This is the first of a series of essays wherein we analyze the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair. In this essay, we tackle some of the more immediate interpretive questions raised by the Wayfair opinion, such as how a state should approach substantial nexus. As part of our...

In this essay, we discuss the application of substance over form and related common-law interpretive doctrines to the new donation credit proposals, the so-called “SALT workarounds.” The authors conclude that, unlike in the context of corporate tax shelters, application of these doctrines...

All forty-four states with corporate income taxes must consider how to respond to changes that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made to the federal corporate tax treatment of multinational corporations. In particular, the states must consider how to respond to two new anti-base erosion provisions at...

In this essay, we evaluate the new cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. We argue that the structure of the new cap is not consistent with any theory as to what the SALT deduction is or should be. In canvassing these theories, we further evaluate how future reforms to the SALT...

This essay explains how current state government approaches to use-tax enforcement undermine tax morale and taxpayer compliance. This essay further argues that these threats to tax morale and taxpayer compliance will become even more severe as many states are moving toward adopting notice and...

A centerpiece of the 2017 federal tax legislation’s reforms to international corporate income tax rules is the new global intangible low-taxed income regime (or GILTI). This essay addresses the question of whether U.S. state governments should conform to this new federal GILTI regime. As a...

In this symposium essay, we explore the theoretical implications of one particular type of fiscal limitation on state legislatures — namely, special Tax Increase Limitation rules (TILs). We argue that there is no meaningful content to the term “tax increase” as used in TILs. This...