The Supreme Court will ring out 2015 with a tax opinion. Tomorrow morning, the court will file its opinion in Gillette Company v. Franchise Tax Board, a case that asks: Were multistate taxpayers required to apportion business income according to the formula set forth in Revenue and Taxation Code section 25128 as amended in 1993 or could they elect to apportion income according to the formula set forth in former Revenue and Taxation Code section 38006 pursuant to the adoption of the Multistate Tax Compact in 1974? The case has attracted several amicus curiae briefs, including one on behalf of 18 states and the District of Columbia.
Gillette was argued on the October calendar. So were two other cases in which the court has yet to issue decisions. To comply with the 90-day rule, which the court always does, the opinions in those two cases must file Monday. One of the two is Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association v. Padilla, a high-profile case which involves the Legislature’s authority to place a non-binding measure on the ballot seeking the electorate’s views on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. The other is People v. Mendoza, an automatic appeal from a May 2006 judgment of death.
The Gillette opinion can be viewed tomorrow starting at 10:00 a.m.
[UPDATE: Just noticed that the court vacated submission in Mendoza because of post-argument supplemental briefing. The case was resubmitted on November 23, which re-started the 90-day clock. Expect a decision in Mendoza by the middle of February.]