Holland & Hart’s State and Local Tax Group is among the broadest and deepest in the Mountain West, and our attorneys possess decades of experience addressing state and local tax issues in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and surrounding states. We represent numerous industries throughout the region, including oil and gas, mining, telecommunications, cable, utilities, pipelines, retail, and small businesses.
We handle administrative, trial court, and appellate court litigation on state and local tax issues; lobbying on state and local tax issues before state legislative and administrative bodies and cities and counties; state and local tax planning; and transactional state and local tax advice. Holland & Hart attorneys have extensive experience on the range of state and local tax issues, including state income and franchise taxes, state and local sales taxes, state and local property taxes, state and local gross receipts taxes, state severance taxes, state insurance premiums taxes, and more.
Holland & Hart regularly works in conjunction with clients, law firms, accounting firms, and consultants nationwide to help address their state and local tax issues in the Mountain West.
Experience
Representative Matters
- Bresnan Communications, LLC v. Montana Department of Revenue, 13th Judicial Dist. Ct. No. DV-10-1312 (2011); we are representing a cable television company in a property tax dispute with the Montana Department of Revenue; Court has issued a ruling vacating the Department's retroactive assessments of our client's Montana properties
- T-Mobile v. Utah State Tax Commission, 254 P.3d 752 (Utah 2011) (holding that goodwill is not subject to property tax in Utah)
- Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Dept. of Revenue, 219 P.3d 128 (Wyo. 2009) (affirming ExxonMobil's position on proper point of valuation for natural gas)
- Chambers v. Utah State Tax Commission, Case No. 050402915 (Utah Tax Court 2007) (holding an extraordinary 338(h)(10) gain to be non-business income)
- Dept. of Revenue v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 162 P.3d 515 (Wyo. 2007) (ExxonMobil not liable for severance and ad valorem taxes on helium produced from federal leases)
- Dept. of Revenue v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 150 P.3d 1216 (Wyo. 2007) (affirming ExxonMobil's position that royalties and production taxes are not direct costs of production under the proportionate profits valuation method for natural gas)
- RME Petroleum Co. v. Wyoming Dept. of Revenue, 150 P.3d 673 (Wyo. 2007) (affirming taxpayers' position that royalties and production taxes are not direct costs of production under the proportionate profits valuation method for processed natural gas)
- McFarlane v. Utah State Tax Commission, 134 P.3d 1116 (Utah 2006) (holding that resident S corporation shareholders are entitled to a credit for any tax paid in another state that is measured by income)
- Homeland Development v. City of Bozeman, 18th Jud. Dist. Ct. No. DV-99-71 (2006); we represented property developers in challenge to impact fees imposed on new property development; case ended with a settlement under which the impact fees were stricken and our clients were awarded refunds in excess of $500,000.00
- In 2005, Represented Arch Coal in a business income tax dispute with the Montana Department of Revenue; matter was resolved through negotiation prior to formal initiation of administrative review, and resulted in reduction in tax liability of over $1 million dollars
- Continental Development v. Department of Revenue of the State of Montana, State Tax Appeals Board No. PT-2004-13 (2004-2005); we represented a property owner in a case of first impression addressing property taxation of apartments that were converted to condominiums; administrative proceedings resulted in reduction of assessed value of more than $3 million
- Samson Resources Co. v. Abraxas Wamsutter LP, 117 Fed.Appx. 641 (10th Cir. 2004) (unpublished) (seller, not purchaser, of oil and gas properties subject to ad valorem tax on oil and gas production occurring before sale under state tax statutes and contract)
- Board of County Commissioners for Sublette County v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 55 P.3d 714 (Wyo. 2002) (county lacks authority to appeal assessment by Department of Revenue prior to audit)
- Amoco v. Utah State Tax Commission, Utah Tax Court Case No. 980406701 (Utah Tax Court 2001) (holding that an after-tax DCF must be used to value oil and gas reserves in Utah for property tax purposes)
- Monson v. Utah State Tax Commission, Utah Tax Court Case No. 010402468 (Utah Tax Court 2001) (class action decision awarding sales tax refunds to over 120,000 taxpayers who were over-charged Utah sales tax on furnish and install sales of floor coverings)
- Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Board of County Commissioners, Sublette County, 987 P.2d 158 (Wyo. 1999) (county judicially stopped from asserting it was not a party to settlement agreement concerning valuation of natural gas for tax purposes)
- Helped lobby through the Utah Tax Court Act in 1996 which gave Utah an objective, de novo tax court
- In 1995, Wyoming's governor appointed Holland & Hart attorney Larry Wolfe to serve on the Title 39 Task Force, which was charged with rewriting and recodifying the entire Wyoming Tax Code; this was a multi-year effort that resulted in the 1998 Wyoming Legislature adopting a completely revised tax code; Larry and Walter Eggers have worked on numerous legislative issues related to Wyoming's tax statutes, including mineral tax, property tax, and sales and use taxes; Larry is currently involved in various wind energy tax issues
- Amax Magnesium Corp v. Utah State Tax Commission, 796 P.2d 1256 (Utah 1990) (holding a Utah statute unconstitutional because it favored locally-assessed properties over centrally-assessed properties)
- Northwest Pipeline v. Property Tax Division of the Utah State Tax Commission, Utah State Tax Commission Case No. 85-0074 (Utah Tax Commission 1987) (holding that deferred federal income taxes constitute economic obsolescence for regulated utilities)
