Author: Andrew D. Appleby
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Big Tech AI Spree Revives Accounting Devices That Toppled Enron
Amanda Iacone (Bloomberg Law): Big Tech AI Spree Revives Accounting Devices That Toppled Enron Enron Corp. exploited US accounting rules to hide from investors and lenders hundreds of millions in debt it had bundled into off-balance sheet entities — obligations that contributed to one of the biggest corporate collapses in US history. Twenty-five years later,…
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NYC Limits Options for Owners of Second Homes to Appeal New Tax
Danielle Muoio Dunn (Bloomberg Law): NYC Limits Options for Owners of Second Homes to Appeal New Tax The owners of luxury second homes in New York City will have limited time and options to appeal the new pied-à-terre tax after receiving notice of their bills next month. City officials are moving quickly to implement the…
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AI Tokens and Sales Tax: Key Considerations
Stephen P. Kranz, Mark E. Nebergall & Jonathan C. Hague (McDermott Will & Schulte), AI Tokens and Sales Tax: Key Considerations, 121 Tax Notes State 239 (July 27, 2026): AI product providers increasingly offer customers access to their platforms through “tokens,” credits, or other usage-based entitlements. These arrangements may allow a customer to submit prompts, process…
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Second Circuit Rejects Counties’ Suit Against NYC Congestion Toll
This Second Circuit decision is important both for how it navigated the Tax Injunction Act and for its “right to travel” analysis. Cameron Browne (Tax Analysts): Second Circuit Rejects Counties’ Suit Against NYC Congestion Toll Two New York counties failed to prove that New York City’s congestion pricing program was an unauthorized tax that violated…
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AI Won’t Shrink Corporate Tax Teams Much. Here’s Why.
Michael V. Sala, AI Won’t Shrink Corporate Tax Teams Much. Here’s Why., 121 Tax Notes State 189 (July 20, 2026) In this article, Sala argues that the anticipated effects of artificial intelligence agents in modern corporate tax functions are greatly overstated because AI ultimately cannot shoulder regulatory, ethical, or financial consequences of culpability.
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Herzfeld: Mocking Up the Digital Services Tax War Games
Mindy Herzfeld (Florida), Mocking Up the Digital Services Tax War Games, 192 Tax Notes Fed. 185 (July 13, 2026) In the warning, which was issued the day after the European Commission agreed to the terms of the EU-U.S. trade deal, he threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on all goods from countries that implemented a…
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Law360: State and Local Tax Midyear Updates & Second Half Preview
Jaqueline McCool (Law360): Top State & Local Tax Cases Of 2026: Midyear Report From the U.S. Supreme Court declining to weigh in on Florida’s fight against a California apportionment rule to the New York appellate court affirming the dismissal of a challenge to how P.L. 86-272 applies to internet activities, it’s been a busy half-year for state…
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Illinois Enacts First-of-Its-Kind Cryptocurrency Transaction Tax
Drew Hemmings, Doug Wick, David Zaslowsky & Matthew Musano (Baker McKenzie): Illinois Enacts First-of-Its-Kind Cryptocurrency Transaction Tax (Bloomberg Law) Illinois is the first state in the nation to impose a controversial transaction-based tax on digital asset activity, inserting the Digital Asset Tax Act, or the “cryptocurrency tax,” into the sweeping fiscal year 2027 budget bill…
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House Ways and Means Exploring Perceived Disparity in Sports Team Pay Deduction
Cady Stanton (Tax Analysts): W&M Exploring Perceived Disparity in Sports Team Pay Deduction The top House taxwriter said his committee is considering whether expanding an upcoming cap on top earner salary deductions to all sports teams — not just those owned by publicly traded companies — could serve as a solution for concerns about unfair…
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More on NYC’s Pied-à-Terre Tax
Timothy P. Noonan, Lauren E. Austin & Noah S. Chase (Hodgson Russ LLP), Second Home, New Tax: Navigating NYC’s Pied-à-Terre Surcharge, 121 Tax Notes State 79 (July 13, 2026) It’s the first tax of its kind in New York state, and it’s finally here after more than a decade of failed proposals. Here, we walk through…
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Hemel: Madisonian Nonprofit Law and Checks and Balances
Daniel J. Hemel (NYU; Google Scholar), Madisonian Nonprofit Law and Checks and Balances, 64 Harv. J. Leg. (forthcoming 2027): The nonprofit sector is often described as a counterweight to the state. But how exactly do nonprofit organizations check and balance public power? This essay argues that nonprofits constrain government not only by confronting agencies as adversaries but…
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NY Tax on Remote Work Again Withstands Professor’s Challenge
Perry Cooper (Bloomberg Law): NY Tax on Remote Work Again Withstands Professor’s Challenge New York’s strict rules for taxing remote work performed for in-state companies survived another legal attack after a state appeals court ruled Thursday that they conform to federal constitutional protections. … Zelinsky asked the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department,…
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Kalshi Sues Illinois to Nullify New Prediction Market Tax Law
