In this installment of Board Briefs, Tax Notes State advisory board member and Pillsbury Sacramento-based State & Local Tax partner, Carley Roberts, discussed how to successfully navigate state tax measures during the COVID-19 crisis.

“Much has transpired by way of state tax measures in the wake of COVID-19. With the grant of emergency power to governors and tax commissioners, the first set of measures suspended state tax return filing and payment requirements as Tax Day drew near. What followed has been a litany of largely well-meaning state government acts intended to offer relief to taxpayers. How to successfully navigate these pandemic-induced state tax measures? The devil is in the details.”

“One of the biggest struggles I hear about from clients handling the recent rash of state tax measures is the inconsistent rules and approaches being taken by states and localities, and what is often a lack of attention to detail by jurisdictions issuing guidance. Take administrative guidance released by some states addressing remote worker issues: Despite the fact that shelter-in-place restrictions have raised potentially contentious issues for employers surrounding nexus, apportionment, and withholding, the issued guidance to date leaves much to be desired.”

“At a bare minimum, in a state where the nexus standard is typically met with a single in-state employee (not unlike most states), the state could and should have addressed the nexus standard for both sales and corporate income tax purposes.”