State & Local
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August 15, 2024
Ky. General Revenue In July Up $141M From Last Year
Kentucky general revenue in July was $141 million higher than last year, according to the state Budget Director's Office.
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August 15, 2024
Calif. General Revenue In July $866M Over Estimates
California's general revenue collection in the first month of the 2025 fiscal year was $866 million higher than forecast, according to the state controller.
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August 15, 2024
Alaska Bans Local Taxes On Transfers Of Real Property
Alaska will not allow localities to levy or collect sales and use tax on the transfer of real property under a bill signed by the governor.
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August 14, 2024
Biz Says Mich. Cities Ignore Taxpayers In Fee-Or-Tax Fight
A pipe fitting business has urged the Michigan Supreme Court to reject municipal organizations' "histrionic" arguments that cities' financial stability will be in jeopardy if the top court finds Detroit's fire inspection fee is a disguised tax, saying the groups are disregarding citizens' rights to be free from illegal taxes.
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August 14, 2024
Mich. Judges Weigh Adjusting Asset Basis After Tax Law Shift
A panel of Michigan appellate judges grappled Wednesday with whether two companies were entitled to account for depreciation they didn't receive credit for under Michigan law to increase the basis of assets they sold when determining their state tax liabilities.
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August 14, 2024
Biz Founder Owes Mass. Tax On $4.7M Gain, Tax Dept. Says
A $4.7 million capital gain from a stock sale by former Massachusetts residents is subject to state tax because it stemmed from a business the couple had in Massachusetts, the state Department of Revenue told a Massachusetts appeals court, urging it to uphold the state tax board's findings.
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August 14, 2024
Wash. High Court OKs Anti-Cap Gains Tax Measure For Ballot
Several anti-tax initiatives in Washington state, including one to repeal the long-embattled tax on capital gains, may remain on the November ballot, the state's highest court said, rebuffing opponents that tried to get the initiatives removed.
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August 14, 2024
Mich. Court Stands By Unitary Biz Ruling For Nationwide
A Michigan state appeals court will not reconsider its decision that insurance companies that are part of Nationwide should file their taxes as a unitary group, and denied the state Treasury Department's request for reconsideration.
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August 14, 2024
DC Tax Relief Can Aid Office Projects, But It's No 'Silver Bullet'
While tax relief programs may help a handful of office conversion projects in Washington, D.C., and make financial sense, much more needs to happen to bring the city's struggling downtown back to life again, real estate experts say.
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August 13, 2024
Walz Backed Tax Hikes Funding Plans For Children, Families
As Minnesota's governor, Democrat Tim Walz, now the presumed vice presidential nominee of his party, separated himself from most other governors by signing into law numerous tax increases funding progressive priorities such as a paid family leave plan and the nation's largest child tax credit.
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August 13, 2024
Treasury's Loss Rules Take Broad Approach To Min. Tax Deal
The U.S. Treasury Department recently dashed the hopes of multinational corporations seeking regulations that would have carved out an international minimum tax agreement from interacting with long-standing domestic rules aimed at preventing companies from using the same economic loss twice.
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August 13, 2024
IRS Delays Tax Deadlines In Vermont After Hurricane Debby
Taxpayers in Vermont will be given until Feb. 3 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments after the state was hit by Hurricane Debby, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.
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August 13, 2024
Shipping Co.'s Cleaning Services Taxable, Wash. Court Affirms
A Washington state court properly denied a shipping company's request for a refund of sales tax paid on cleaning services for its shipping containers because the containers weren't integral to the ships' use, a state appellate court affirmed.
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August 13, 2024
Anheuser-Busch Fights Mo. Tax On Items Sent Out Of State
Anheuser-Busch is seeking a refund of about $262,000 in Missouri sales and use taxes it says it paid on a variety of exempt transactions, including taxes paid on iPhones that were ultimately shipped to out-of-state employees and computer items used in the beer manufacturing process.
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August 12, 2024
UN Eyes Two Early Changes For Tax Pact In Latest Draft
Diplomats would draft two legally binding protocols under the United Nations framework convention on international tax cooperation while creating the convention itself under the latest draft guidance for negotiators after they select from a shortlist of possible topics, including the digital economy and wealth taxation.