Emily Hollingsworth (Tax Analysts): Kalshi Sues Illinois to Nullify New Prediction Market Tax Law Kalshi has filed suit in federal court to prevent Illinois from enforcing its new prediction market tax and licensing requirements, which the company says will cause it “irreparable harms.” The prediction market company filed its June 23 complaint under KalshiEX LLC v. Raoul in the U.S.…
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The New York Pied-à-Terre Tax: What You Should Know
David Pope & Chris Lorimer (DLA Piper): The New York Pied-à-Terre Tax: What You Should Know, 121 Tax Notes State 19 (July 6, 2026) In this article, Pope and Lorimer review the newly enacted New York City pied-à-terre tax, including its two-phase valuation structure, rate schedule, exemptions, potential constitutional issues, and the Department of Finance’s…
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Newsom Floats Federal Wealth Tax After California Deal Fails
Alicia Clanton & Biz Carson (Bloomberg Law): Newsom Floats Federal Wealth Tax After California Deal Fails Governor Gavin Newsom is calling for a federal tax on billionaires after failing to stop a California wealth tax from reaching the November ballot, setting up a high-profile test of whether voters will back one of the nation’s most…
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Fromer & Lemley: “State Supreme Courts Can Resolve Early Legal Recruiting Mess”
Jeanne Fromer (NYU) & Mark Lemley (Stanford): State Supreme Courts Can Resolve Early Legal Recruiting Mess (Bloomberg Law) Law firms now hire people for summer jobs 18 months in advance; in practice, they are hiring first-semester 1Ls for full-time jobs that won’t start for almost three years. State supreme courts can help fix this situation.…
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Herzfeld: “SpaceX Speculation: Who Bears the Risk?”
Mindy Herzfeld (Florida), SpaceX Speculation: Who Bears the Risk?, 191 Tax Notes Fed. 2235 (June 29, 2026) But investors are presumably buying SpaceX shares on the expectation that the company will eventually become profitable. Assuming that happens, one question is how its business income might be taxed in the United States and elsewhere. Also of…
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Coca-Cola Meets Sympathetic Judges in $20 Billion IRS Case
David Schultz & Michael Rapoport (Bloomberg Law): Coca-Cola Meets Sympathetic Judges in $20 Billion IRS Case A panel of federal appellate judges were receptive to Coca-Cola Co.’s arguments that the IRS improperly allocated its foreign income in a case that could cost the soft drink company up to $20 billion.
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Florida Voters Will Decide Fate of Property Tax Relief Plan
Billy Hamilton (Tax Analysts): Florida Voters Will Decide Fate of Property Tax Relief Plan What makes this chain of events particularly interesting is that it combines three important trends in state and local tax policy and politics into a single issue. The first is the legislative desire, particularly in red states, to continue reducing taxes…
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WSJ: Rich Californians Are Finding Creative Ways to Get Ahead of the Billionaire Tax
Juliet Chung (WSJ): Rich Californians Are Finding Creative Ways to Get Ahead of the Billionaire Tax With help from their phalanx of tax and trust-and-estate advisers, California’s ultrawealthy are getting creative in the face of the proposed billionaire tax. If it becomes law, it would tax the net worth of billionaires who resided in California…
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Bloomberg: Coca-Cola, IRS Face Off in Tax Appeal With Huge Stakes for Both
Michael Rapoport & David Schultz (Bloomberg Law): Coca-Cola, IRS Face Off in Tax Appeal With Huge Stakes for Both The beverage giant and the government will square off in oral arguments [on June 25] before the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Miami. Coca-Cola is appealing US Tax Court rulings that side…
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Illinois Enacts Several New Digital Taxes
Illinois recently enacted just about every conceivable digital tax as part of the state’s budget legislation, including a: More detail below the fold.
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SALT Deduction Cap Falls Short in Design, Not Constitutionality
Andrew Leahey (Drexel/Bloomberg Law): SALT Deduction Cap Falls Short in Design, Not Constitutionality The latest defeat of a constitutional challenge to the state and local tax deduction cap underscores that the cap’s real defect isn’t that Congress lacked the power to enact it. It’s that Congress used its power to create a blunt, politically punitive tax rule…
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San Francisco Voters Reject Expanded “Overpaid CEO” Tax
Eliyahu Kamisher & Biz Carson (Bloomberg Law): Billionaires Win as Voters Halt San Francisco ‘Overpaid CEO’ Tax San Francisco voters rejected a union-backed ballot measure to raise taxes on large corporations doing business in the city, a win for billionaires who argued that the levy would harm the city’s economic recovery. The Overpaid CEO Act, known as…
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WSJ: Stock Gains Without All the Taxes?
Miriam Gottfried & Peter Santilli (Wall Street Journal): Stock Gains Without All the Taxes? How the Hottest Trade on Wall Street Works With the stock market near record highs, it isn’t enough to be winning anymore. Wealthy investors are now obsessed with losing, too. The hottest investment on Wall Street promises a magical-sounding mix of…