Andres Vallejo

Special Counsel

San Francisco, (415) 268-6793

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Education

University of California, Riverside (B.S., 1996)
;
University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (J.D., 1999)

Practices

State + Local Tax

Bar Admissions

California

Andres Vallejo focuses his practice primarily upon the resolution of state and local tax controversies through negotiation and litigation. He has represented clients in various states and local jurisdictions at all levels of administrative review and before trial and appellate courts. He also advises clients regarding the state and local tax consequences of business transactions.

Mr. Vallejo's experience includes matters involving franchise and income taxes, sales and use taxes, tobacco taxes, property taxes, gross receipts taxes, and insurance taxes, among others. He also regularly litigates constitutional issues such as discrimination against interstate commerce, apportionment, nexus, remedies for unconstitutional taxes, and unitary combination.

Mr. Vallejo, a fluent Spanish speaker, is the representative of the State and Local Tax Group for Spain, Latin America, and the Caribbean. He counsels Spanish and Latin American companies in connection with state and local tax issues arising from their operations in the United States.

Mr. Vallejo is a frequent speaker on state and local tax issues, and has appeared before such groups as the Tax Executives Institute and the Council on State Taxation. In addition, he has authored articles in publications such as State Tax Notes, Tax Management Multistate Tax Report, and the firm's State and Local Tax Insights newsletter.

He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of San Francisco, Tax Section and formerly served as chair of the Taxation Section of the San Francisco Barristers Club.

Mr. Vallejo was recognized for his work in tax controversy by Legal 500, 2010: “a very bright individual, technically savvy and with a high moral standing.”

While earning his degree at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Mr. Vallejo was an associate editor of the California Law Review.

Sprint Nextel

(Los Angeles County Superior Court). Represent Nextel Boost of California LLC in its challenge to the City of Los Angeles' telephone user tax ("TUT") on various grounds, including that the service is not taxable because it was not subject to federal excise tax and the City's attempt to expand its ordinance to include Boost's services violated Proposition 218 because the new ordinance was not approved by a vote of the electorate. The case is pending in the L.A. Superior Court. (Ongoing, 2009)

General Mills v. Franchise Tax Board

Represent General Mills in a closely watched case involving the calculation of the sales factor for apportioning interstate income for a company involved in hedging operations. On April 15, 2009, the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, decided General Mills v. Franchise Tax Board. The decision became final on July 30, 2009, following the California Supreme Court's denial of the Franchise Tax Board's petition for review. The court agreed with General Mills in holding that “[the full sales price of General Mills’ hedging futures sales contracts are ‘gross receipts’ to be included in the calculation of the UDITPA sales factor.” The Court of Appeal, therefore, reversed the trial court’s conclusion to the contrary, and remanded the case to the trial court for a ruling on “whether the Franchise Tax Board met its burden of proving that the apportionment formula does not ‘fairly represent’ General Mills’ business activity within California, thus warranting imposition of an alternative formula pursuant to section 25137.”