Supreme Court Hears Second Margin Tax Challenge This morning Nestle USA, Switchplate LLC, and NSMBA LP presented oral argument on their claim that the franchise tax violates the equal and uniform clause of the Texas Constitution and the due process, equal protection, and commerce clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Their argument centered on a contention…

Franchise Tax Meeting Agenda and Handouts Now Available For those of you who want to get ahead of the curve, the agenda and handouts for tomorrow’s franchise tax meeting are now available on our website. The meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. in the 3rd floor auditorium of the Wells Fargo Bank Building at 400…

New Developments on the Pollution Control Equipment Property Tax Exemption TCEQ Executive Director, Mark Vickery, last Wednesday issued notices of negative use determination on ten applications seeking a pollution control finding for hydrotreating equipment. This equipment is not designed to reduce emissions from the manufacturing process, but is to provide for the production of a…

State Revenues: Good News Getting Better Comptroller Susan Combs this week released her “certification” revenue estimate. Technically, these numbers are those that were used to certify the budget, but since many months have passed, the figures are really an update reflecting her current thoughts about the economy. The news was all good. Buoyed by a…

� TTARA Franchise Tax Meeting January 11 in Austin With a final decision rendered in the Allcat case, the Supreme Court has ruled that the constitutional prohibition against a personal income tax does not apply to the franchise tax—a tax on business entities. The ruling gives the legislature broader latitude in considering possible modifications to…