State & Local Tax Services
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State & Local Tax Services MANAGE YOUR COMPANY’S STATE AND LOCAL TAX PROFILE Updated April 2021 NAVIGATING POSSIBILITIES CONFRONT THE NOT-SO-HIDDEN COSTS OF FAILING TO PLAN STATE & LOCAL TAX AND MANAGE STATE 02 LANDSCAPE & LOCAL TAX ISSUES 04 NEXUS CONSIDERATIONS If left unattended, state and local tax issues can Income Tax and Gross Receipts Tax Nexus wreak havoc on your company’s hard-earned success and place a heavy burden on your team’s Sales & Use Tax Nexus valuable time. It’s critical to stay ahead of potential challenges and have a plan to manage your company’s state and local tax issues from an early stage in the company’s life cycle. INCOME & OTHER 08 DIRECT TAXES A lack of control over your company’s state and local tax issues could arise at the most inopportune times, such as preparing for an exit event or an SALES & OTHER INDIRECT TAXES inquiry from a state tax auditor. Without strong 11 policies and procedures in place, your team could waste significant time addressing questions or PROPERTY TAXES issues instead of running the business. 12 Once identified, unpaid state and local taxes could also result in large changes to the company’s CREDITS & INCENTIVES earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and 13 amortization (EBITDA) or net income. This could erode shareholder value through unplanned tax payments, reductions to purchase price, and the 15 MITIGATION STRATEGIES creation of escrows. At that point, unfortunately, the solution requires more than adding money to an escrow or paying tax liabilities. A business might be required to add headcount or take employees off critical business matters to address the state and local tax concerns. In addition, many buyers now require the seller to pay for advisor fees to correct state and local tax underpayments. While there are many reasons state and local tax issues can be complicated, there are concrete, proactive steps you can take to help bypass unpleasant surprises down the road. Before addressing potential solutions, however, it’s important to understand the complexity of the state and local tax systems that cause problems. STATE & LOCAL TAX STRATEGIES MOSS ADAMS 01 CORPORATE INCOME TAX Top state marginal income LOWER HIGHER tax rates as of January 1, 2021 HOW HIGH ARE WA* ME Complications MT ND 8.93% 6.75% 4.31% TAX RATES IN OR MN VT 7.60% 9.80% ID WI 8.50% NY NH 6.925% SD* 7.90% 6.50% YOUR STATE? MI 7.70% WY* of State & Local IA 6.00% PA NE 9.80% 9.99% MA NV* 7.81% OH* 8.00% IL IN RI UT 9.50% 5.25% 4.95% CO WV 7.00% CA 6.50% VA CT 4.55% KS MO 6.00% 8.84% 7.00% KY 7.50% Tax Landscape 4.00% 5.00% NC NJ TN 2.50% 11.50% AZ OK 6.50% DE Every state and local taxing jurisdiction approaches taxation differently— 4.90% NM 6.00% AR SC 8.70% PROPERTY TAXES 5.90% 6.20% 5.00% MD this is the primary reason state and local tax issues are so complicated. MS AL GA 8.25% Property tax component 5.00% 6.50% 5.75% DC LOWER HIGHER TX* 8.25% States generally collect revenue from businesses through some or all the rankings, 2021 Tax Foundation LA following taxes. AK 8.00% State Business Tax Climate 9.40% FL Index* 4.458% HI 6.40% } These taxes are imposed on the WA Income and #18 apportioned and/or allocated profit or net ME Note: (*) Nevada, Ohio, Texas, and Washington State don’t have a corporate income tax but do have a MT ND #40 gross receipts tax with rates not strictly comparable to corporate income tax rates. Delaware, Tennessee, franchise taxes worth of a company. #28 #12 OR VT and Oregon have gross receipts taxes in addition to corporate income taxes, as do several states like #16 ID MN Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, which permit gross receipts taxes at the local, but not state, level. NY #49 #3 SD #31 WI NH WY #45 #20 #17 MI #47 Illinois’ rate includes two separate corporate income taxes, one at a 7% and one at a 2.5% rate. Indiana’s #39 #35 rate will change to 4.9% on July 1, 2021. In New Jersey, the rates indicated apply to a corporation’s entire net NE IA PA MA #15 income rather than just income over the threshold. A temporary and retroactive surcharge is in effect from } These taxes are imposed on the value or NV #38 OH #44 #5 UT #41 IL IN 2020 to 2023, bringing the rate to 11.5% for businesses