TiNY Report for March 25, 2021 (reporting on DTA cases issued March 11 and 18)

Greetings constant reader. The TiNY editorial staff is healthy, in the course of being vaccinated, and looking forward to things loosening up so we can actually appear before the DTA in the near future. Well . . . at least two of us are. I am actually wondering how a Judge will react to my request for an adjournment based on my inability to fit into any of my suits. Is that reasonable cause? I sure as heck hope so. Because I sure as heck have that problem right now.

TMI? There is no such thing at TiNY.

This week we have eight determinations on which to report.

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TiNY Report for March 19, 2021 (reporting on DTA cases issued since February 28)

In this edition, we recall the Bard’s Julius Caesar because, you know, the whole “ides of March” thing. And so: “Friends! New Yorkers! Twelve (or so) loyal readers! Lend me your eyes.”

In Shakespeare’s play, the Soothsayer warns Caesar: “Beware the ides of March.” TiNY would have instead cautioned petitioners: “Beware the first of March” –  because in the four Tribunal Decisions issued on March 1, no petitioner was victorious. But, consistent with Marc Antony’s sarcastic eulogy of Caesar: Joe Endres, Emma Savino, and I write to report the decisions, not to praise them. And yet TiNY is an honorable institution (or so we’d like to think).

Et tu, IBM?  Yup. On March 5, the Tribunal issued another Decision and another taxpayer defeat. An ALJ Order rounds out our presentation.

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TiNY Report for March 1, 2021 (reporting on DTA cases issued February 18)

If you like sales tax (and/or the musings of our sales tax correspondent, Joe Endres) you are going to be in hog heaven this week. Of the five ALJ Determinations posted, three involve substantive sales tax issues. There is so much sales tax this week that I have stepped in to summarize one of the Determinations. They say March comes in like a lion. So true!

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TiNY Report for February 19, 2021 (reporting on DTA cases issued February 4 and 11)

There were one ALJ Order and four Determinations posted since the cases covered in our last report.

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TiNY Report for January 28, 2021 (reporting on DTA cases issued January 21)

I am trying to get TiNY back into the groove of publishing within days (instead of weeks) of the issuance of cases by the DTA. There were three Determinations and one ALJ Order posted to the DTA’s site last Thursday. PLUS, we have seen at least two Tribunal Decisions that, at least as of this writing, haven’t been posted yet, but should be soon. So we summarize those decisions too.

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TiNY Report for January 22 (reporting on DTA cases issued December 10, 16, 23 and 30 and January 7 and 14)

Happy New Year, constant readers. We had a special edition a few weeks ago, and then we were distracted by other developments. But now we are back to our regular menu consisting of (mostly) timies . . . Oliver Twist’s diet was more fulfilling. So we have several weeks’ worth of cases, including fourteen determinations and a few orders. And this week I am trying something new. I am going to offer our summaries by prioritizing the more interesting cases. Fortunately, one of the orders is pretty interesting (in the “They argued what!?” sense), so it gets the first slot.

But first, a little “inside baseball”: Normally the ALJ’s issue their determinations and orders on Thursdays. We have been told that this practice allows taxpayers some extra time to file exceptions. Exceptions are due within 30 days of the determinations. The day an exception is due for a determination issued on a Thursday is the fifth Saturday following the issuance of the determination. But when a filing due date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the law extends the time to file to the next business day (normally the next Monday). So issuing determinations on Thursdays gives petitioners and the Division a couple of extra days to file their exceptions. The December 16, 23 and 30 determinations and orders were issued on Wednesdays, so the parties will need to be extra-careful about adhering to the 30-day deadlines falling in January.

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TiNY Report for December 10, 2020 (covering DTA cases issued December 3)

‘Tis the season for giving, and the DTA was in the giving mood last week, lavishing us with eight determinations (one for each day of Hanukkah) and two orders (one for each Buffalo Bills win in December—so far). 

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TiNY Report for December 10, 2020 (reporting on DTA cases issued December 3)

‘Tis the season for giving, and the DTA was in the giving mood last week, lavishing us with eight determinations (one for each day of Hanukkah) and two orders (one for each Buffalo Bills win in December—so far.)

In this installment, Joe Endres tries his hand at the art of the obscure pop culture reference. And we’re taking two new authors, Katie Piazza and Tyler Gately, for test drives. Enjoy!

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TiNY Report for March 26, 2020 (reporting on DTA cases issued March 16 and 17)

Are you good?

Our entire TiNY writing staff (all three of us) claims to be healthy. But since we are all practicing from off-site locations this week, I cannot confirm that information. And TiNY’s lawyers (same three people) have said that confirming health information and then publishing it here is probably a HIPAA violation anyway (damned lawyers). I can confirm that I am asymptomatic, but I have put on a few pounds as a result of my new compulsory lifestyle which has morphed from a work/life balance to a work/life merger. There are upsides, of course. My 30-minute commute is now a 30-second commute. And I (finally) have a corner office worthy of the Editor-in-Chief of the TiNY Report.

I’m as busy as I’ve ever been, doing client work, tracking COVID-19 state tax developments, and getting alerts out to our clients and other interested parties. On that issue, I know they’ve got to be busy with other stuff, but, as of this writing, the Department of Taxation and Finance has not posted anything official on its website to the effect that income tax filing and payment deadlines are extended to July 15. The Director of Budget and the Governor have stated in separate press conferences that the deadline will be (or has been) extended. The Director of Budget’s statement appeared to be predicated on the assumption that state deadlines were dependent on federal deadlines, which is not the case: New York has deadlines that are distinct from the federal deadlines. And there was an email received last night by many accountants from Governor Cuomo stating “New York State's income tax filing deadline is delayed until July 15, 2020. Because New York State requires electronic filing, the date for filing state personal income taxes automatically travels with the federal filing date, which is now July 15. Further guidelines will be released soon.” I’m not sure how electronic filing controls legal filing deadlines, but I think that the that the Department of Taxation and Finance and the IRS share the same electronic filing processing platform, so it may be practical and not legal factors that are driving these statements. And the Governor’s statement, which is the most authoritative statement out there as of now, doesn’t say anything about Q1 estimated tax payments. So, until I see official guidance from the Tax Department, I’m planning on filing my New York return and paying my New York Q1 estimate on April 15. Y’all can do what you want.

There are one Decision, three Determinations and three ALJ Orders this week. Under the circumstances, this may be all we get for a while. Until next time, I hope you’ll heed Duke’s advice to his successor as Governor of American Samoa: “Be firm, fly low and stay cool” (GB Trudeau, “Doonesbury” January 10, 1976).

Chris

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TiNY Report for March 19, 2020 (reporting on DTA cases issued March 12)

To our twelve or so regular readers: 

We hope this finds you healthy and safe. 

As best as we can ascertain [sound of us knocking on a wooden desk] our SALT team is in good shape and being productive, most from the safety of their homes. We have SALT lawyers in our Buffalo, New York City, Albany, and Palm Beach Offices. Twelve of our SALT lawyers are Buffalo-based. This week, four of us have been coming into the office because: (1) we felt we’d be much more productive here than at home, (2) our skeletal staff needs someone to talk to when questions arise, (3) we need someone to track any notices that arrive by regular mail, and (4) there’s office supplies, IT equipment and, of course, toilet paper here that need protection. The quiet is surreal. Those of us in the office hope/think our risk of contracting/spreading the virus is minimal since our floor is pretty much devoid of other humans. But although we’re smart about taxes, epidemiology is not in our wheelhouse – so we’ll see. 

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