California Superior Court Finally Got One Right

[Bert 1,091]

The Superior Court (trial court) has issued a ruling against the State Board of Equalization (SBE) that awarded Lucent over $2.6 million in attorneys' fees because the SBE improperly taxed software that was exempt from state sales tax. Lucent successfully argued that “reasonable litigation costs” must be awarded pursuant to Cal. Rev. & Tax. Cd. § 7156 because the SBE's position was “not substantially justified.” Lucent based its claim on the fact that the trial court and the court of appeal (2nd Dist.) in Nortel Networks Inc. (191 Cal App 4th 1259, 119 Cal Rptr 3d 905 (2011)) made findings that bound the trial court in the present case. The Superior Court found that “[One] could almost substitute the names of the 23 plaintiffs and the monetary amounts, and the facts would be essentially the same,” as Nortel. The SBE argued that it was justified in defending the case because it did not have a sufficient opportunity to defend itself in Nortel, due to state budgetary problems and its inability to present expert testimony. While this was unfortunate, the granting of the summary judgment made clear that the additional expert witness testimony did not even create a triable issue of fact. There was nothing to try; the transactions in question were not taxable as a matter of law, based on binding precedent. The SBE also argued that it was entitled to defend the case because it should not be required to accept the trial court's findings and the Court of Appeal opinion as the “last word.” While it is certainly conceivable that a different division of the second district Court of Appeal could decide the case differently, the question is whether Lucent should have to subsidize the SBE for that effort. The Superior Court's answer to that question was “no.” (Lucent Techs. Inc. v. SBE, Cal. Super. Ct., Dkt. No. BC402036, 04/21/2014.)

 

 

Nice to see the SBE take it in the azz for this frivolous assessment. More and more states are doing this kind of bullsh!t. They know they are wrong but they push the issue to litigation and hope they get a crazy wing nut judge to ignore precedent and the law.

 

 

[TimmySmith 2,782]

If only they had waited for worms to get on the bench.

[NorthernVike 2,080]

If only they had waited for worms to get on the bench.

[drobeski 3,061]

If only they had waited for worms to get on the bench.

[DankNuggs 305]

Crazy they had to risk $2.6 million in lawyer bills just to be treated fairly by the state....

[DankNuggs 305]

So the state took it to trial court... Lost, then took it to appeals court, lost again... and still kept trying to exert their abuse...

[Bert 1,091]

So the state took it to trial court... Lost, then took it to appeals court, lost again... and still kept trying to exert their abuse...

Yep. Complete BS. And more states are doing it hoping they will get companies to settle rather than risking the attorney and consulting fees and the hundreds of hours of lost time. It is basically a form of extortion.

[RLLD 3,455]

Crazy they had to risk $2.6 million in lawyer bills just to be treated fairly by the state....

 

 

The state is not inclined to treat people fairly, ever, they are inclinded to take, bully and subvert....the notion that our government is anything more than a puppet for the highest bidders has long ago evaporated

[MTSkiBum 1,594]

 

 

The state is not inclined to treat people fairly, ever, they are inclinded to take, bully and subvert....the notion that our government is anything more than a puppet for the highest bidders has long ago evaporated

 

The US government is the best large population government in the world.

 

The only governments that are better: Switzerland, Australia, etc. all have a population a fraction of the US.

[IGotWorms 3,311]

If only they had waited for worms to get on the bench.

That's hilarious

 

Oh wait, no, it doesn't even make sense. But you dogged me so your lap dogs acted like it was funny

[Voltaire 4,558]

I started to read that and the legaleze made my eyes glaze over.

 

Why I bothered, I don't know. What I know about California is that it's a liberal politician's paradise but I don't actually give a sh*t about California tax law.

[IGotWorms 3,311]

I started to read that and the legaleze made my eyes glaze over.

 

Why I bothered, I don't know. What I know about California is that it's a liberal politician's paradise but I don't actually give a sh*t about California tax law.

Nobody does. Bert likes to pretend like he's super duper smart and his sycophants fall all over themselves eating it up

[TylerRoseFan 16]

Nobody does. Bert likes to pretend like he's super duper smart and his sycophants fall all over themselves eating it up

Impressive. You used the word "sycophants".