with income over $1 million. In addition to regular #6 RI Sales, use, or other gross receipts of specific transactions. #7 CO #48 #2 income taxes, many states impose other taxes on corporations such as gross receipts taxes and capital stock WV VA #42 CA #32 KS MO #10 CT taxes. Some states also impose an alternative minimum tax and special rates on financial institutions. Some are passed on to the customer while #14 KY #27 revenue-based taxes #30 #8 #50 #21 Source: Tax Foundation; state tax statues, forms, and instructions; Bloomberg Tax. some are absorbed by the company. NC NJ OK TN #26 #46 AZ #33 DE NM #29 AR SC #11 #4 #1 #25 #34 GA MD AL #43 MS #19 #24 #37 DC #49 SALES TAXES } These taxes are imposed on the assessed TX LA #36 #23 Combined state and average local Property taxes value of tangible and/or real property. AK LOWER HIGHER #22 FL sales tax rates from January 2021 #13 HI #9 WA 9.23% ME #4 ND To illustrate the complexity of state tax systems, consider the following: MT 5.50% 6.96% #42 #27 MN • Nevada, Ohio, Texas, and Washington State don’t OR 7.46% VT Note: A rank of 1 is best, 50 is worst. D.C.’s score and rank don’t affect other states. ID SD WI NY 6.03% #17 6.24% impose corporate income taxes; instead they impose The report shows tax systems as of July 1, 2020 (the beginning of Fiscal Year 2021). 6.40% 5.43% 8.52% #36 #37 WY #32 #43 MI #10 Source: Tax Foundation; 2021 State Business Tax Climate Index. 5.33% 6.00% taxes on the gross receipts of the business. #44 IA #38 PA NE 6.34% NV 6.94% OH MA 6.94% #28 IL IN #34 6.25% #35 • Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon don’t 8.23% UT #29 8.82% 7.00% 7.23% #13 CO #20 RI 7.19% #7 #24 WV VA 7.00% #24 impose sales taxes. However, Oregon imposes a modified CA #21 7.72% KS MO 6.50% #16 KY 5.73% CT 8.68% 8.69% 8.25% 6.00% #31 gross receipts tax in addition to its net income-based tax, #8 #41 6.35% #33 #9 #12 #38 NC NJ and certain localities in Alaska impose sales taxes. TN 6.98% 6.60% #30 NM OK 9.55% AZ 7.83% AR #26 MD 8.40% 8.95% #1 SC Note: City, county, and municipal rates vary. These rates are weighted by population to compute an #15 #6 9.51% 6.00% #38 With all these complexities, it can be difficult to determine where to start. #11 AL 7.46% DC average local tax rate. The sales taxes in Hawaii, New Mexico, and South Dakota have broad bases that #3 MS GA #18 The beginning of any solution is to diagnose where the problem exists. For 7.07% 9.22% 7.32% 6.00% (#38) include many business-to-business services. D.C.’s rank doesn’t affect states’ ranks, but the figure in TX #23 #5 #19 state and local tax matters, the problem exists for a business only in the parentheses indicates where it would rank if included. LA 8.19% 9.52% #14 #2 jurisdictions where it has a taxable presence, commonly referred to as nexus. Source: Sales Tax Clearinghouse; Tax Foundation calculations; State Revenue Department websites AK 1.76% FL * State doesn’t impose a corporate income tax, but may impose a gross receipts or margins tax. #46 7.08% State and local authorities can’t impose a tax on a business unless nexus #22 exists with the particular jurisdiction. A business can have nexus based on HI 4.44% either its physical presence or its economic activities. These conditions are #45 discussed in the next section. 02 MOSS ADAMS STATE & LOCAL TAX STRATEGIES STATE & LOCAL TAX STRATEGIES MOSS ADAMS 03 INCOME TAX AND GROSS RECEIPTS TAX NEXUS Other states require a more nuanced analysis that Generally, nexus rules fall into three categories: focuses on where the benefit of service is received. This is a much broader interpretation than physical • Physical presence presence and can be difficult to navigate absent • Economic presence a detailed review of the relevant statutes and regulations. • Factor presence Currently, most states use a combination of these Factor Presence categories to impose a filing obligation on companies that conduct business in their state. Many states adopted factor-presence nexus standards. This means a taxpayer is subject to income tax or a gross receipts tax when the taxpayer’s gross Physical Presence receipts, payroll, or property in a given state exceed Physical nexus is considered the clearest test of certain thresholds. For example, the state of Colorado established presence in a tax jurisdiction.