The Texas Supreme Court has scheduled three important Texas franchise tax cases for oral argument on the morning of October 9th. The arguments will be available by livestream.
All three cases concern critical aspects of the Cost of Goods Sold subtraction. The last case set for argument on October 9th, Gulf Copper & Manufacturing, also addresses important aspects of the Revenue Exclusion for businesses in the oilfield services and construction industries.
Here’s the schedule:
9:00 am Sunstate Equipment Co. – Is a heavy equipment rental company allowed to subtract its costs to delivery and later pick up the equipment from the construction site? Val Perkins will argue for the taxpayer
9:50 am American Multi-Cinema, Inc. – Is a movie theatre allowed to subtract its movie exhibition (auditorium) costs when computing the margin tax base? Doug Siegel will argue for the taxpayer..
10:40 am Gulf Copper and Manufacturing Corp. – Is an offshore oil rig manufacturing and repair company allowed to subtract its costs of producing and installing custom-made component rigs parts? Also, may the company exclude from revenue the payments it makes to subcontractors in connection with this work? Jimmy Martens will argue for the taxpayer.
The parties’ briefs for these cases are available here: