Lynn Gandhi Assesses Midyear Takeaways from Major State and Local Tax Cases

Foley & Lardner LLP partner Lynn Gandhi is featured by Law360 for her takeaways on major state and local tax cases in the article, “Top State & Local Tax Cases Of 2025: Midyear Report.”

Gandhi, commenting on the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Catholic Charities Inc. et al v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission et al., said she believed the ruling could be applied in other areas of state tax as it relates to exemptions permitted for only some particular groups. She explained that states regularly construe exemption language in a narrow manner, but this decision shows that when a statute’s language is unambiguous, an interpretation is not needed.

“We have seen states sometimes do a little convoluted interpretation to narrow the breadth of an exemption, but they passed it and they didn’t realize how broad it may be or how many people can apply for it,” Gandhi said. “I think Catholic Charities gives some comfort to say, you don’t get to interpret.”

Touching on American Catalog Mailers Association v. Department of Taxation and Finance et al., Gandhi stated that if Congress is unable to provide clarity around the reach of Public Law 86-272, then the U.S. Supreme Court will be the appropriate jurisdiction for ruling on the law’s protections.

“Because what states have attempted to do is to modify P.L. 86-272, which is a federal law and they do not have the authority to modify a federal law,” Gandhi added.

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