Jones Day - Services - State and Local Tax Controversies

If efforts to minimize your business's tax burden collide with those of aggressive taxing authorities,
we have experienced tax professionals who will be at your side.

For over three decades, our State and Local Tax Team has provided clients with the experience
necessary to successfully handle a wide breadth of tax controversies.

Our Perspective

Jones Day is one of the few law firms with experienced attorneys located in each region of the U.S. who practice in the state and local tax area. Our attorneys regularly attend state and local administrative conferences, including those held by the Multistate Tax Commission, the California Tax Policy Conference, and the Federation of Tax Administrators and its affiliated regional organizations, such as SEATA. Our close professional relationships at state revenue departments around the U.S. allow us to provide effective representation at the administrative level. And because most controversies are won or lost there, "knowing the players" and understanding the "unwritten policy" add significantly to our ability to shepherd a matter through various revenue departments. Similarly, we have effectively dealt with dozens of large municipal tax assessments, in which only minimal due process occurs. Our State and Local Tax Team has successfully resolved many hotly contested audits and prevailed in numerous administrative hearings and appeals, both at the state and local level.

As part of Jones Day’s state and local tax counseling efforts, we regularly assist clients in developing alternative tax-filing positions that provide benefits on both single-state and multiple-state bases. We proactively obtain letter rulings that provide additional support for the state and local tax positions taken by our clients, which minimize the chance of successful audit attack by state and municipal authorities. For more information on our tax teams, please download our State and Local Tax Controversies and State and Local Tax Counseling brochures.

Combining Tax Acumen With Litigation Strength

Unfortunately, businesses must sometimes resort to litigation to protect their rights as taxpayers, and here too, Jones Day excels. In appropriate situations, our tax lawyers partner with our talented Trial Practice and Issues & Appeals lawyers to ensure that the best talent available is focused on achieving successful results for our clients. Adding our Trial Practice or Issues & Appeals lawyers to the team aids us in developing a comprehensive record at trial and developing the optimum appellate strategy. This approach has resulted in many significant victories in courts throughout the U.S., including multiple appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Firm is proud to have a number of trial and appellate lawyers with extensive experience in trying complex tax matters both within the U.S. and internationally.

Distinctive Representations

We have a broad base of experience in matters involving franchise and income tax, sales and use tax, property tax, national nexus matters, unclaimed property/escheat matters, and hotel occupancy tax. Below is a sampling of non-confidential matters that provide a glimpse into the breadth of our experience:

Represented North America’s third-largest aluminum producer, with $3.3 billion in assets and $3.1 billion in debt, in a successful chapter 11 reorganization, including resolving billions of dollars of contested state and local tax income and property tax claims and advising on multistate structure planning.
Represented a large oil refiner in a contentious evidentiary hearing regarding whether its businesses consisted of multiple separate unitary subgroups.
Defended a large utility against municipal claims for utility users’ taxes and obtained a finding that the city manager exceeded his authority in issuing the exceptionally large assessment.
Persuaded the Ohio Supreme Court to reverse a lower-court decision that an automobile manufacturer was subject to Ohio’s sales/use tax on amounts paid to its dealers for parts and labor provided in the performance of goodwill repairs. The Court agreed that the manufacturer was not the consumer of the parts and labor and, therefore, was not subject to tax on the amounts paid for them.
Defended numerous e-commerce and technology companies in response to assessments, whereby taxing authorities around the country asserted that their sales taxes applied to the electronic information, data, or other services provided by such companies. We have also proactively obtained favorable private letter rulings in several such situations.
Represented a major computer manufacturer in sales tax nexus litigation, including trying cases in Connecticut, Illinois, and New Mexico.
Acted as national coordinating counsel for a major on-line travel company in its state and local tax litigation and administrative appeals. The matters include more than three dozen purported statewide class-action lawsuits against all on-line travel companies, for which we coordinate with competitors’ litigation and tax counsels and numerous state and local audits. The representation is complicated by the need to protect the client’s confidential information and trade secrets.

One Firm Worldwide

Our State and Local Tax Team is an integrated part of an extensive worldwide business tax team that includes more than 100 lawyers located in 15 offices around the globe. Our tax lawyers are experienced in handling complex international transactions and in restructuring our client's businesses to reduce multinational tax exposure. Our tax team provides advice on tax planning, controversies, and legislative and regulatory issues, involving not only U.S. federal, state, and local matters, but also on taxation-related issues around the world. Jones Day tax lawyers are able to respond to the multijurisdictional concerns that our clients frequently encounter, and we are able to provide related legal advice in other disciplines, including corporate, antitrust, trade, contracts, and dispute resolution.

Jones Day is One Firm Worldwide—one integrated partnership operating in all our locations. Our organization avoids the staffing shortcomings of many firms whose structure rewards the use of local personnel, whether or not they are the most qualified for the specific project. Our structure, focused on client service, uses the best-qualified team for each client project, regardless of where those lawyers are located.

