In this episode of the SALTovation podcast, we speak with Nikki Dobay, Senior Tax Counsel for Council of State Taxation (COST), and our very own Judy Vorndran.

Nikki uses her expertise to explain how COST plays into the tax conversations and the inner workings of the state tax brain trust. She also discusses how COST decides what issues they focus on. Listen to how she explains how the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) was formed and why smaller businesses should get involved in the MTC.

Questions asked and answered in this Episode:

• How did Nikki shift from public accounting to COST and back to a law firm?
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• What role does COST play in the tax conversation?
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• Where does COST focus their efforts?
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• How can small sellers get involved in the MTC?
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What You Will Discover:

• [01:14] How Nikki navigated her career
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• [09:26] What role does COST play in the tax conversation
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• [20:13] How does COST decide what they get involved in
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• [24:29] How Nikki thinks of the Oregon Corporate Activity Tax
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• [28:53] How to determine state nexus
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• [35:37] What is some advice for small sellers to get involved in the MTC?
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• [42:39] Outro
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Quotables:

• “Somebody did tell me early on when I was very nervous because I had to testify about unclaimed property, which I know nothing about. And the person just said ‘I guarantee you even if you know almost nothing, you know more than they know. Just walk in there. You’re the smartest person in the room on this and just say whatever you think will help.” - Nikki Dobay [05:07]
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• “What I have come to see going from the biggest firm in the world into a regional firm was how much that vote gets missed for the little guys. And the big guys can afford to pay someone like you. They can afford to hire someone internally as a lobbyist.” - Judy Vorndran [17:02]
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• “It just seems like the state shouldn’t be able to dictate what the federal law says. It’s not their job to interpret this federal law and whether or not it applies.” - Nikki Dobay [34:15]
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• “I think it’s a voice that really gets lost and the states don’t hear about it. They don’t think about it and they don’t understand that these decisions are having significant impacts on small businesses and mid-size businesses that are really just trying to make it and you’re going to crush them with state tax compliance for what reason.” - Nikki Dobay [36:12]
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Relevant Links:

Website: https://www.cost.org/about-cost/staff/nikki-e.-dobay

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikki-e-dobay-10a018a

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Production Support

This episode was produced with support from Truth Work Media. www.truthworkmedia.com

Mentioned in this episode:

SALT Contact

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