Amicus letter to California Supreme Court requesting clarification of rules for determining remedies in state tax cases.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 September 2010

September 21, 2010

On September 21, 2010, Tax Executives Institute submitted the following "friend of the court" letter to the California Supreme Court in a case involving River Garden Retirement Home, urging the court to clarify the framework for crafting remedies when state tax provisions have been found unconstitutional. The letter was submitted under the aegis of TEI's State and Local Tax Committee, whose chair is Linda H. Dickens of Texas Instruments, Inc. Daniel B. De Jong, legal staff liaison to the State and Local Tax Committee, coordinated the preparation of the amicus letter.

On behalf of Tax Executives Institute, I write to urge the Court to grant the pending Petition for Review filed by River Garden Retirement Home in Supreme Court Case No. S185795. The case presents important constitutional and tax policy issues affecting Petitioner as well as other similarly situated taxpayers--namely, the proper remedy when a California tax statute is declared unconstitutional. The current state of the law is confusing and decisions by the various courts of appeal are irreconcilable. A decision by the Court would provide much needed clarity to taxpayers and the government affecting future decisions to challenge constitutionally suspect tax statutes.

Interest of the Applicant

Tax Executives Institute was founded in 1944 to serve the professional needs of business tax professionals. Today, the organization has 54 chapters in North America, Europe, and Asia, including several in California. Our 7,000 members represent 3,000 of the largest companies in the world, many of which are either resident or do business in California.

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