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Sales Tax Update - May 2026

by Michael T. Dillon, Esq., Dillon Tax Consulting LLC
5/13/2026

The recent decision by the California Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) is a reminder that states have owner / officer liability provisions under which persons defined as “responsible persons” can be held personally liable for the sales tax debts of the organization. [Z. Sultana, California Office of Tax Appeals, 2026-OTA-204P, May 2026]

California Department of Tax and Finance Administration (CDTFA) conducted a sales tax audit of Ark (a clothing store) for sales tax for the periods 2014-2016, and reviewed z-tapes (i.e., cash register tapes), bank statements and daily sales worksheets.  The auditor found a material difference of nearly $700,000 ...

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Where States Will Turn for Revenue in Response to Declining Sales Tax Collections?

Michael T Dillon, Dillon Tax Consulting LLC
5/27/2020

As I predicted in my March 25th post, Sales Tax Strategies During the Economic Disruption of the COVID-19 Outbreak, every state is revising its FY 2020 revenue forecasts in response to declining tax collections for March and April.  [https://www.ncsl.org/research/fiscal-policy/ coronavirus-covid-19-state-budget-updates-and-revenue-projections637208306.aspx ]  As reported by the National Conference for State Legislatures ...

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Sales Tax on Cloud-computing: Rulings Also Mean More Uncertainty and Unpredictability

Dillon Tax Consulting
12/13/2016

A number of sales tax decisions in Tennessee, Indiana and Illinois serve to remind us all of the uncertainty involving cloud computing transactions, and the importance to seek guidance from tax practitioners regarding your specific facts. While each taxpayers’ facts involved the access to and/or provision of cloud-based services, the transactions for each were ...

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Texas Court says the “Essence of Transaction” involving a Provider’s technology platform is not “Data Processing”

Dillon Tax Consulting
5/10/2016

In a decision involving the true object, or “essence of the transaction” test, the Texas court of appeals upheld the trial court’s decision in favor of the taxpayer refund claim for sales tax assessed on the provision of bill pay services. In Hegar v. CheckFree Services Corporation, NO. 14-15-00027-CV (Tex. Ct. App., April 19 ...

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Cloud-based Services: “The Wild West” and the Cavalry

Dillon Tax Consulting
11/8/2015

The New York Department of Taxation and Finance (Department) recently issued an Advisory Opinion providing their interpretation of yet another Taxpayer's provision of Software As a Service (SAaS). In TSB-A-15(36)S, Taxpayer sought an Advisory Opinion from the Office of Counsel for the Department, as to the application of New York sales tax ...

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