Contact(s)

John M. Allan
Atlanta
Tel: 1.404.521.3939
E-mail

David E. Cowling
Dallas
Tel: 1.214.220.3939
E-mail

Maryann B. Gall
Columbus
Tel: 1.614.469.3939
E-mail

Carolyn Joy Lee
New York
Tel: 1.212.326.3939
E-mail

Charolette F. Noel
Dallas
Tel: 1.214.220.3939
E-mail

Charles M. Steines
Cleveland
Tel: 1.216.586.3939
E-mail

	Print Page Email Page Select a Language State and Local Tax Controversies - Overview
Lawyers Staff Overview Professionals Contact(s) John M. Allan Atlanta Tel: 1.404.521.3939 E-mail David E. Cowling Dallas Tel: 1.214.220.3939 E-mail Maryann B. Gall Columbus Tel: 1.614.469.3939 E-mail Carolyn Joy Lee New York Tel: 1.212.326.3939 E-mail Charolette F. Noel Dallas Tel: 1.214.220.3939 E-mail Charles M. Steines Cleveland Tel: 1.216.586.3939 E-mail Main Practice Tax	If efforts to minimize your business's tax burden collide with those of aggressive taxing authorities, we have experienced tax professionals who will be at your side. For over three decades, our State and Local Tax Team has provided clients with the experience necessary to successfully handle a wide breadth of tax controversies. Our Perspective Jones Day is one of the few law firms with experienced attorneys located in each region of the U.S. who practice in the state and local tax area. Our attorneys regularly attend state and local administrative conferences, including those held by the Multistate Tax Commission, the California Tax Policy Conference, and the Federation of Tax Administrators and its affiliated regional organizations, such as SEATA. Our close professional relationships at state revenue departments around the U.S. allow us to provide effective representation at the administrative level. And because most controversies are won or lost there, "knowing the players" and understanding the "unwritten policy" add significantly to our ability to shepherd a matter through various revenue departments. Similarly, we have effectively dealt with dozens of large municipal tax assessments, in which only minimal due process occurs. Our State and Local Tax Team has successfully resolved many hotly contested audits and prevailed in numerous administrative hearings and appeals, both at the state and local level. As part of Jones Day’s state and local tax counseling efforts, we regularly assist clients in developing alternative tax-filing positions that provide benefits on both single-state and multiple-state bases. We proactively obtain letter rulings that provide additional support for the state and local tax positions taken by our clients, which minimize the chance of successful audit attack by state and municipal authorities. For more information on our tax teams, please download our State and Local Tax Controversies and State and Local Tax Counseling brochures. Combining Tax Acumen With Litigation Strength Unfortunately, businesses must sometimes resort to litigation to protect their rights as taxpayers, and here too, Jones Day excels. In appropriate situations, our tax lawyers partner with our talented Trial Practice and Issues & Appeals lawyers to ensure that the best talent available is focused on achieving successful results for our clients. Adding our Trial Practice or Issues & Appeals lawyers to the team aids us in developing a comprehensive record at trial and developing the optimum appellate strategy. This approach has resulted in many significant victories in courts throughout the U.S., including multiple appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Firm is proud to have a number of trial and appellate lawyers with extensive experience in trying complex tax matters both within the U.S. and internationally. Distinctive Representations We have a broad base of experience in matters involving franchise and income tax, sales and use tax, property tax, national nexus matters, unclaimed property/escheat matters, and hotel occupancy tax. Below is a sampling of non-confidential matters that provide a glimpse into the breadth of our experience: Represented North America’s third-largest aluminum producer, with $3.3 billion in assets and $3.1 billion in debt, in a successful chapter 11 reorganization, including resolving billions of dollars of contested state and local tax income and property tax claims and advising on multistate structure planning. Represented a large oil refiner in a contentious evidentiary hearing regarding whether its businesses consisted of multiple separate unitary subgroups. Defended a large utility against municipal claims for utility users’ taxes and obtained a finding that the city manager exceeded his authority in issuing the exceptionally large assessment. Persuaded the Ohio Supreme Court to reverse a lower-court decision that an automobile manufacturer was subject to Ohio’s sales/use tax on amounts paid to its dealers for parts and labor provided in the performance of goodwill repairs. The Court agreed that the manufacturer was not the consumer of the parts and labor and, therefore, was not subject to tax on the amounts paid for them. Defended numerous e-commerce and technology companies in response to assessments, whereby taxing authorities around the country asserted that their sales taxes applied to the electronic information, data, or other services provided by such companies. We have also proactively obtained favorable private letter rulings in several such situations. Represented a major computer manufacturer in sales tax nexus litigation, including trying cases in Connecticut, Illinois, and New Mexico. Acted as national coordinating counsel for a major on-line travel company in its state and local tax litigation and administrative appeals. The matters include more than three dozen purported statewide class-action lawsuits against all on-line travel companies, for which we coordinate with competitors’ litigation and tax counsels and numerous state and local audits. The representation is complicated by the need to protect the client’s confidential information and trade secrets. One Firm Worldwide Our State and Local Tax Team is an integrated part of an extensive worldwide business tax team that includes more than 100 lawyers located in 15 offices around the globe. Our tax lawyers are experienced in handling complex international transactions and in restructuring our client's businesses to reduce multinational tax exposure. Our tax team provides advice on tax planning, controversies, and legislative and regulatory issues, involving not only U.S. federal, state, and local matters, but also on taxation-related issues around the world. Jones Day tax lawyers are able to respond to the multijurisdictional concerns that our clients frequently encounter, and we are able to provide related legal advice in other disciplines, including corporate, antitrust, trade, contracts, and dispute resolution. Jones Day is One Firm Worldwide—one integrated partnership operating in all our locations. Our organization avoids the staffing shortcomings of many firms whose structure rewards the use of local personnel, whether or not they are the most qualified for the specific project. Our structure, focused on client service, uses the best-qualified team for each client project, regardless of where those lawyers are located. Contact(s) John M. Allan Atlanta Tel: 1.404.521.3939 E-mail David E. Cowling Dallas Tel: 1.214.220.3939 E-mail Maryann B. Gall Columbus Tel: 1.614.469.3939 E-mail Carolyn Joy Lee New York Tel: 1.212.326.3939 E-mail Charolette F. Noel Dallas Tel: 1.214.220.3939 E-mail Charles M. Steines Cleveland Tel: 1.216.586.3939 E-mail