State And Local Tax Insights - Fall 2012

State Tax Issues in Mergers, Acquisitions and Restructurings: Food for Thought

By Mitchell A. Newmark and Richard C. Call

Business mergers, acquisitions and restructurings involve legal, regulatory and tax components. Important among the tax components are various state tax issues that may include corporate income and franchise taxes, sales and use taxes ("sales tax"), as well as other taxes. In addition to considering taxes on the transactions, other state tax issues to be considered include potential liability for a seller's unpaid taxes, changes to a company's nexus and changes to reporting income. In this article, we highlight six state tax issues to consider: (1) tax bulk sales laws; (2) nexus; (3) instant unity; (4) state treatment of Internal Revenue Code ("I.R.C.") Section 338(h)(10) transactions; (5) sales taxes; and (6) real estate transfer taxes. The foregoing six considerations are several, but not all, of the myriad state tax issues to consider when