Taxation-State and Local Commons^™

State And Local Taxation, Brian Sengson, Blake Joiner, Kenda Williams

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys the most critical and comprehensive changes in Georgia law occurring between June 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021. Most notably, this Article discusses Georgia’s continued response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19); pass-through entity election for the state and local tax deduction cap workaround; amendments to deference accorded to determinations and interpretations issued by the Georgia Department of Revenue (Department); and other important topics impacting income tax, sales tax, and tax controversy.

State And Local Taxation, Brian Sengson, Diandria Green, Blake Joiner, David Greenberg

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys the most critical and comprehensive changes in Georgia law occurring between June 1, 2019, and May 31, 2020. Most notably, the article discusses Georgia’s tax response to COVID-19, Georgia’s new marketplace facilitator statute, the jurisdictional limits of the Georgia Tax tribunal, and other important topics.

Bellsouth V. Cobb County And The 9-1-1 Act: Taxation Without A Right Of Action, Davis Lackey

Mercer Law Review

The State of Georgia has long recognized the importance of providing emergency services for its citizens. The on-call availability of medical services in our communities is a vital resource for those in need. The Georgia Legislature enacted the Emergency Telephone Number “911” Service Act of 1977 (9-1-1 Act or Act), which streamlined the emergency services phone number into a single, three-digit emergency number that would effectively reduce response time. Specifically, the Georgia General Assembly was concerned with the existence of too many phone numbers for emergency services throughout the state. In 2005, the Georgia General Assembly amended the Act that …

State And Local Taxation, Brian Sengson, Diandria Green, David Greenberg

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys the most critical and comprehensive changes in Georgia law occurring between June 1, 2017, and May 31, 2019.1 In addition to noteworthy cases decided in state and federal courts, this Article details legislation enacted during the survey period that affects Georgia tax law.

• State Constitutional Changes
• Georgia Sales and Use Taxation
• Georgia Income Taxation
• State Tax Credits
• State Tax Controversy

Online Travel Companies Find Issues With Hotels Extremely Taxing: Georgia's Hotel- Motel Occupancy Excise Tax And Expedia, Inc. V. City Of Columbus, T.J. Evans

Mercer Law Review

In Expedia, Inc. v. City of Columbus, the Georgia Supreme Court held that under a plain reading of the "Hotel-Motel Occupancy Excise Tax" ordinance of Columbus, Georgia, and the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) enabling statute, the applicable tax rate must be applied to the amount an online travel company (OTC) charges a purchaser for the right to occupy a hotel room, rather than the discounted amount for which the OTC contracts with hotels to pay for a room. The supreme court's decision "marks the first time any state's highest court has ruled on the substantive issues at …

Curing The Structural Defect In State Tax Systems: Expanding The Tax Base To Include Services, Timothy R. Hurley

Mercer Law Review

"The state retail sales tax in America can be likened to an illegitimate child that was not wanted but that came anyway." At least that is how one economist has described the sales tax. He went on to state, "Being unwanted is not really unusual and it is certainly no bar to normal growth. It is even possible for the illegitimate to gain respectability." Apparently, the sale tax has gained respectability. Less than eighty years ago, there was no such tax in the United States. In 1932 Mississippi introduced what is the modem-day sales tax. Since then, forty-four states have …

Daimlerchrysler V. Cuno: The Supreme Court Hits The Brakes On Determining The Constitutionality Of Investment Incentives Given By States To Corporate America, Jonathan Edwards

Mercer Law Review

In DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Cuno, the United States Supreme Court, under the pen of Chief Justice Roberts, unanimously held that state taxpayers did not have Article III standing to challenge local property tax abatements and investment tax credits given to DaimlerChrysler Corporation ("Daimler"). Claiming standing as municipal and state taxpayers, the plaintiffs challenged the City of Toledo and the State of Ohio's decisions to offer Daimler certain exemptions from and reductions of its local property and state franchise taxes. The Court held that the plaintiffs failed to satisfy the injury-in-fact and redressability requirements of standing because their alleged injury …

State And Local Tax, Crawford B. Edwards Jr.

Mercer Law Review

The past year was a relatively quiet year for tax matters. The cases were varied and for the most part, either clarified some issues or covered procedural matters. In the area of real estate transfer taxes, the transfer tax is based on the net value of the conveyance (the purchase price less the outstanding indebtedness), when an existing mortgage or encumbrance remains after the transfer. In the ad valorem tax area, the cases dealt primarily with procedural matters concerning valuation. The court clarified the religious exemption by providing a "primary use of the property" test in cases in which religious …

State And Local Taxation, Thomas J. Harrold Jr.

Mercer Law Review

The new Public Revenue Code became effective at the beginning of this year and is the most important development in recent years in the area of state and local taxation in Georgia. The new Code is designed to streamline and modernize Georgia tax statutes, but is not intended to make any substantive changes in the law. A few oversights and inadvertent omissions have been corrected by an act passed by the 1980 general assembly. An undertaking of this magnitude inevitably leaves a few cracks and crevices and promises to stir lively litigation during the next few years.

In addition to …

State And Local Taxation, L.O. Buckland, Gary B. Andrews

Mercer Law Review

This survey covers the cases decided over the past two years, since the state and local tax section was omitted in the last annual survey. The principal activity during this period concerned ad valorem taxation, but the nature of many of these cases permits them to be noted in summary fashion. If this and previous surveys are any indication, the concern of property owners over rising ad valorem taxes is more likely to be aired in court than their concern over any other form of taxation.

As in previous surveys, this review divides the cases into the major tax areas …

State Taxpayer Remedies, L.O. Buckland

Mercer Law Review

Taxpayers in Georgia have four principal means of obtaining judicial review of their state tax liabilities, but the statutes permitting review are not located in a single, convenient location and the practitioner faces considerable research in order to determine his client's remedies. The four means, or remedies, are: (1) the appeal under the tax administration provisions; (2) the affidavit of illegality; (3) the suit for refund; and (4) the appeal under the Administrative Procedure Act. This article provides a brief summary of these remedies. No attempt was made to exhaustively examine the many factual situations that can arise or to …