The biggest challenge of a multistate tax practice is dealing with the practical issues of multiple states with sometimes conflicting laws and regulations. Most companies operate in multistate environment and must learn how to apply their operational realities to a patchwork of state and local tax laws and regulations. With telecommuting, internet and other work options, and a fluid workforce, this course will also review the state and local tax rules for employers/employees and individuals.

This course reviews the basic concepts that govern multistate taxation on an operational level and detailed practice and procedures guidelines. The issues surrounding audits and record access will be discussed along with the use of tools such as managed audits and voluntary disclosures. Appeals on administrative and judicial levels will be reviewed with an emphasis on statute of limitation, de novo and other issues. Additionally, this course will provide a review of the relationships between the states, information sharing between and among the states and the federal government, and the natural tension between taxpayers and the state revenue departments.

Learning objectives:

Gain an understanding of the practical aspects of state and local taxation. This understanding will prepare you to take on real time state tax projects with a client perspective. The class will also provide you with an understanding of state and local learning resources to gain the needed information to define and complete state and local tax projects.

This course discusses the basic principles of state and local taxation, focusing primarily on state income and franchise taxes. The course provides an overview of the limitations of state taxation provided by the Due Process and Commerce Clauses of the U.S. Constitution as well as selected federal statutes that pre-empt state taxation. The course discusses conformity with federal tax laws and introduces the student to the state tax concepts of unitary business principle and formulary apportionment. In addition to corporate income and franchise tax issues, the course will discuss issues relating to passthrough entities, common planning strategies, states’ authority to challenge positions taken by taxpayers, and taxation of non-U.S. income and non-U.S. taxpayers.