The State and Local Tax Buzz

Practical SALT Guidance:   A while back (a long while back) , I wrote a post on State Tax Amnesty programs (August 2010) and a second post on State Tax Voluntary Disclosure programs (February 2011) – two options available for individual and business taxpayers who wish to resolve state tax delinquencies. The first post, “ State Tax Amnesty: An Opportunity for Taxpayers to Pay Delinquent State Taxes, What Taxpayers Need to Know ” , was an overview of state tax amnesty programs - how they come about, what they are and what taxpayers needs to consider before deciding to the participate in a tax amnesty program.  Back in 2010, when I wrote this post, the amnesty train was charging full steam ahead as many states had offered or were planning on offering tax amnesty.  As a matter of fact, between 2009 and 2010, more than half the states (at least 27 of them), plus the District of Columbia and the City of Philadelphia held an amnesty program. For some of these taxing authorities, it had

Federal Legislation with State Impact:  Today, August 1, 2012, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing to discuss The Marketplace Fairness Act, S. 1832.  This proposal was the third bill introduced by the 112th Congress that would seek to grant States the authority to require out-of-state ("remote") retailers to collect sales tax on sales to in-state customers regardless of whether the remote retailer has nexus to the state.  This third and last of three proposals, was introduced on November 9, 2011 by Senators by Mike Enzi (R-WY), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Dick Durbin (D-IL). (See my 11/28/11 post, Congress Introduces a Hybrid Solution: The Marketplace Fairness Act ,  for more on this proposal.) On July 24th, the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary held a similar hearing to discuss, The Marketplace Equity Act, H.R. 3179, the second proposal introduced by the 112th Congress which also seeks to grant States remote seller col