California Controversies Continue…and Other State Income/Franchise Tax Issues. This panel will provide an update on the controversies involving the California Franchise Tax Board’s expense deduction disallowance practices, procedural issues concerning the California amnesty and voluntary compliance laws, and an analysis of the constitutionality of separate return state addback statues disallowing intercompany interest and royalty expense deductions. Panelists: Phillip Plant, Plant Bauer & Smith LLP, Sausalito, CA;Roy Crawford, Heller Erhman White & Mcauliffe LLP, San Francisco, CA.

Nexus: Is It Contagious and, If So, From Whom Can It Be Caught? It has now been 45 years since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Scripto, Inc. v. Carson, 362 U.S. 207 (1960).  However, it is still unclear when a person will be considered to have a sufficient nexus with a state to be subject to tax in that jurisdiction based on the actions of others (affiliates as well as non-affiliates).  This panel will review the current state of the law as to when the presence of others should be attributed to a person and under what circumstances no attribution should be made.  The panel will also address what to expect from the future. Panelists: Craig Fields,Morrison & Foerster LLP, New York, NY; Bruce Fort, Special Assistant Attorney General, New Mexico Department of Taxation, Santa Fe, NM.
          
Gross Receipts Taxes- The Wave of the Future? With Ohio’s newly enacted CAT and New Jersey’s recently created (2002) gross receipts-based tax, this question must be asked.  The panel will explore the highlights of the new Ohio tax, overview comparisons  to the New Jersey AMA and Washington B & O taxes, and weigh government and taxpayer views of tax schemes built on gross receipts.  Moderator: Margaret C Wilson, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, New York, NY. Panelists: Gregg D. Barton, Perkins Cole LLP, Seattle, WA; Fred J. Nicely,Deputy Tax Comissioner, Chief Legal Counsel, Ohio Department of Txation,Columbus,OH; Margaret C Wilson, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, New York, NY.