Article · Tax

The Same Dollar Is Taxed in Four States and That Can Be Perfectly Legal: How State Tax Apportionment Actually Works

15 U.S.C. § 381

Type
Article
Jurisdiction
National
Date
2024-11-07
Topic
Tax

A multistate business can have the same dollar of income included in the apportionable base of several states at once, and the result is constitutional. That outcome follows from a framework in which each state may tax the portion of a unitary enterprise's income fairly attributable to activity within its borders, using a formula it selects, without any requirement that the formulas be consistent across states. This article works through the constitutional test that governs state taxation of interstate commerce, the unitary business principle that determines what income is apportionable at all, the formula rules and the limited constraints on them, and the combined reporting regimes that treat affiliated corporations as one taxpayer. It closes with the nexus revolution that replaced physical presence with an economic standard.

The Same Dollar Is Taxed in Four States and That Can Be Perfectly Legal: How State Tax Apportionment Actually Works

Tax > State Tax Nexus, Apportionment, and Combined Reporting | Published 7 November 2024 - Updated 14 June 2026 | UpLaw - uplaw.us

A company earns one hundred dollars. Four states each conclude that a portion is attributable to activity within their borders. The portions add to more than one hundred.

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