As you may be aware, the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”) is a new federal law that requires most U.S.-based companies, including corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies, to report information...more
On April 5, 2023, Commissioner Daniel I. Werfel issued the Internal Revenue Service Inflation Reduction Act Strategic Operating Plan (“Plan”). The Plan, which spans over 145 pages, is a roadmap to how the Service will deploy...more
It is a rainy day in the Pacific Northwest with chances of snow showers. For those taxpayers that reside in the state of Washington or own highly appreciated capital assets located in the state, their day just got a bit...more
3/27/2023
/ Capital Gains ,
Capital Gains Tax ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Income Taxes ,
Popular ,
State Constitutions ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Returns ,
WA Supreme Court ,
Washington
As I have discussed in prior blog posts (March 11, 2013, April 9, 2013 and December 9, 2013), worker classification has historically been a focus of attention of various government agencies as well as others. Misclassifying...more
By motion dated November 3, 2022, the Washington State Attorney General asked the Supreme Court of the State of Washington to allow the Washington Department of Revenue to implement and collect the capital gains tax struck...more
More than two decades ago, the Service announced its intention to consider simplifying the entity classification rules in Notice 95-14. It stated:
“The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are considering...more
11/10/2022
/ Business Entities ,
Check the Box Rules ,
Entity Classification ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Partnerships ,
S-Corporation ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
U.S. Treasury
On August 23, 2022, the Regular Division of the Oregon Tax Court issued its opinion in Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. v. Department of Revenue, State of Oregon. The court determined that the taxpayer in that case is subject to...more
The Taxpayer Advocate Service (“TAS”) is an independent body housed within the Internal Revenue Service (the “Service” or “IRS”). Its mission is to ensure taxpayers are treated fairly by the Service and that taxpayers know...more
More than 25 years ago, effective January 1, 1997, Treasury issued what have been called the “Check-the-Box” regulations (the “Regulations”). The Regulations ended decades of battles between taxpayers and the IRS over entity...more
6/17/2022
/ Banks ,
Business Entities ,
Check the Box Rules ,
Disregarded Entities ,
Employment Tax ,
Entity Classification ,
Excise Tax ,
Federal Taxes ,
Gift Tax ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning
Early in the pandemic, I reported on the widespread newly created remote workforces resulting from stay-at-home orders issued by the governors of most states. In many cases, neither the employer nor the workers were prepared...more
As I previously reported, the Washington state capital gains tax has had a turbulent ride, commencing with a rough ride through the legislative process where it almost hit disastrous terrain on at least six (6) occasions....more
4/13/2022
/ Ballot Measures ,
Capital Gains ,
Capital Gains Tax ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Income Taxes ,
Petition for Review ,
State Constitutions ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Legislation ,
Tax Rates ,
WA Supreme Court ,
Washington
As previously reported on May 7, June 17 and November 4 of last year, two lawsuits were filed in Douglas County Superior Court in Washington, seeking a declaration that the state’s new capital gains tax is unconstitutional....more
The Oregon Legislature, in House Bill 3373, created the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate within the Oregon Department of Revenue. The new law became effective on September 25, 2021. According to the Oregon Department of...more
Like last year, 2021 has been a difficult year. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be at the forefront of everyone’s existence. On top of that, the Delta variant and the most recently discovered Omicron variant have entered...more
On November 19, 2021, HR 5376, the 2,476-page bill, commonly known as the Build Back Better Act, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 220-213.
The House’s vote on HR 5376 was held after the...more
As previously reported on May 7 and June 17 of this year, Washington state lawmakers enacted a new capital gains tax, set to go into effect on January 1, 2022, but two lawsuits were initiated to declare the tax...more
Last fall, the IRS announced, with respect to pass-through entities (LLCs or other entities taxed as partnerships or S corporations), that, if state law allows or requires the entity itself to pay state and local taxes (which...more
11/3/2021
/ Business Taxes ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Local Taxes ,
Oregon ,
Partnerships ,
Pass-Through Entities ,
S-Corporation ,
SALT ,
State and Local Government ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Rates
...The federal tax laws are certainly about to change. With the need to raise revenue as a top priority for the Biden Administration, everyone is expecting dramatic changes to the Internal Revenue Code.
Tax legislation is...more
10/15/2021
/ Asset Valuations ,
Biden Administration ,
Business Losses ,
Business Taxes ,
Capital Gains ,
Capital Gains Tax ,
Carried Interest ,
Carried Interest Tax Rates ,
Contribution Limits ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Death Tax ,
Estate Planning ,
Estate Tax ,
Estate-Tax Exemption ,
Federal Taxes ,
Gift Tax ,
Gifts ,
High Net-Worth ,
Holding Periods ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Net Investment Income ,
Partnership Interests ,
Pending Legislation ,
Qualified Business Income ,
Qualified Small Business Stock ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Tax Legislation ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Trusts
On September 30, 2021, the Washington State Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the additional 1.2 percent business and occupation (B&O) tax imposed by the 2019 Substitute House Bill 2167 (“SHB 2167”) on “specified...more
10/7/2021
/ B&O Tax ,
Banking Sector ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Dormant Commerce Clause ,
Financial Institutions ,
Income Taxes ,
Out-of-State Companies ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Code ,
Tax Rates ,
WA Supreme Court
As many readers have noticed, I have been silent for the past few months. That is partly due to exhaustion from reporting on the flurry of tax events that have occurred since the COVID-19 pandemic commenced in 2020 and also...more
As I previously reported, on May 4, 2021, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5096 ("SB 5096") into law, creating the state's first capital gains tax. It is set to go into effect on January 1, 2022....more
6/18/2021
/ Capital Gains ,
Capital Gains Tax ,
Commerce Clause ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Excise Tax ,
Governor Inslee ,
Income Taxes ,
New Legislation ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
State Constitutions ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Litigation
For the second year in a row, the due date for the filing of income tax returns and the payment of taxes was extended. For most taxpayers, the extended deadline brought glee. For the tax return preparation community, however,...more
On May 4, 2021, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5096 ("SB 5096") into law, creating a capital gains tax regime in Washington. The bill has had a brief, but colorful journey so far. It appears that the...more
On April 25, 2021, the Washington State Legislature passed Senate Bill 5096 (SB 5096). The bill was immediately sent to Governor's Inslee's desk for signature. It brings a new tax regime to the state of Washington.
Before...more
Last week, we reported on Maryland’s new gross receipts tax on revenues derived from digital advertising services (the “Tax”), the first of its kind in the nation. Affected taxpayers and tax practitioners alike can breathe a...more