SALT issues that impact Louisiana taxpayers

In this episode of the SALTovation podcast, we speak with Jaye Calhoun, a partner in the New Orleans office of Kean Miller, about some of the challenges businesses face when dealing with state and local tax. They discuss some of the current constitutional amendments and bills advancing through the state legislature and how it could potentially affect taxpayers. Jaye also shares how her broad exposure to many tax organizations has influenced the issues she chooses to dig into as an attorney.

Topics discussed in this episode:

How state and local tax issues impact taxpayers who do business in Louisiana
What it means to be a remote seller
The current constitutional amendment on the ballot called The Louisiana Adjustment of Ad Valorem Tax Rates Amendment
The bill advancing through the state legislature that deals with the interest on payments made under protest
The leadership position Jaye has held
What tax issues to look out for in the future

What You Will Learn:

[04:56] How SALT issues impact Louisiana businesses
[08:01] Louisiana’s version of uniformity
[15:12] City rate differentials
[15:43] What are remote sellers
[18:18] How big companies handle home rule city taxes
[23:31] The bill that deals with payments made under protest
[30:33] Why Jaye likes to the collaborate aspect of tax practice
[37:53] The leadership positions Jaye has held
[44:18] Tax issues to watch out for

Quotables:

“The real issue that you face when you deal with Louisiana and the sales and use tax area, is that the parishes each get to independently administer and collect their own taxes. So, you don’t really have one centralized collector.” - Jaye Calhoun [05:46]
“We don’t want people gaming the system, essentially paying and then we have to pay them back with interest later, but you’re not investing with the tax collector….I can’t even imagine a client coming to me saying, you know, I looked at options in the market and I think I’m going to go invest with the tax collector.” - Jaye Calhoun [27:56]
“So we as TaxOps are actively engaged in this Colorado tax auditor coalition….They don’t want to be the bad guy. They want to teach people to do the right thing. But at the same time, they’re there to collect money for their cities, but it is a lot of like open sharing information resources..So there is a lot of collaboration and inviting in.” - Meredith Smith [32:08]
“I think the federal government does a really good job of educating the public as to what the rules are. They do the enforcement, they do the collection, but they understand their mission to educate as well. As Meredith was saying, departments don’t have a lot of money now, but maybe that is where your tax bar or professional organizations can help.” - Jaye Calhoun [34:57]