GeTtin’ SALTy Episode 76 | California Court Of Appeal Rejects FTB’s Unitary Business Theory For Individuals In Garcia-Rojas: A Win For Non-Resident Sole Proprietors (Podcast)
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A Texas-based radiologist who performed all work from his home state faced California income tax assessments on earnings from a California company contract. The California Court of Appeal rejected the Franchise Tax Board's attempt to apply the unitary business principle to a sole proprietor, creating new grounds for non-resident individuals to challenge similar assessments.
In this episode of the GeTtin’ SALTy podcast, host Nikki Dobay is joined by Greenberg Traurig colleagues Brad Marsh and Jennifer Vincent to discuss a significant recent victory in the California Court of Appeal - First Appellate District: Xavier Garcia-Rojas v. Franchise Tax Board.
The case involved a Texas-based radiologist who performed all of his work from his home state yet faced California income tax assessments on his earnings from a contract with a California-based company.
Brad and Jen walk through the factual background of the case, explain how the Franchise Tax Board attempted to apply the unitary business principle to a sole proprietor conducting a single business activity, and describe why the Court of Appeal rejected that theory.
The episode includes a practical note for practitioners: non-resident individuals who have been assessed California tax under the Bindley framework may now have strong grounds to file refund claims in light of this decision.
They wrap up the discussion with a lighthearted round of concert recommendations.
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