Diann Smith
Subscribe to Diann Smith's PostsDiann Smith focuses her practice on state and local taxation and unclaimed property advocacy. Diann advises clients at any stage of an issue, including planning, compliance, controversy, financial statement issues and legislative activity. Her goal is to find the most effective method to achieve a client's objective regardless of when or how an issue arises. Diann emphasizes the importance of defining a client's objective - whether it is finality of a frequently audited issue, quick resolution of a stand-alone tax liability, or avoiding competitive disadvantages in the application of a tax. The defined objective then governs the choice of the path to a solution. Read Diann Smith's full bio.
Multistate Tax Commission Appoints Keith Getschel as Director of Joint Audit Program
By Diann Smith and Stephen P. Kranz on May 6, 2014
Posted In Audits, Income Tax, Nationwide Importance, Sales Tax
Beginning June 16, Keith Getschel will succeed Les Koenig as the Director of the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) Joint Audit Program. Les Koenig is retiring as of July 31. Mr. Getschel comes from the Minnesota Department of Revenue, having held the position of Assistant Commissioner for Business Taxes since 2012. Mr. Getschel has worked in...
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Oklahoma Supreme Court KOs the Constitution
By McDermott Will & Emery, Diann Smith and Stephen P. Kranz on May 5, 2014
Posted In Constitutional Issues, Incentives, Income Tax, Nationwide Importance, Oklahoma, Tax Base
On April 22, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma released its opinion in CDR Systems Corp. v. Oklahoma Tax Commission. Case No. 109,886; 2014 OK 31. The Oklahoma Supreme Court, overturning the decision of the Court of Civil Appeals, held that an Oklahoma statute, which grants a deduction for income from gains that result from the...
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Best Practices for State Engagement of Private Unclaimed Property Auditors
By Diann Smith and Stephen P. Kranz on Apr 29, 2014
Posted In Delaware, Nationwide Importance, Unclaimed Property
The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform has released a report detailing current problems with states using private companies for unclaimed property audits and paying those auditors based on the amount recovered. The report begins with an example of what can go wrong when private auditors are paid on a contingent basis. The nightmare story...
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MTC State Transfer Pricing Program Looms on the Horizon
By McDermott Will & Emery, Diann Smith and Stephen P. Kranz on Apr 7, 2014
Posted In Nationwide Importance, Transfer Pricing
More formal, rigorous, and perhaps more frequent, state transfer pricing audits appear to be looming on the horizon, as the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) is set to launch a design and development project tasked with presenting a preliminary draft program by year’s end, with a final program recommendation due by the MTC’s annual meeting in...
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National Conference of State Legislatures to Tackle Key State Tax Policy Questions
By Arthur R. Rosen, Diann Smith, Jane Wells May and Stephen P. Kranz on Mar 7, 2013
Posted In Constitutional Issues, Nationwide Importance, Procedure
The National Conference of State Legislatures’ (NCSL) Executive Committee Task Force on State and Local Taxation has expanded its scope to include all significant tax policy issues facing the states. As part of its expanded scope, the task force has met with industry representatives to identify tax policy topics that would benefit from the task...
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