Bill Backstrom, tax partner and chair of the State and Local Tax Practice Group, was quoted extensively in the December 29 issue of the Daily Tax Report, which is one of the most widely-read tax publications. Backstrom was quoted in the publication's Analysis & Perspective column in the article, "Unwary Taxpayers Can Be Snared Between Tax Guidance and State Regulator's Interpretations, Experts Warn." The article reported on comments made by Backstrom and his co-presenters, Doug Lindholm and Diann Smith, both of the Council on State Taxation, in a telecast of a speech on state and local tax traps for the unwary. The telecast was hosted by the American Bar Association, Section of Taxation, and was attended by over 75 participants from across the country. The telespeech and the BNA article outlined numerous frustrating practices for multistate taxpayers. Backstrom and Lindholm's outline was based on reports compiled by practitioners in 28 states, who summarized tax department practices that have proven most frustrating to taxpayers. Backstrom was quoted saying, "Departments of revenue just don't like to give back money. The trap is, once a claim is denied, you as a taxpayer have a certain period to file judicial or administrative appeals. If you get a notice and you have 60 days to file, it's no problem. But, if it's a deemed denial after six months, you have to know what the statute says and react within that period for filing refund claims." Backstrom was also quoted in the Daily Tax Report's tax Highlights column, "Analysis: Gaps Between State Guidance, Interpretation Pose Traps," that addressed unwary taxpayers who may find themselves snared by myriad traps in state tax regulations, statues and guidance – whether set intentionally by states or merely the unintended result of the discrepancies between text and department interpretation. Backstrom was quoted saying, "A lot of time what is printed is not the important stuff. When you're dealing with tricky procedural issues in various states, a call to someone in that state can be the most important one you make." Backstrom's tax practice focuses primarily on state and local tax matters both in Louisiana and on a multistate basis.