William P Cook

Tax Alerts

January 19, 2021

Tax Briefing(s)

2020 Tax Year-In-Review Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (revised)2020 Post-Election Tax Policy Update 2020 Year-End Tax Planning 2020 Payroll Tax Deferral Order

Notices Delayed Due to COVID-19
The IRS continues to experience delays mailing backlogged notices due to the volume and restart of issuing notices during the pandemic. The delay impacts some, but not all, IRS notices dated from Nove...

IRS Reminds Employers of Filing Deadline for Form W-2, Wage Statements
The IRS has reminded employers of filing file Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, and other wage statements by Monday, February 1, 2021, to avoid penalties and help the IRS prevent fraud. Due to the us...

Deadline to Certify Certain Employees for WOTC Extended
Employers that hired a designated community resident or a qualified summer youth employee under Code Sec. 51(d)(5) or (d)(7) who began work on or after January 1, 2018, and before January 1, 2021,...

Adjusted Applicable Dollar Amount for Fee Imposed on Health Insurance Plans Announced
The IRS has announced that the applicable dollar amount used to calculate the fees imposed by Code Secs. 4375 and 4376 for policy and plan years that end on or after October 1, 2020, and before Oc...

Form 1024-A Revised for Electronic Submission
The IRS has announced that it is revising Form 1024-A, Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, to allow electronic filing for the first time, as...

AK - Interest rate announced for Q4 of 2020
The Alaska interest rate for delinquent taxes and overpayment of taxes is set at 5.50%, compounded quarterly, for the period April 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020. The Department of Revenue posting...

AR - Changes to withholding tax tables announced
The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration has announced that the state’s personal income tax withholding tables will change effective January 1, 2021. As a result, Arkansas personal inco...

CA - Guidance provided on approval of proposition 19
California provides property tax guidance regarding the approval by voters of Proposition 19 at the November 3, 2020, general election.New Sections Added to Article XIII A of California ConstitutionPr...

CO - State and local sales and use tax rate changes announced
The Colorado Department of Revenue has announced state and local sales and use tax rate changes that are effective January 1, 2021.State-Collected City Sales and Use Tax ChangesThe following state-col...

DE - Mandatory electronic filing for many business tax returns announced
The Delaware Division of Revenue (division) issued a memorandum notifying taxpayers that most gross receipts tax, excise tax, and withholding tax returns and payments will be required to be filed elec...

FL - Holmes County adds 0.5% indigent care surtax
The combined state and local Florida sales and use tax rate for Holmes County will be 7.5% effective January 1, 2021. The combined rate is composed of the 6% state sales tax, the 1% small county surta...

GA - 2020 asset expense limitation guidance updated
Georgia has updated its instructions on how to compute and report federal tax differences on 2020 Georgia personal and corporate income tax returns. For tax years beginning in 2020, the IRC §179 expe...

HI - Honolulu completes 2021 assessments
The city and county of Honolulu, Hawaii has announced that real property assessments for 2021 are completed, and the total gross assessed valuation of all taxable real property on Oahu has decreased f...

IL - Tentative DuPage county multiplier announced for 2020
The tentative DuPage County equalization factor (multiplier) for Illinois property tax purposes has been set for 2020 at 1.0000. The final 2019 multiplier was 1.0000.The full text of the release is av...

IN - County income rates updated
Indiana has announced county income tax rates that are effective January 1, 2021.Which Counties are Increasing Rates?The counties increasing their rate include:Martin County: 0.025 (increased from 0.0...

IA - Adoption tax credit regulations updated
Iowa is updating its personal income tax adoption redit regulation to conform to statutory changes made during 2019.Claiming ExpensesAfter 2018, taxpayers must claim qualified adoption expenses paid o...

LA - Hospital operator denied refund of taxes paid on purchase of prescription drugs administered to medicare patients
A hospital operator (taxpayer) was not entitled to a Louisiana local sales tax exclusion, exemption, or refund for prescription drugs, implants, and medical supplies purchased from a wholesaler and ad...

ME - proposed changes to Maine's educational opportunity credit rule discussed
Maine Revenue Services has issued a Tax Alert to address proposed changes to the corporate and personal income tax rule on the educational opportunity credit.Proposed ChangesThe proposed changes would...

