Webinar 12.11.24
12.11
Audit Defense and Informal Discovery: Strategies and Knowing When to Push Back
11:00AM - 12:00PM EST
As a state and local tax authority, Robert P. Merten III advises and represents clients on all tax types, primarily including income and franchise tax, sales and use tax, and property and transfer tax.
Robert is a strategist and impassioned litigator who advocates for his clients before administrative bodies as well as trial and appellate courts. Robert has substantial experience representing clients in all stages of litigation, from pre-trial strategy through pleadings, discovery, summary judgment, trial and appeal. In addition to resolving controversy and litigation disputes, whether through favorable settlements or by formal adjudication, Robert also advises clients on multistate tax planning, audit and compliance issues.
Robert is also a frequent speaker, author and contributor to the SALT industry, including Pillsbury’s SeeSALT law blog, and annually teaches “Comprehensive Income Tax” at UC Davis School of Law’s Summer Tax Institute.
Representative Experience
- Represented one of the largest industrial gases companies in the world as second-chair in successful high-profile sales and use tax appeal in one of the first large corporate appeals heard by California’s Office of Tax Appeals.
- Represented one of the largest multinational retail corporations in the world as first-chair in state fuel tax dispute.
- Litigated then-largest property tax dispute in California regarding large and diverse property footprint in Los Angeles County for one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies, resulting in an approximately $50 million victory.
View More
- Advised and represented telecommunications company clients on prominent software taxation issues in state court and administrative jurisdictions resulting in tens of million dollars in state sales and use tax refunds.
- Advised and represented large computer technology, insurance and automobile manufacturer companies in court and administrative jurisdictions on emerging state income tax apportionment, online revenue and research and development credit issues.
- Advised and represented the largest internet retailer in the world, leading industrial gas supplier company, and high-technology and telecommunications companies on various multistate sales and use tax issues.
- Advised major real estate, investment and energy companies on multiple transaction planning, tax and controversy issues.
- Represented entertainment companies in high-profile intellectual property disputes in state and federal court jurisdictions and binding arbitration proceedings.
- Represented and advocated for large financial institutions in dozens of state and federal litigation actions on hundreds of claims.
- Resolved an approximately $40 million professional negligence action at summary judgment stage for title insurance company.
- Advised professional football team on player grievance arbitration proceedings.
Professional Highlights
Honors & Awards
- Recognized by Chambers USA for Tax: State & Local (2023-2024).
Publications
- “California OTA Denies Credit for NYC Business Taxes in Precedential Opinion,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Carley Roberts, Jeff Phang and Taylor A.F. Wolff, December 9, 2024.
- “California Imposes Further Disclosure Requirements for Local Sales Tax Sharing Agreements,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Aruna Chittiappa and Nolan Kessler, November 11, 2024.
View More
- “California’s Market-Based Sourcing Amendments; Public Hearing Requests Due by Oct. 16,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Carley Roberts and Jeff Phang, October 7, 2024.
- “California’s 2024-2025 Budget Seeks to Block $1.3 Billion of Refunds for Water’s Edge Taxpayers, Suspend NOL Deductions, and Limit Tax Credit Utilization,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Carley Roberts, Jeffrey Vesely, and Jeff Phang, June 5, 2024.
- “New Jersey Issues Guidance on Adoption of Federal Partnership Audit Regime,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Taylor A.F. Wolff, May 6, 2024.
- “Reminder: ‘Gross’ Does Not Mean ‘Net’ – California OTA Holds All Repatriated Dividends Must Be Included in Sales Factor,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Carley Roberts, Jeff Phang, and Nolan Kessler, April 4, 2024.
- “Winter Storm Relief – California’s 2024 Extended Deadlines to File and Pay Taxes,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Jeff Phang and Carley Roberts, March 20, 2024.
- “Got Remote Workers? Supreme Court of Ohio Upholds Pandemic Rule for Municipality Tax,” SeeSALT Blog Post, March 4, 2024.
- “California Credit Claim Denials: California OTA Issues Two Opinions Rejecting Taxpayers’ Submitted Evidence to Substantiate Claimed California R&D Tax Credits,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Nolan Kessler, January 8, 2024.
- “Maine Expressly Requires Express Scripts to Apportion Services Receipts Using a Look-Through Approach,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Taylor Wolff, December 11, 2023.
- “No Sugarcoating: The California Office of Tax Appeals Limits the California FTB’s Application of Legal Ruling 2006-01,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Jack Camillo, November 13, 2023.
