In a blog post earlier this week we highlighted a recent Oregon Supreme Court decision which held that taxi cab drivers are employees, not independent contractors, of the cab companies they work with. We suggested that this holding implicitly threatened the business models on which companies such as Uber, Lyft and similar enterprises in the emerging “sharing economy” have grown. A recent article in the ABA Journal concerning the recently announced settlement of a California … Read more
Nov 3, 2015
Mistaken Erosion in the Confidentiality of Taxpayer Information in Washington
INTRODUCTION
Small words can make big differences. For instance, when a court ignores an “or” and replaces it with an “of”, bad things can happen. A recent ruling by the Washington State Board of Tax Appeals (“the Board”) which guts Washington’s statutory provisions safeguarding the confidentiality of taxpayer returns and information shows why knowing the difference between “or” and “of” and demonstrating a basic level of reading proficiency should be required before anyone can interpret … Read more
Jan 15, 2015
ABLE Accounts: A New Savings Account for People with Disabilities
On December 19, 2014, President Obama signed into law the “Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014”, also known as the “ABLE Act of 2014”. This new law will allow states to establish an ABLE program, under which eligible people with disabilities can set up an ABLE account. These accounts will be modeled after Section 529 (college savings) accounts.
Who can have an ABLE account? Eligibility will be limited to … Read more
Dec 31, 2014
The Threat of a State Capital Gains Tax in Washington
As everyone knows, Washington has no state personal income tax while Oregon imposes a 9% personal income tax on all income earned in the state. Oregon makes no distinction between sources or kinds of personal income in applying its tax. The net effect of this difference can be dramatic. For instance, sale of a capital asset such as shares of corporate stock worth $10 million will result in a $900 thousand Oregon income tax obligation … Read more
Jan 21, 2014
Government and Cigarettes: The Partnership Continues
It’s ironic that at least some states are defending their records as protectors of large tobacco companies. That, of course, is because when they settled their claims against the major cigarette manufacturers those states promised to diligently protect those companies from competition in exchange for the billions of dollars the companies offered to pay to the states. It’s a partnership agreement which has accurately been described as “perverse.” The companies agree to pay the states … Read more
Sep 4, 2013
Same-Sex Marriages Recognized by the IRS
Same-sex couples legally married in states that recognize same-sex marriages will now be treated as married for federal tax purposes. In a recent IRS revenue ruling, the IRS now interprets the terms “spouse”, “husband and wife”, “husband”, and “wife” to include same-sex couples married in jurisdictions that legally recognize same-sex marriages. This is a 180 degree turn from prior interpretations of these terms in prior rulings. In fact the ruling is in direct response … Read more
Jan 4, 2013
Estate Planning and the Fiscal Cliff
Congress rang in the New Year by enacting legislation to save us all from the “fiscal cliff” the country was precariously dangling from – the “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012”. The most important impact the legislation has on estate and gift taxes is that it makes the system that was in place over the past couple of years permanent.
As far as estate and gift tax changes go, there weren’t many made … Read more
Jul 12, 2012
The Washington Supreme Court Stumbles Over Disclosure of B&O Tax Charges in Sales
A recent Washington Supreme Court case illustrates the extent to which the increasing convolutions of statutes and case law often lead to absurd results. In Peck v. AT&T Mobility, 174 Wn.2d 333 (2012) the Washington Supreme Court grappled with a question of statutory interpretation which only existed because of its own earlier misreading of a statue to mean more than the statute says. Rather than resort to a straightforward and reasonable interpretation of the statute … Read more
Dec 30, 2011
No Shark Fin Soup for You: Recent Changes to Oregon Laws
Possessors of shark fins, you now have one day (if you read this on December 30, 2011, to sell, trade or distribute any shark fins that you have in your possession. After December 31, 2011 you will no longer be able to sell, trade or distribute shark fins in Oregon without a license. California has enacted a similar law. After December 31, 2011, you also cannot possess shark fins in Oregon – unless you acquired … Read more
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