The Texas Supreme Court recently ruled on apportionment under the Texas franchise tax, also known as the Texas margin tax. Apportionment is the method by which a taxpayer determines how much of its income (or, in Texas, taxable margin) is taxable to a particular state as opposed to other states. In this case, the Texas […]
In its opinion issued May 8, 2020 in EBS Solutions, Inc. v. Hegar, the Texas Supreme Court allowed a taxpayer’s lawsuit challenging a Texas tax assessment to go forward even though the taxpayer had not prepaid the entire assessment before filing suit. (Note: Seay & Traphagan, PLLC represents EBS Solutions, Inc. in connection with this […]
The Texas Supreme Court recently released opinions in three Texas franchise tax/margin tax cases. All three opinions address the applicability of the Texas franchise tax’s cost of goods sold subtraction to costs incurred by taxpayers in specific industries. Below, we discuss the industry-specific rulings in each case, and then consider what the cases, taken as […]
Today, the Texas Supreme Court released its long-awaited opinion in Southwest Royalties, Inc. v. Hegar. It held that oil and gas above-ground and downhole production equipment doesn’t qualify for the manufacturing exemption from Texas sales and use tax, affirming the ruling of both the Third Court of Appeals and the trial court. This case has […]
The Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion today in Hallmark Marketing Co., LLC v. Hegar. The opinion invalidated a Texas Comptroller rule regarding apportionment under the Texas franchise tax (also known as the Texas margin tax). The rule required taxpayers to reduce net gains from sales of capital assets and investments by the amount of […]
Today, the Texas Supreme Court continued its trend of giving little deference to the Texas Comptroller in Combs v. Health Care Services Corporation. There, the Texas Supreme Court held that Health Care Services Corporation, a company that administers federal health insurance programs, was entitled to the sale-for-resale exemption from Texas sales and use taxes on […]
This post takes a quick look at the decisions regarding Texas sales and use tax and Texas franchise tax that the Texas Supreme Court and Texas Courts of Appeals have handed down in the past year. While this blog has already discussed some of these, now is a good time to revisit them in light […]
Over the last few weeks, Texas courts haven’t been giving much deference to the Texas Comptroller—at least, not to her administrative rules. Two courts have determined that certain Comptroller rules are unnecessary at best, and invalid at worse. One of those courts was the Texas Supreme Court. The Roark Case and the Texas Sales Tax […]
Last Friday, the Texas Supreme Court announced its decision in the Nestle USA, Inc. case. This was Nestle’s second constitutional challenge to the Texas franchise tax. Not surprisingly, the Court rejected Nestle’s challenge–it upheld the tax. Nestle’s Challenge to the Texas Franchise Tax Nestle’s approach was to take a “shotgun blast” to the tax. I […]