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August 12, 2024
Past Tax Ideas Offer Insight Into A Harris-Walz Presidency
An analysis of tax proposals previously put forth by Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats' presumptive nominees for president and vice president, indicates they could pursue a tax agenda geared toward providing tax relief to middle- and lower-income Americans.
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August 12, 2024
Ill. Allows Discretion On Investment Tax Credit Repayment
Illinois businesses that failed to meet the mandatory employment threshold for the angel investment tax credit may be granted discretion when it comes to the repayment of the credit amounts, under a bill signed by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
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August 12, 2024
IRS Extends Tax Deadlines For Minn. Storm Victims
Minnesota taxpayers affected by severe storms and flooding have until February to file tax returns and make payments, the Internal Revenue Service said Monday.
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August 12, 2024
Miss. Urges State Justices To Uphold Tax On Freight Charges
The Mississippi Supreme Court should find that the state's use tax laws clearly subject freight charges to tax, the state Department of Revenue argued in seeking to overturn a lower court decision that negated a tax assessment on third-party charges a pipeline company paid.
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August 12, 2024
Ill. Will Analyze State, County Property Tax Systems
Illinois will conduct a study of the state's property tax system along with a review of Cook County's classification system under a bill signed by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
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August 12, 2024
Mo. Goodwill Qualifies For Charitable Property Tax Exemption
A Missouri Goodwill employing those with "barriers to employment" qualifies for a charitable purpose exemption, making it exempt from property tax, the state tax commission ruled.
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August 12, 2024
Mich. Yacht Club's Seawalls Subject To Tax, Tribunal Says
A Michigan yacht club's seawalls are not exempt from property tax because the seawall's primary purpose is not for erosion control, the state Tax Tribunal said.
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August 12, 2024
Ind. Tax Board Reverses Valuation Of Rental Property
An Indiana tax board must reconsider the use of a single-family property that is rented out by its corporate owner, since the local assessor valued the home like an owner-occupied residence, the state's tax court said.
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August 12, 2024
Mo. Commission Says Lowe's Can't Value Stores As Vacant
The Missouri State Tax Commission rejected arguments from Lowe's to reduce the value of three properties by a combined $11.7 million, disagreeing with the home improvement giant's arguments that the properties should be valued as though they were vacant.
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August 09, 2024
The Long Road To Legalizing Pot In Florida And South Dakota
Voters in Florida and South Dakota will have the opportunity this Election Day to legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and over, and while the two efforts vary in their particulars, they both follow years of work by legalizers to craft a proposal that could gain court approval.
Expert Analysis
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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Ohio Tax Talk: The Legislative Push For Property Tax Relief
As Ohio legislators attempt to alleviate the increasing property tax burden, four recent bills that could significantly affect homeowners propose to eliminate replacement property tax levies, freeze property taxes for longtime homeowners, adjust homestead exemptions annually for inflation, and temporarily expand the homestead exemption, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.
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Looking South With A Smile: SALT In Review
From Mississippi's long walk toward repealing its personal income tax to a welcome stroke for open government in Kentucky, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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Tax Assessment: Recapping Georgia's Legislative Session
Jonathan Feldman and Alla Raykin at Eversheds Sutherland examine tax-related changes from Georgia’s General Assembly — such as the governor’s successful push to accelerate income tax cuts — and suggest steps to take before certain tax incentives are challenged in the state's next legislative session.
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Geothermal Energy Has Growing Potential In The US
Bipartisan support for the geothermal industry shows that geothermal energy can be an elegant solution toward global decarbonization efforts because of its small footprint, low supply chain risk, and potential to draw on the skills of existing highly specialized oil and gas workers and renewable specialists, say attorneys at Weil.
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Bad Ideas That Won't Go Away: SALT In Review
From California's latest move toward a digital ad tax to Kansas' proposed tax credits for film production, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Trump Hush Money Case Offers Master Class In Trial Strategy
The New York criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump typifies some of the greatest challenges that lawyers face in crafting persuasive presentations, providing lessons on how to handle bad facts, craft a simple story that withstands attack, and cross-examine with that story in mind, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.