Taxation: Federal, State and Local
Taxation laws are increasingly becoming more complex. Governments at all levels, federal, state, county and city are extending their reach and seeking taxes from businesses and individuals. The advent of the Internet has meant that more and more businesses are engaging in activities in other states, counties and cities, subjecting them to potential tax consequences in multiple jurisdictions.
Federal taxation laws and rules encompass a broad spectrum of taxes. Pivotal Law Group can assist you with these taxes including:
- Income tax
- Social Security & Medicare tax
- Unemployment tax
- Estate tax, Gift tax & Generation Skipping tax
- Excise taxes
State and local taxes are becoming a much more common and significant burden for businesses and in some cases, individuals. States are increasingly adopting aggressive “nexus” standards, such as economic presence nexus, affiliate nexus and agency nexus. States are also adopting a wide variety of taxes in addition to the more traditional state income tax and sales and use taxes. Gross receipts taxes, such as the Ohio Commercial Activities Tax (“CAT”), the Michigan Business Tax (“MBT”) and Hawaii General Excise Tax (“GET”) are becoming more common and cast a wider net to snare businesses operating in interstate commerce. Enforcement of thes taxes are often focused on out of state businesses. Hybrid taxes, such as the Texas Margins Tax, provide their own unique challenge to businesses operating in multiple states. Even cities are becoming more aggressive in identifying and assessing taxes against businesses that are headquartered outside of their cities. Pivotal Law Group is uniquely qualfied to assist with multistate tax burdens, providing the following services:
- Assessment of a business’ nexus footprint, identifying potential areas of significant exposure for businesses and individuals
- Negotiating voluntary compliance agreements with states to avoid extended look back periods, penalties and interest
- Counseling businesses on activities to avoid create nexus and tax filing obligations
- Planning to take advantage of structuring oportunities to reduce multistate taxes
- Advance ruling applications
- Audit defense
- Appeals
Washington State taxation involves a unique set of excise taxes that include Washington Business & Occupation (B&O) tax, sales and use tax, real estate excise tax, utility tax, natural gas use tax, leasehold excise tax, real property tax and personal property tax. In addition, a number of Washington cities also impose taxes, including B&O tax, employee head tax, square footage tax, utility tax and natural gas use tax. Washington and a few of its larger cities are very aggressive in the application of these complicated and often misunderstood taxes. State and city auditors are notorious for their unique interpretaions of Washington and municipal statutes that can result in substantial excise tax assessments. Pivotal Law Group is uniquely qualified to assist Washington based and out of state businesses with Washington and city excise tax issues, including:
- Planning to take advantage of structuring oportunities to reduce Washington and city excise taxes
- Obtaining advance rulings regarding complex areas of Washington excise taxation to eliminate uncertainty and protect against unique audit interpretations of tax liability
- Negotiating reasonable settlements of disputed assessments or statutory interpretations with appropriate Department of Revenue or city finance officials
- Defending Washington and municipal excise tax audits
- Handling administrative appeals before the Washington Department of Revenue, city hearing examiners or other administrative forums
- Handling formal and informal hearings with the Board of Tax Appeals
- Bringing suits for refund of Washington and municipal excise taxes in Superior Court and making appropriate appeals, as necessary
- Assessment of a business’ local nexus footprint, identifying potential areas of significant exposure for businesses with Washington cities
- Negotiating voluntary compliance agreements with cities to avoid extended look back periods, penalties and interest
