About This Blog
Taxes in New York (TiNY) is a blog by the Hodgson Russ LLP State and Local Tax Practice Group members Chris Doyle, Peter Calleri, and Zoe Peppas. The weekly reports are intended to go out every Tuesday after the New York State Division of Tax Appeals (DTA) publishes new ALJ Determinations and Tribunal Decisions. In addition to the weekly reports, TiNY may provide analysis of and commentary on other developments in the world of New York tax law.
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LinkedIn ProfileTiNY Report for February 8, 2024
Over the past two weeks the Groundhog did not see his shadow, and there have been a decision, a determination, and two ALJ orders. None of these developments seem particularly noteworthy to me, but you may find something interesting, constant reader.
And now I can forget (for the umpteenth time) how to spell “Punxsutawney” for another year.
Comment
TiNY Report for January 22, 2024
There’s only one Determination to analyze from last week, and it involves earned income credits. I don’t have a great love for these types of cases since: (1) they are generally fact-based cases that rarely involve subtle legal issues that require parsing the Tax Law to determine the proper application of the statute, (2) the petitioners often represent themselves resulting in positions that are not properly-framed or argued, (3) most of these cases are resolved based on the burden of proof, and those types of cases either bore or frustrate me; (4) the cost/benefit analysis of litigating these cases is illogical; (5) and I despair for the people who need to rely on earned income credits. The whole area of law just makes me sad.
And then I read this case, and I got a little mad too. Or maybe my emotional state is a Buffalo Bills play-off loss hangover.
TiNY Report for January 12, 2024
I’m trying to get back into my normal rotation again, and the DTA accommodated me by posting four ALJ determinations yesterday. Three are ho-hums, but Time Warner is an interesting study of what happens when the digital economy collides with an analog statute. In a more rational world, the Legislature would recognize that antiquated statutes haven’t kept pace and would pass new laws that more clearly apply to modern transactions. But as my colleagues frequently remind me: “We don’t live in Christopia.” So, we are stuck with the Division and the courts trying to pound round-peg modern transactions into square-hole legacy laws. The result is an inefficient mess.
TiNY Report for January 11, 2024
I’ve been off the air for a while. I took a vacation abroad that put me behind schedule, and it took until the holidays to dig out. But that wasn’t the only thing that was going on. During my vacation, the DTA issued a determination on one of our cases. As regular readers know, I try to “Joe Friday” the cases in which Hodgson represents the taxpayer. But I found this particular determination so irksome that I couldn’t objectively describe it.
And I froze-up. Yep, full-on “bloggers block.” Couldn’t write up a DTA case … for months.
But it’s time to get back on the horse. I am going to cover all the December cases in this edition of TiNY. I don’t plan on going back before then and covering the other cases that fell through the cracks. And the next time I get jammed-up like this, I’m just going to list the determination/decision’s name, indicate it is a Hodgson Russ case and not write it up.
TiNY Report for September 26, 2023
A warm Fall “hello” to TiNY’s twelve (or so) regular readers. TiNY postings are sporadic, and in the past you have needed to search our website from time-to-time to see if a new TiNY was posted. That seemed silly to us. So we have a new way to make your access to TiNY easier. If you go to the TiNY page of the Hodgson Russ website there’s a new link in the “About this Blog” box labeled “Subscribe Here to Never Miss a TiNY Blog.” That link will take you to a registration form, and if you fill in the requested information, you’ll get a link to TiNY sent to you by email every time we push out a new issue. Then you won’t need to check back on our website to see if we’ve posted a new TiNY. You’re welcome.
My good colleagues in the Firm’s marketing group won’t like me saying this, but I gotta be me, and I don’t care if you enter fictitious information in the “Name” and “Company” lines of the registration form. I don’t want your personal information; I just want to make it easier for you to read TiNY. And I think the only thing I need for that is an email address. So, feel free to get creative with your entries on all of the lines other than the one for an email address. And thank you Mr. Bunny (first name “Bugs;” email b.bunny325@gmail.com); I’m truly honored that someone as famous as you cares to read my blathering.
As a third generation (on my father’s side) sailing enthusiast, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the passing of Jimmy Buffet. A parrot-head I was not. But I did like a whole lot of his music.
An order and 13(!) Determinations were posted on August 31. Four determinations were posted on September 7. Our headliner this issue is 100+ page magnum opus on a pre-reform Article 9-A case penned by Judge Maloney. But first, the Order.
TiNY Report for August 25, 2023
**Editor's Note: You can now subscribe to Taxes in New York (TiNY) to ensure you never miss an update! To sign up, scroll down the TiNY website and click on the "Subscribe Here" link about halfway down the right side of the page.**
There are one order and six determinations to report here. In the aggregate the six determinations make up 18 pages of jurisprudence, and all six end with, “It is ORDERED, on the motion of the supervising administrative law judge, that the petition is dismissed with prejudice as of this date.” So … nothing much to see here.
Something I have been wondering about for a while: Why are certain petition resolutions nominated as “Orders” while others are nominated as “Determinations”? I had assumed that Orders resolve procedural motions, and determinations resolve substantive issues. But a summary determination can resolve a timeliness issue, so my assumption cannot be correct. And all of the “Determinations” this week resolve motions brought by the Supervising Administrative Law Judge (“SALJ”). Is it that Orders resolve non-final matters and Determinations resolve matters that may then be escalated to the Tribunal? Does it even matter?
For fun this week (since there was nothing fun about the six determinations), I applied my creativity to identify a few new euphemisms for “dismissed.”
TiNY Report for Cases Posted by the DTA on August 17, 2023
There were four ALJ determinations posted on August 17, 2023. All were pre-hearing process determinations. How does one make interesting the analysis of three process dismissals and a timy dismissal? Try writing them up as haiku! For those unfamiliar with the format, haiku are brief poems in three lines and seventeen syllables. The first and third lines of a haiku are five syllables, and the middle line is seven syllables. They are intended to express, in elegant brevity, the essence of something the writer observed. History will, no doubt, judge me harshly for attempting to apply the haiku structure to TiNY case summaries.
TiNY Report for August 10, 2023
The DTA snuck a few cases onto the website late on July 27, and I am just getting around to them now with the cases that dropped on August 3. There’s a Tribunal decision on a substantive legal issue, so, yay. And Judge Maloney, before whom I have appeared at least a couple of times, dropped a petitioner-favorable combination determination on a case involving the dark years between 2007 and 2014 when combination was all about substantial intercompany transactions.
TiNY Report for July 24, 2023
According to Mentalfloss.com, the most covered pop song of all time is “Yesterday” by the Beatles. The most covered DTA issue is “Timy,” and this week’s rendition comes from a new voice (at least new to me), Judge Alexander Chu-Fong. His version sounds a lot like all the other versions I’ve heard.
TiNY Report for July 18, 2023
Constant reader: Your TiNY correspondent was vacationing in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, last weekend. And I decided to not risk the wrath of Correspondent Spouse by working on TiNY during my time away. But now I am back. And … there were an order and two ALJ determinations posted. The order is not your ordinary timy, one of the determinations is a very ordinary timy, and the other determination involves a sales tax license revocation dispute.