- “Minnesota Tax Court Denies a Catalog and Internet-Based Distribution Company Public Law 86-272 Protection,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Joseph Chan, July 12, 2023.
- “UPDATE: California Adds New Counties, Further Extends Deadlines to File and Pay Taxes for Businesses and Individuals Affected by Severe Winter Storms,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Jeff Phang, and Carley Roberts, March 8, 2023.
- “Property Tax Rate Dispute Merits California Supreme Court Review,” Tax Notes State, with Craig Becker, Carley Roberts, Breann Robowski, and Joseph Chan, February 13, 2023.
- “California Extends Deadlines to File and Pay Taxes for Businesses and Individuals Affected by Severe Winter Storms,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Carley Roberts and Jeff Phang, January 23, 2023.
- “Industry Trade Association Sues California Franchise Tax Board Over “Radical” New Interpretation on Scope of Public Law 86-272 Post-Wayfair,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Carley Roberts and Nolan Kessler, October 10, 2022.
- “California Tax Credits and NOL Deductions Are Back! Governor Signs Legislation Reinstating Business Taxpayer Benefits Limited by 2020 Legislation,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Jeff Phang, February 10, 2022.
- “How to Be Reasonable When Reasonably Approximating the Market: Part II,” Tax Notes State, with Carley Roberts, Jeff Phang and Lexi Louderback, December 20, 2021.
- “California Governor Vetoes Sales Tax Bill Seeking to Require Large Online Retailers to File Informational Reports Detailing Sales by Destination,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Carley Roberts and Jeff Phang, October 7, 2021.
- “Taxpayer Files Court Action Challenging California’s Proposition 39 (2012) and Its Mandatory Single-Sales Factor Apportionment Formula,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Carley Roberts and Jeff Phang, September 20, 2021.
- “Only Simple Majority Required (Again!): California Court of Appeal Holds SF’s Proposition G Citizen Initiative Did Not Require Supermajority Voter Approval; Reconsideration Request Pending,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Lexi Louderback, August 12, 2021.
- “San Francisco’s New Tax Provisions May Have Unintended Consequences,” Tax Notes State, with Craig A. Becker, Breann E. Robowski and Richard E. Nielsen, March 22, 2021.
- “Should San Francisco Taxpayers File Protective Claims for Recovery of the Homelessness Tax and the Commercial Rents Tax?” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Craig A. Becker, Breann E. Robowski, Richard E. Nielsen and Connor A. Corbitt, February 4, 2021.
- “How to Be Reasonable When Reasonably Approximating the Market: Part 1,” Tax Notes State, with Carley A. Roberts and Malcolm A. Brudigam, January 4, 2021.
- “Cold Class Action: Federal Judge in Alaska Rules State and Local Sales Tax Class Action Survives Motion to Dismiss/Strike,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Malcolm A. Brudigam, August 31, 2020.
- “California Court of Appeal Concludes Transfer Tax Not Applicable to Purchase of Realty Encumbered by Long-Term Leasehold,” Pillsbury Client Alert, with Craig A. Becker, Breann E. Robowski and Richard E. Nielsen, June 29, 2020.
- “California Supermajority Tax Challenge Cases Are onto the Next Level: Last Trial Court Ruling Issued,” SeeSALT Blog Post, May 18, 2020.
- “Limiting Locality Profiteering: New Hampshire Supreme Court Strikes Down State Statute Permitting Localities to Profit from Sales of Seized Tax-Delinquent Properties,” SeeSALT Blog Post, April 30, 2020.
- “COVID-19: Comprehensive Coverage of State Income Tax Relief as of April 13, 2020,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Carley Roberts and Afshin Michael Khazaeli, April 13, 2020.
- “COVID-19: Comprehensive Coverage of State Income Tax Relief as of March 29, 2020,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Carley Roberts, March 30, 2020.
- “San Francisco’s COVID-19 Pandemic ‘Relief,’” SeeSALT Blog Post, March 26, 2020.
- “Solicitor General Argument Likely Dooms Arizona Tax Case at High Court,” Law360, with Mike Le, January 17, 2020.
- “The CAT Is Almost Out of the Bag! Oregon Releases First Set of Draft CAT Rules,” Pillsbury Client Alert, with Carley Roberts, December 12, 2019.
- “‘Interactive’ Website Will Defeat P.L. 86-272 Immunity if the MTC Has Its Way,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Pillsbury SALT, November 11, 2019.
- “Sunny State Shade: Arizona’s Objection to California’s Tax Reach,” State Tax Notes, with Carley Roberts and Mike Le, October 7, 2019.