MD - Maryland addresses impact of unemployment insurance payments on EITC
The Comptroller of Maryland is advising personal income taxpayers that the collection of unemployment insurance may result in the potential loss of Earned Income Tax Credits that they would normally r...

MS - Updates to children's promise act and allocation guidelines for 2021 discussed
The Mississippi Department of Revenue has issued a notice discussing the Children’s Promise Act, which provides for a corporate income or insurance premium tax credit for businesses that donate to a...

MO - Funeral home's purchase of burial vaults subject to tax
A funeral home’s (taxpayer’s) purchase of burial vaults was subject to Missouri sales and use tax because the taxpayer was the end-user of the vaults. Generally, a contractor is the final user and...

NE - Local rate changes and municipal boundary changes announced
Several local sales and use tax rate changes and municipal boundary changes take effect in Nebraska on April 1, 2021.Local Rate ChangesGibbon, Guide Rock, and Hartington increase their rates from 1% t...

NV - Request for conciliation conference properly denied as untimely
The New York Tax Appeals Tribunal (TAT) affirmed the determination of an administrative law judge (ALJ) that a personal income taxpayer’s request for conciliation conference was untimely filed. The ...

NH - Market based sourcing rules proposed
New Hampshire has released proposed business profits tax (BPT) and business enterprise tax (BET) regulations to adopt the market-based sourcing method of apportioning sales of services and intangibles...

NM - Interest rate remains the same for first quarter of 2021
The interest rate charged on an underpayment or paid on an overpayment of New Mexico tax will remain at 3% for the first quarter of 2021. The rates can be viewed on the New Mexico Department of Revenu...

NY - MTA surcharge rate increased for 2021, deriving receipts thresholds unchanged
The New York corporate franchise tax MTA surcharge rate will increase from 29.4% to 30% for tax year 2021. The rate will remain the same in later tax years, unless the Commissioner of Taxation and Fin...

NC - SST boundary database updated
North Carolina has updated the boundary database under the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax (SST) Agreement.Effective Date of Boundary DatabaseThe database is updated to include changes effective January...

OK - Local rates announced
Oklahoma local sales and use tax rate changes have been announced effective January 1, 2021.City Rate ChangesKingfisher decreases its sales and use tax rate from 3.335% to 3%.Manchester imposes a new ...

OR - Apportionment of interstate broadcaster dividends and gain determined
Following a decision by the Oregon Supreme Court requiring a broadcaster to apportion all of its revenue stream receipts according to the Oregon corporate (excise) income tax broadcaster apportionment...

PA - Rebuttable presumption set for 2021
Beginning January 1, 2021, the Pennsylvania State Veterans' Commission will apply a rebuttable presumption that an applicant for the Disabled Veterans Real Estate Tax Exemption program with an annual ...

SC - Special 2020 federal deduction for charitable donations discussed
Because South Carolina has not yet conformed to the CARES Act, the state does not follow the federal deduction of up to $300 allowed for certain charitable donations made in 2020 for individuals who c...

TN - Guidance provided on taxability of hemp, e-cigarettes, and vape devices
Tennessee provides guidance on the application of cigarette and tobacco products tax to:tobacco substitutes;hemp and herbal cigarettes;e-cigarettes;vape devices; andother nicotine products.Important N...

TX - Dismissal of taxpayer's appeal for failure to pay under protest reversed
A Texas district court erred in dismissing the taxpayer’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the taxpayer could seek judicial review of its tax assessment without full prepayment of taxes. The ...

UT - Commission has started sending corrected billing notice
The Utah State Tax Commission (commission) has found a number of erroneous penalty and interest assessments sent for the 2019 tax year. An estimated 13,000 out of 1.5 million tax returns has received ...

VA - Land preservation tax credit amended
Under the Virginia corporate and personal income taxes, for tax years after 2016 and before 2023 (previously, before 2020), the land preservation tax credit amount that may be claimed by each taxpayer...

WY - Local lodging rate changes announced
Local lodging rate changes in Wyoming have been announced effective January 1, 2021.County Rate ChangesBig Horn county imposes a lodging tax at a rate of 2%.Lincoln county imposes a lodging tax at 2%....