AG contradicts Jack Daniels’ bill — says whiskey barrels can be taxed
A legal opinion from the state attorney general’s office says the barrels used to age whiskey in Tennessee distilleries are subject to property taxes paid by businesses, despite a contention to the contrary in a bill pending before the General Assembly.
Producers of Jack Daniels whiskey have been pushing the bill (SB2076) since officials in Moore County laid plans to begin applying the tax to aging barrels, something not done in the past. The fiscal note prepared by legislative staff estimates that would mean about $2.8 million in new revenue for Tennessee’s smallest county.
State revenue down in January, still ahead of budget for fiscal year
Press release from Department of Finance and Administration
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Larry Martin today announced that overall January state tax revenues posted less than expected, while year-to-date state revenues remain more than budgeted. Revenues for January totaled $1.4 billion, and were 3.18 percent less than revenues received in the same time period one year ago, and were $25 million less than budgeted.
TN Supreme Court rejects refund of liquor stores’ overpaid taxes
Press release from Administrative Office of the Courts
Nashville, Tenn. – In a unanimous opinion, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that a taxpayer must pay disputed municipal taxes under protest before suing for a refund.
The city of Morristown, based on a state statute, adopted an ordinance imposing an inspection fee on licensed alcoholic beverage retailers. The city set the fee at 8 percent of the wholesale price based on the county’s population. By 2011, the county’s population increased, and under the ordinance, the inspection fee should have decreased to a maximum fee of 5 percent of the wholesale price. However, from 2011–2014, the city of Morristown continued to charge alcoholic beverage retailers 8 percent inspection fees instead of the authorized 5 percent fees. Continue reading
December state revenue $171.6M over budget estimate
Press release from Department of Finance and Administration
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Larry Martin announced today that revenues for December posted higher than expected and exceeded the monthly revenues from the previous year. State revenues for December were $1.4 billion, which is a growth of 11.34 percent and $139.9 million more than December 2016.
U.S. Supreme Court takes up state sales tax dispute; Haslam and Slatery hopeful
Gov. Bill Haslam and state Attorney General Herbert Slatery are both hailing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments in a case they hope will authorize states to require retailers to collect sales taxes even if they have no physical presence within the state, reports the Times Free Press.
Airbnb to begin collecting taxes for state Department of Revenue
Airbnb will collect state and local sales taxes from the 7,700 Tennesseans who rent their homes through the online company and send the money to the state Department of Revenue under an agreement reached Wednesday, reports The Tennessean. Currently, each individual Airbnb host is responsible for collecting and remitting the taxes.
State revenue was a bit below estimates in November ($4.1M)
Press release from Department of Finance and Administration
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Larry Martin announced Thursday that overall November state revenues were $957.3 million, which is 5.55 percent more than November 2016, but $4.1 million less than the budgeted estimate.
Blackburn online Senate campaign ad (she opposed TN income tax)
In this online video for her U.S. Senate campaign, Rep. Marsha Blackburn points to her opposition to a state income tax while she was a state senator and takes a swat at TennCare in the process. She says the tax was proposed by a governor (Republican Don Sunquist, not mentioned in the video) “trying to pay for this test case for Hillary Care, which was called TennCare.”
Hall tax repeal prompts letter-writing war between GOP legislators and Democrats
A letter-writing war has been underway in recent editions of The Cleveland Daily Banner between Republican state legislators representing Bradley County and Democrats. A letter from state Democratic Chair Mary Mancini was the latest episode and prompted the newspaper to do a roundup story that chronicles the back-and-forth written sniping.
Legislator proposes to stop $30M in fees paid by local governments to state Dept. of Revenue
State Rep. Jason Zachary, working with Knox County Commissioner John Schoonmaker, is making plans to eliminate a fee charged local governments by the state Department of Revenue for collecting local sales taxes and distributing the money to counties and cities, reports the News Sentinel.
