California Court Invalidates Unlawful Franchise Tax Board Regulations

On December 13, 2023, in a lawsuit brought by Brann & Isaacson on behalf of the American Catalog Mailers Association (ACMA) against the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB), San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ethan Schulman issued an order that two 2022 publications of the FTB are void as invalid “underground regulations,” indicating that he will...

David Swetnam-Burland and Jamie Szal Pen State Tax Notes Cover Article on State Tax and Machine Learning Products

On November 6, 2023, Tax Notes State featured a cover article, ”Machine Learning Machinations in the State Tax Metaverse,” by Brann & Isaacson’s David Swetnam-Burland and Jamie Szal. The authors discuss issues practitioners face when advising clients on the income tax treatment of technology products and services that incorporate or depend on machine learning and,...

ACMA Lawsuit Challenging Cal. State Tax Guidance to Go Forward

On November 17, 2022, shortly after hearing oral argument from partner Nathaniel Bessey, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard B. Ulmer Jr. issued an order in favor of Brann & Isaacson client the American Catalog Mailers Association (ACMA), paving the way for high-profile tax litigation to proceed. The case centers on whether the California Franchise...

Article by George Isaacson and Nathaniel Bessey Featured in Tax Notes State

Senior partner George Isaacson and partner Nathaniel Bessey wrote the cover article for the July 19, 2021, issue of Tax Notes State, “MTC Declares War on P.L. 86-272.” Isaacson and Bessey criticize the Multistate Tax Commission’s proposed revision to its formal statement on the application of the federal statute in the context of state enforcement...

Tax Notes State Features Second Article by B&I Attorneys On Taxation of AI

On June 4, 2020, in the second of a two–part series, Tax Notes State featured an article on the tax treatment of artificial intelligence, “Hey Siri, What About Income Taxes on AI?” (subscription required), by B&I attorneys Martin I. Eisenstein, Jamie Szal, and Michael Carey. In it, they consider two thorny state income tax issues...

B&I Attorneys Present Webinar on the Chaos in State Tax Law, Post-Wayfair

On April 30, 2020, Brann & Isaacson senior partner George Isaacson, partner Nathaniel Bessey, and associate Jamie Szal, were featured presenters at a webinar on “Confronting the Chaos of State Taxes in the Post-Wayfair Environment,” offered by the Institute of Finance & Management. Isaacson, who represented Wayfair in the Supreme Court in South Dakota v....

B&I Attorneys Pen Cover Story for State Tax Notes

On March 16, 2020, an article by David W. Bertoni, David Swetnam-Burland, and Jamie Szal, “Crossfire Hurricane: Perils in a Post-Wayfair World,” was featured as the cover story in State Tax Notes. The authors address three unanticipated consequences for business from the 2018 Supreme Court opinion in South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc. First, home-rule jurisdictions...

Martin Eisenstein and David Bertoni Author Law360 Article

Managing partner Martin Eisenstein and partner David Bertoni published an article in Law360 on January 28, 2020, entitled, “MTC Panel’s Draft Tax Protection Update Is Incomplete” (subscription required). In the piece, Eisenstein and Bertoni critique the latest draft of the Multistate Tax Commission’s working group revising the Multistate Tax Compact and describing states’ interpretation of...

George Isaacson, Martin Eisenstein, and David Bertoni Published in State Tax Notes and Law360

This week has seen a flurry of publications by Brann & Isaacson partners on key issues in state tax law as we near the end of 2019. On December 13, 2019, Law360 published an article by managing partner Martin I. Eisensteinand partner David W. Bertoni entitled, “Beware Eroding Tax Protections for Website Operators” (subscription required)....

Martin Eisenstein and Nathaniel Bessey Pen State Tax Notes Cover Story

An article by managing partner Martin Eisenstein and partner Nathaniel Bessey, “Wayfair and P.L. 86-272 in a Services Economy,” is the cover story in the November 5, 2018, issue of State Tax Notes. In the piece, Eisenstein and Bessey explore the broader potential impacts of the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in South Dakota v. Wayfair...