State & Local
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September 18, 2024
La. Gov. Eyeing November Special Session For Tax Overhaul
Louisiana's top tax official said Wednesday that he's hopeful lawmakers will be called into a special session in November to enact a flat personal income tax rate, broaden the sales tax base and tee up changes to the state constitution.
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September 18, 2024
Nev. Tax Agency Changes Regs For Contacting Audit Subjects
Nevada has changed requirements for how state Department of Taxation auditors must contact taxpayers who are the subject of an audit and has authorized the auditors to estimate delinquent taxes due based on records provided by a taxpayer, under regulatory updates approved by the state Tax Commission.
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September 18, 2024
NJ Total Revenues Through Aug. Up $253M From Last Year
New Jersey collected $253 million more revenue from July through August compared with last year, according to a monthly report by the state Department of the Treasury.
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September 18, 2024
Ariz. Youth Get Sales Tax Break For Small Businesses
Small Arizona businesses operated by people under 19 are no longer required to collect and remit sales taxes under legislation passed in June, the state tax department said.
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September 18, 2024
IRS Delays Deadlines For Pa. Victims Of Tropical Storm
Taxpayers in four Pennsylvania counties will have until Feb. 3, 2025, to file individual and business tax returns and make payments after portions of the state were hit by Tropical Storm Debby, the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.
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September 18, 2024
Calif. Tax Revenues Through Aug. Beat Estimate By $2.3B
California's total receipts for the first two months of the fiscal year were $2.3 billion over estimates, according to a State Controller's Office report.
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September 18, 2024
NY Tax Collection Through Aug. Beats Last Year By $2.5B
New York's net tax collection from April through August outpaced the total for the same span last year by $2.5 billion, according to the state's Department of Taxation and Finance.
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September 18, 2024
Ore. Tax Court OKs Refund Offset For Debt To State
An Oregon couple's state tax refund was rightly offset to pay a delinquent account with another state agency, the state tax court ruled, saying state law required the offset and the court has no jurisdiction over the other agency's action.
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September 18, 2024
Accounting Firm Prunes Flower Bulb Co.'s $2M Tax Bill Case
The North Carolina Business Court has narrowed a flower bulb retailer's negligence suit alleging its former accounting firm failed to sound the alarm about a major change in tax law, finding there was no fiduciary duty owed but that there may have been a breach of contract.
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September 18, 2024
Md. 2024 Fiscal Year Revenue Beats Forecast By $217M
Maryland collected $217 million more in revenue than expected during the 2024 fiscal year, according to a final report by the state comptroller.
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September 18, 2024
Latham Adds A&O Shearman Energy Group Co-Lead In DC
Latham & Watkins LLP has hired the former co-head of Allen Overy Shearman Sterling's U.S. energy, natural resources and infrastructure group to its team of transactional tax partners based in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Monday.
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September 18, 2024
Va. General Revenues Through Aug. Up $303M
Virginia's general revenue collection from the start of the fiscal year through August outpaced last year's total for the same period by $303 million, according to a statement from the state secretary of finance.
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September 17, 2024
Prepaid Wireless Cards Not Subject To Tax, NC Justices Told
A North Carolina cellphone retailer wasn't obliged to remit tax on sales of prepaid wireless cards because the cards are gift cards that can be used for nontaxable services and sales, an attorney for the company told the state Supreme Court on Tuesday.
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September 17, 2024
Vt. Supreme Court Upholds $1.1M Property Valuation
The Vermont Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the nearly $1.1 million valuation of a residential property determined by a hearing officer, saying the officer was not wrong to base the determination in part on a town assessment that was later found to be problematic.
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September 17, 2024
Better Days Ahead For Associates, Recruiters Say
Things are looking up for associates, recruiters say, as a strong economic outlook for the legal industry appears to be driving increased demand for younger attorneys after two straight years of layoffs.
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September 17, 2024
Blumenauer Pushes House Speaker To Put Pot Bill To Vote
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., on Monday urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring bipartisan cannabis legislation to a vote following revelations that Richard Nixon admitted privately that marijuana was "not particularly dangerous" while he publicly waged the war on drugs.
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September 16, 2024
La. Grants Automatic Tax Relief To Hurricane Francine Victims
Louisiana taxpayers affected by Hurricane Francine may receive an automatic extension for filing state tax returns, the state's Department of Revenue announced Friday.
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September 16, 2024
Treasury Cuts 'Zero Basis' Rule In Final Estate Tax Regs
The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday said it would not keep a rule that set a zero value for the unreported property of an estate in final regulations on the requirement that an heir's basis in inherited property be consistent with the property's value for estate tax purposes.
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September 16, 2024
NC High Court Snapshot: Tax Fights And A Health Care Spat
Regulatory battles will take center stage when the North Carolina Supreme Court returns from summer break this week for a September argument lineup featuring appeals by Phillip Morris, Duke University's hospital and two Boost Mobile dealers.
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September 16, 2024
Ohio BTA Says Sale Price Is Best Evidence Of Hospital's Value
The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals ruled that the December 2017 sale of a hospital for $10.9 million was the best evidence of the hospital's value, rejecting the hospital's argument that the value was $6 million based on a June 2020 sale.
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September 16, 2024
Nebraska Medical Cannabis Initiatives Will Be On Nov. Ballot
Initiatives to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska will appear on the ballot come November, despite some evidence of fraud in the signature-collecting petition process, according to state election officials.
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September 13, 2024
The 2024 Regional Powerhouses
The law firms on Law360's list of 2024 Regional Powerhouses reflected the local peculiarities of their states while often representing clients in deals and cases that captured national attention.
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September 15, 2024
California Couple Can't Claim Tax Credit For NYC Levy
A California couple wasn't eligible for an other-state tax credit for unincorporated business tax paid in New York because the tax is a local levy, paid to New York City and not the state, the California Office of Tax Appeals said.
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September 13, 2024
Treasury Proposes Rules Defining Tax-Exempt Tribal Benefits
Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service released proposed rules Friday that would define what qualifies as tribal welfare benefits exempt from taxable income.
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September 13, 2024
Wash. Biz Group Dues Weren't Deductible From Gross Income
The Better Business Bureau isn't entitled to a refund of business and occupation taxes paid to the Washington Department of Revenue in 2017, an appeals court affirmed, agreeing with the department that membership dues weren't deductible from gross income.
Expert Analysis
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Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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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.