Amgen Inc. v. Commissioner of Revenue

This is an appeal from a decision of the Appellate Tax Board (board), denying the applications of Amgen Inc. (Amgen), for abatement of the Massachusetts excise on foreign corporations doing business in Massachusetts. Amgen argues that its activities' in the Commonwealth during the years in question1 do not subject it to the excise, as provided in G. L. c. 63, § 39. Amgen relies on a Federal statute, Pub. L. 86-272, codified at 15 U.S.C. § 381 (1994), that prohibits a State from imposing an excise on foreign corporations whose only business activities involve the solicitation of certain…