States Still Decoupling From GOP Tax Law Deep Into Filing Season

Tax-filing season is well underway, and yet many states are still figuring out whether to conform to or decouple from provisions in last year's GOP-led tax overhaul, especially the deductions and other breaks for corporate taxpayers. The upshot is one of the more complicated filing periods in recent years. Corporate taxpayers are watching which states reject federal tax policy changes, such as those related to immediate expensing for research and development or property investments. Just in the past week, lawmakers in Republican-controlled states like Florida and Democrat-led states like Oregon moved ahead in decoupling from some of those corporate tax provisions to preserve billions of dollars in state revenue. Then there's the unique situation in Washington, DC, where a local law severing the city's tax code from more than a dozen provisions in the 2025 federal tax rewrite was met with Congress's formal disapproval. That set off a dispute between Capitol Hill and city leaders over whether the district's decoupling measure is in effect. (DC officials say it is.) Most of all, corporate taxpayers are looking for clarity from the states as they plan their filings, Scott Roberti, a managing director focusing on state and local tax in EY's national tax practice, says on this week's episode of Talking Tax. Roberti tells Bloomberg Tax editor Benjamin Freed that so far, at least 17 states have issued some sort of guidance on the conformity issue. Roberti hopes the remainder finish up soon in time for the end of filing season and quarter-end accounting. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.