- “The California Franchise Tax Board Convenes a Public Meeting on the Gig Economy,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Pillsbury SALT, October 2, 2019.
- “California OTA Rejects FTB’s 0.2 Percent Bright-Line Nexus Standard for Out-of-State Minority Interest LLC Members,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Pillsbury SALT, September 9, 2019.
- “California Appellate Court Holds Abercrombie Sought to Create Rather than Eliminate Discriminatory Tax Reporting Treatment,” SeeSALT Blog Post, August 30, 2019.
- “Calif. Prop C Taxpayers Should File Protective Refund Claims,” Law360, with Richard E. Nielsen, August 21, 2019.
- “The 5 Supermajority Tax Challenges Facing California,” Law360, with Richard E. Nielsen, July 23, 2019.
- “Gross! Portland, Oregon, Targets Large Retailers with New Gross Receipts Tax,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Pillsbury SALT, June 21, 2019.
- “California Governor Signs Marketplace Facilitator Legislation, Preview to New Rules,” SeeSALT Blog Post, with Pillsbury SALT, April 25, 2019.
- “The Sequel to Upland: A California Supermajority Tax Showdown,” Law360, with Richard E. Nielsen, February 19, 2019.
- “Implications of the MTC’s Market-Based Sourcing Model Regulations,” State Tax Notes, with Jeff Friedman and Nick J. Kump, March 2018.
- “California Seeks Input on Clean Energy Equipment Tax Exemption,” Law360, with Carley A. Roberts and Jessica Allen, March 21, 2018.
- “City of Upland: Blazing a Trail for More Local Taxes by Ballot Initiative,” Law360, with Eric J. Coffill, September 7, 2017.
- “Imposing Documentary Transfer Taxes in California after Ardmore,” Law360, with Eric J. Coffill and Nick J. Kump, July 7, 2017.
- “Taxes, Fees, and ‘Something Else:’ California’s Morning Star Decision,” State Tax Notes, with Eric J. Coffill, June 2017.
- Co-author, Bloomberg BNA, California Pass-Through Entity Navigator, 2017 – present.
- “Trends and Developments in Alternative Apportionment of State Income,” State Tax Notes, with Chris Lutz and Nick J. Kump, May 2017.
- “California Legislative Committee Holds Information Hearing on Lucent and Administering California’s Technology Transfer Agreement Law,” Legal Alert, February 2017.
- “Nortel, Lucent, and Taxing Embedded Software in California under a Technology Transfer Agreement,” Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives, with Eric J. Coffill and Nick J. Kump, January 2017.
- Co-author, Bloomberg BNA, California Corporation Income Tax Portfolio, 2016 – present.
- “MTC Nearing Completion of Model Sourcing Regulation for Services and Intangibles,” Legal Alert, July 2015.
- Speaking Engagements
- “Audit Defense and Informal Discovery: Strategies and Knowing When to Push Back,” TEI Ethics Webinar Series, December 2024, Webinar.
- “Office of Tax Appeals Precedential Process,” 2024 Annual Meeting of the Tax Bar and Tax Policy Conference, November 2024, Anaheim, CA.
- “California’s Approach to the Multistate Tax Base,” California Lawyers Association Tax Policy Seminar, October 2024, Sacramento, CA.
- “Ask the Experts,” COST SALT Workshop for Technology Companies, August 2024, Cupertino, CA.
- “Comprehensive Income Tax,” Instructor at UC Davis School of Law Summer Tax Institute, June 2024, Davis, CA.
- “California Litigation Update,” 2023 Annual Meeting of the Tax Bar and Tax Policy Conference, November 2023, Palm Springs, CA.
- “Comprehensive Income Tax,” Instructor at UC Davis School of Law Summer Tax Institute, June 2023, Davis, CA.
- “SALT Cases Impacting the Landscape – Group Composition, Intercompany Transactions, Sourcing, Alternative Apportionment,” TEI New York Chapter Meeting, April 2023, New York NY.
- “Dealing with Local Taxes: Avoiding Purgatory,” 2023 COST Sales Tax Conference, February 2023, Denver, CO.
- “Issues with Sales Taxation of Digital Business Inputs,” 2022 COST Annual Meeting, October 2022, Orlando, FL.
- “What’s Hot in State Income Tax,” TEI Fort Worth Chapter Meeting, August 2022, Virtual.
- “Specific Sourcing/Apportionment Issues for Tech Companies for Income Tax Purposes,” COST State and Local Tax Workshop for the Tech Industry, August 2022, Burlingame, CA.
