First Information Bulletin Addressing Impact of Wayfair

By Joe Landry on Posted in Regulations, Tax News, Tax Procedure

The Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers (the “Commission”) has now issued its first information bulletin – Remote Sellers Information Bulletin (“RSIB”) 18-001 – regarding the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. decision on remote sellers selling to Louisiana purchasers.

A copy of RSIB 18-001 can be found here: http://revenue.louisiana.gov/LawsPolicies/RSIB%2018-001%20-%20Remote%20Sellers%20Impact%20of%20Wayfair.pdf

A few items to note regarding RSIB 18-001 are:

  • The RSIB opines that due to the Wayfair decision, the Commission is now authorized to act as the single entity for the administration and collection of sales and use taxes with respect to remote sellers. However, it should be noted that it remains unclear if this jurisdictional expansion of the Commission under Act 5 of the 2018 Second Extraordinary Session was actually triggered by Wayfair.  As we mentioned in our previous blog post, Not So Fast: Louisiana State and Local Sales Taxes in a Post-Wayfair World:

“Act 5 does not become applicable unless/until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the Wayfair case that the South Dakota statute/regime is “constitutional.”  Although the Court in Wayfair ruled that there is no longer a “physical presence” nexus test for Commerce Clause purposes, the Court did not rule that South Dakota’s scheme was constitutional.  Rather, the Court remanded the case to address whether South Dakota’s regime was constitutional taking into account other issues (such as any other undue burdens upon, or discrimination against, interstate commerce).  Thus, as of right now, Act 5 in Louisiana is not yet applicable (and may never be).”

  • The RSIB also opines that a flat adoption of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement was not a requirement found by the Court in Wayfair in order to meet Commerce Clause standards. Some, however, have disagreed with this notion, and the ultimate answer on this issue is currently unclear.
  • The RSIB provides that the Louisiana Department of Revenue will not be seeking any retroactive application of the Wayfair decision, and instead will begin enforcing collection from remote sellers for any taxable period beginning on or after January 1, 2019.
  • The RSIB also notes that the Louisiana Uniform Local Sales Tax Board will issue guidance to local collectors recommending that they also do not seek any retroactive application of the Wayfair decision.
  • The RSIB reminds remote sellers that those who have voluntarily registered with the Department of Revenue and are currently collecting and remitting sales and use tax using a Form R-1301, Direct Marketer Sales Tax Return, should remain collecting and remitting in such manner until further guidance is issued by the Commission.
  • The RSIB also reminds taxpayers that the current information reporting requirements in Louisiana are still in effect; thus, remote sellers who are not currently collecting and remitting sales and use taxes must file applicable information reports as required under current law.

The Jones Walker SALT Team will continue to closely follow – and report on – these developments as they occur.

 

Another Great Time at SEATA!

By Bill Backstrom on Posted in Presentations

Among the super-hot SALT topics at the 2018 SEATA meeting in Nashville were the impact of recent federal income tax changes on state income taxes and the aftermath of Wayfair. Along with two colleagues, I presented at a session focusing on “game-changing” cases in the various Southeastern states. At another session, the topic was so hot that the fire alarm sounded and attendees had to evacuate the building. In addition to in-depth coverage of a wide range of SALT topics, attendees were treated to various events around Nashville. The hotel shuttle transporting attendees to and from the offsite events was so active that it caught fire in front of the host hotel! As always, things were hot at the annual SEATA conference.

Not So Fast: Louisiana State and Local Sales Taxes in a Post-Wayfair World

By Andre Burvant and Matt Mantle on Posted in Judicial Decisions, Legislation, Tax News

As word spread about the Supreme Court’s opinion in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., Dkt. No. 17-494, 485 U.S.        (June 21, 2018), tax administrators around the country popped open bottles of champagne and began toasting the end of the “physical presence” substantial nexus standard.  The sounds of celebration were, at least initially, particularly deafening in Louisiana, with its sixty-three (63) autonomous parish taxing jurisdictions that levy, administer and collect local sales and use tax on behalf of numerous cities, towns, districts and other local jurisdictions.  Remote sellers might have considered downing a drink or two to drown their sorrows at the thought of potentially having to navigate the complex systems of state and local sales taxes in Louisiana.

As tax administrators continued to read the Wayfair opinion, however, a sobering reality began to set in that, at least in the short term, Louisiana’s various taxing jurisdictions are in no better position to force remote sellers to collect and remit state and local sales taxes than they were before the Wayfair decision (and perhaps even a worse one). Continue Reading

The Taxman Cometh: Mississippi Sales and Use Taxes in a Post-Wayfair World

By John Fletcher on Posted in Judicial Decisions, Regulations, Tax News

In December 2017, the Mississippi Department of Revenue finalized a new sales and use tax regulation addressing remote sellers and establishing a $250,000 bright-line nexus standard. The department began that process in January 2017 by issuing a proposed regulation and refined it following a public hearing held in February. The regulation positioned the state to take advantage of any repeal of Quill’s physical presence test, but the department stated it would not enforce the new rule until the Supreme Court took that step. Now that Quill’s physical presence rule has been invalidated in Wayfair, taxpayers should expect the department to move forward with these remote-use tax collection efforts. The following information should help summarize Mississippi’s current rules and identify several important details and questions that have yet to be answered.

Statutory Background

Mississippi law [Section 27-67-4(2)(e)] has long required remote sellers to collect use tax if they have nexus with the state by “purposefully or systematically exploiting the consumer market provided by this state.” This could be accomplished “by any media-assisted, media-facilitated or media-solicited means, including, but not limited to, direct mail advertising, unsolicited distribution of catalogues, computer-assisted shopping, television, radio or other electronic media, or magazine or newspaper advertisements or other media.” This collection obligation is contained within the use tax code, not the sales tax code as may be the case in some other states.

Regulatory Bright-Line Rule

The final regulation specifies that sellers have a “substantial economic presence” if their sales into the state exceed $250,000 for the prior 12 months. The original proposed regulation would have based the sales threshold on the prior calendar year, so this change means sellers should track Mississippi transactions on a rolling, monthly basis if they are not otherwise registered. Unlike other states, Mississippi does not specify any minimum number of transactions to create nexus, and Department of Revenue officials have stated informally that a single transaction may meet the requirement when coupled with the other “market exploitation” criteria discussed below. Continue Reading

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