Samantha K. Breslow

David A. Hughes will be moderating, and Samantha K. Breslow will be presenting a session at the Chicago Tax Club’s 67th Annual Fall Seminar.

Marilyn A. Wethekam and Samantha K. Breslow present at the Annual National Association of State Bar Tax Sections (“NASBTS”) Conference.

In the Sales Tax Institute's series, Women to Watch in Sales Tax, hosted by Diane Yetter, Samantha K. Breslow discusses tips for women navigating their careers in tax. Throughout this challenging last year, Sam has thrown herself into developing industry specific expertise in SaaS and cloud based computing. She recommends each individual professional learn how to get creative and market…

7/29/21 4:15PM The pandemic has been a driver of many changes to the world as we know it. The concept of the workplace has drastically changed and the global economy has been transformed. As state governments experienced substantial revenue shortfalls because of COVID-19, they scrambled to adapt to these transformations. In this session, Samantha K. Breslow will address state income…

2/11/21 12:15PM - 1:30PM CT CPE credit (pending) Are you familiar with the concept of unclaimed property? Are you on a state’s audit radar? Has the Delaware Secretary of State issued you  a notice related to their voluntary disclosure program? Did you receive an audit notice from a third-party audit firm? Or, are you tasked with determining whether there is…

David A. Hughes and Samantha K. Breslow Discuss Chicago’s Cloud Tax and Audits with Bloomberg Law.

In an article by Law360, Samantha K. Breslow discusses Illinois Lawmakers approving the budget with GILTI addback. Read the full article by Law360 here. Illinois would require an addback for certain global intangible low-taxed income deductions, halt a phaseout of its franchise tax and temporarily cap net operating loss deductions under a $42.3 billion fiscal year 2022 budget that lawmakers…

In the Illinois Practitioner Series, HMB's SALT team discusses various topics covering Illinois Procedures, Corporate Income Tax, Retailers' Occupation Tax (Sales Tax) and Use Tax and Local Taxes. Download the full booklet here. Questions? Reach out to the state and local tax team here.  …

Auditors in Chicago have been aggressively asserting that businesses have tax duties under the "cloud computing tax" because of their economic presence, or the volume of business they conduct within the city. In an article by Bloomberg Law News titled "State of Wayfair: Economic Thresholds Sneak Into Chicago Audits" by Michael J. Bologna, Samantha Breslow explains that the problem is…

At the beginning of 2016, Chicago implemented a unique method to tax businesses for their use of remote computing services, also known as the cloud. The Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax program collected $13.9 million during its first six months and rose to $42.2 million through 6/30/18. In an article by Bloomberg Law News, Samantha Breslow explained that Chicago is…

In this second of a three-part series, Breslow discusses the Internet Tax Freedom Act and whether the digital world has really been protected from the tax man. Adoption and Intent of the ITFA Initially adopted in 1998 under the Clinton administration with the mantra “no new internet taxes,” the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) was made permanent on February 24,…

On March 19, 2020, Chicago Mayor Lightfoot announced that the City of Chicago will extend the due date for “small businesses” to pay the following Chicago taxes to April 30, 2020: Bottled Water Tax, Checkout Bag Tax, Amusement Tax, Hotel Accommodations Tax, Restaurant Tax, and the Parking Tax. The City requires that taxpayers pay these taxes on or before the…

Read the full article on Tax Notes here (subscription required). Samantha Breslow discusses how the sluggishness of legislation does not often adjust itself to the speed and terminology of technology. However, there are a few states that are adapting to overcome the discrepancies. Download a PDF of the full article here. Debugging the (State Tax) Code: Outdated Sales Tax Terminology…

On January 21, 2021, the Chicago Department of Finance (“Department”) issued an anticipated Information Bulletin (“Nexus Bulletin”) providing guidance on nexus and establishing a prospective “safe harbor” for certain taxes, including electronically delivered amusements under the Chicago’s Amusement Tax (“Amusement Tax”) Ordinance and nonpossessory computer leases taxed under the Chicago Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax (“Transaction Tax”) Ordinance.

On November 16, 2020, the City Council for the City of Chicago (“City Council”) amended the Chicago Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax Ordinance (“Ordinance”), eliminating the lower rate of tax on a nonpossessory lease of a computer, which includes “cloud” software products.

In a prior post, I explained the basics of the Chicago Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax (“Transaction Tax”), including the applicability of the tax to tangible personal property and software, potentially applicable exemptions and exclusions from the tax, and collection issues. This follow-up post in the Practitioner Series further clarifies the application of the Transaction Tax to “cloud” software products and explores the interplay with the Illinois Retailers’ Occupation Tax (“ROT”).

Although the Chicago and Cook County amusement tax are imposed similarly on taxpayers, they are independently administered taxes that feature key differences. Both the Chicago Amusement Tax Ordinance and Cook County Amusement Tax Ordinance impose the tax "upon the patrons of every amusement" within the city or county, but require the owner, manager, or operator of the amusement to collect the tax from each patron and remit the tax to the Chicago Department of Finance or the Cook County Department of Revenue.

For taxpayers surprised to find their business caught in the crosshairs of a Chicago or Cook County audit, substantial penalties can also be an alarming challenge. In a prior post, I outlined penalties assessed by the Illinois Department of Revenue ("Department"), the basis for relief, and the process for seeking penalty abatement. Although the basis for relief is similar for Chicago and Cook County penalties, there are key differences in the procedure and requirements for seeking penalty abatement.