- “Market Based Sourcing: Down the Rabbit Hole,” COST Southeast Regional State Tax Seminar/Healthcare Indirect Tax Seminar, August 2022, Nashville, TN.
- “How to Litigate and Win Your Sales Tax Case,” COST Southeast Regional State Tax Seminar/Healthcare Indirect Tax Seminar, August 2022, Nashville, TN.
- “Comprehensive Income Tax,” Instructor at UC Davis School of Law Summer Tax Institute, June 2022, Davis, CA.
- “Sales Tax/Property Tax,” Eagle Lodge West 2022 Conference, February 2022, Santa Rosa, CA.
- “Top Corporate Income Tax Cases and Trends,” TEI Chicago Chapter Virtual State Income Tax Program, December 2021, Webinar.
- “States’ Treatment of Repatriated Income,” TEI Chicago Chapter Virtual State Income Tax Program, December 2021, Webinar.
- “Apportionment Developments: A Focus on Market-Based Sourcing,” COST Southwest/West Regional State Tax Meeting, November 2021, Webinar.
- “Ask the Experts,” COST Property Tax Workshop, September 2021, Webinar.
- “Let’s All Hold Hands and Work Together,” COST Property Tax Workshop, September 2021, Webinar.
- “Unraveling Metropoulos and Sourcing Sales of Intangibles under California’s Personal Income Tax Law,” CLA Annual Income Tax Seminar, July 2021, Webinar.
- “California Market-Based Sourcing Issues,” COST Central West Regional State Tax Webinar, March 2021, Webinar.
- “Assignment of Credits,” Eagle Lodge West 2021 Conference, February 2021, Webinar.
- “Your Tax Department Should Work as a Team – Strategies to Make it Work – Even When Working Remotely,” COST/IPTI Property Tax Event, September 2020, Webinar.
- “Keep that Bundle of Joy: How to Deal with Bundled Transactions?” COST Sales Tax Conference & Audit Session 2020, February 2020, Las Vegas, NV.
- “California’s OTA: Friend or Foe?” TEI Silicon Valley Chapter’s SALT Day & IPT Joint Meeting, December 2019, Santa Clara, CA.
- “Local and Gross Receipts Taxes: Including S.F., Fresno, and Oakland supermajority cases and OR CAT and Portland, OR clean energy surcharge,” TEI Silicon Valley Chapter’s SALT Day & IPT Joint Meeting, December 2019, Santa Clara, CA.
- “Beware of the Locals – They Might Take You by Surprise,” TEI St. Louis Chapter Meeting, October 2019, St. Louis, MO.
- “Market-Based Sourcing in a Brave New World,” TEI St. Louis Chapter Meeting, October 2019, St. Louis, MO.
- “Trends and Developments,” API Annual State & Local Income & Franchise Tax Meeting, April 2019, San Ramon, CA.
- “Small Business Exception to the Parent-Child Change in Ownership Exclusion,” Eagle Lodge West 2019 Conference, February 2019, Santa Rosa, CA.
- “Communications Companies – Voice & Data Property Tax Issues,” COST Property Tax Workshop 2018, August 2018, Dallas, TX.
- “Current State Tax Developments in California and Other Western States,” TEI Denver Chapter Meeting, April 2018, Denver, CO.
- “Property Tax,” 2018 Cable Tax Policy Meeting, March 2018, Charleston, SC.
- “Property Tax 101 and 102,” Client Tax Team Presentations, 2018.
- “Property Tax Disputes – Best Practices,” TEI Silicon Valley Institute, December 2017, Santa Clara, CA.
- “Property Taxes in Nebraska, Kansas, Texas and Minnesota,” TEI Nebraska Chapter Meeting, September 2017, SALT Webinar.
- “Back to the Future of Federal Tax Reform? The State Tax Implications,” TEI Region IX & X Annual Conference, June 2017, Las Vegas, NV.
- “Understanding the State Tax Controversy Life Cycle,” TEI Columbus Chapter Meeting, December 2016, Columbus, OH.
- “What’s New with Transfer Pricing?,” TEI Columbus Chapter Meeting, December 2016, Columbus, OH.
- “Current State Tax Developments in California and Other Western States,” TEI Denver Chapter Meeting, May 2016, Denver, CO.
- Associations
- Member, Tax Section, State Bar of California
- Member, Litigation Section, State Bar of California
- Member, Institute for Professionals in Taxation
Education
-
J.D., University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Berkeley Law), 2008
Advocacy Top HonorsB.A., University of California, Santa Barbara, 2005
Summa cum laude, College Honors, Outstanding Graduating Senior Prize
Admissions
-
California
Courts
-
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit