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ARTICLE · 13 FEBRUARY 2014

Massachusetts Tax Developments 12 Feb 2014

Reed Smith
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Welcome to the latest Reed Smith Massachusetts State Tax Quarterly Update. In this update, we’ll take a look back to the developments from the last quarter of 2013, and look ahead to some percolating issues at the Appellate Tax Board ("ATB").

United StatesTax
Michael Jacobs
Michael Jacobs
Robert Weyman
Robert Weyman
Brent Beissel
Brent Beissel
Michael Penza
Michael Penza
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Welcome to the latest Reed Smith Massachusetts State Tax Quarterly Update. In this update, we'll take a look back to the developments from the last quarter of 2013, and look ahead to some percolating issues at the Appellate Tax Board ("ATB").

Sales Tax

Mobile telecommunications company challenges sales tax assessment on early termination fees

In a petition filed recently with the ATB, a mobile telecommunications company is contesting a sales tax assessment by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue ("the Department"). The assessment resulted from the Department asserting that the sales tax on telecommunications services applies to "early termination fees."

For sales tax purposes, taxable telecommunications services are defined as the "transmission of messages or information by electronic or similar means."1 At audit, the Department adopted an expansive view of this definition and issued an assessment against the Petitioner for failure to collect sales tax on

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