State & Local
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November 07, 2024
Mass. Tax Board Won't Hear Value Appeal After Late Payment
A Massachusetts couple's challenge to the valuation of their property cannot be heard by a state tax board because they paid an installment of their taxes late and incurred interest, the board said in an opinion released Thursday.
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November 06, 2024
Chicago Pol Urges Narrow Reading Of False Statement Law
The U.S. Supreme Court should narrowly interpret the federal statute barring people from using false statements to influence certain financial institutions because backing the government's broad reading could expose borrowers to criminal liability that was never intended, former Chicago alderman Patrick Daley Thompson argued Wednesday.
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November 06, 2024
Venue For Fla. County Suit Against Funder Getting New Look
A Florida appellate court ruled Wednesday that Palm Beach County can't use the "sword-wielder" exception to deny a funding agency's choice of court in a lawsuit over the authority to levy property taxes, saying the agency has proved it's a governmental entity entitled to a home venue privilege.
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November 06, 2024
Browns Won't Stop Ohio From Joining Stadium Dispute
The Cleveland Browns told an Ohio federal court that it has no problem with the state joining the City of Cleveland in facing down the NFL team's suit, which claims that a state law unconstitutionally impedes the team's plan to move to a new stadium.
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November 06, 2024
Finance Committee Helm Awaits Crapo After GOP Wins Senate
Idaho Republican Mike Crapo is expected to lead the Senate Finance Committee when Congress convenes next year, following President-elect Donald Trump's win Tuesday in the election that also handed Republicans control of the U.S. Senate for the first time since 2021.
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November 06, 2024
NJ Authorizes Sharing Property Tax Info To Calculate Credits
New Jersey authorized the sharing of taxpayers' unredacted property tax information to calculate tax credits as part of a property tax relief program under a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.
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November 06, 2024
What To Know About Ga.'s Vote To Create A State Tax Court
Law360 Pulse takes a close look at the new state tax court approved by Peach State voters in Tuesday's election.
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November 06, 2024
Minn. Justices Spare Drug Wholesaler From Tax On Rebates
A Minnesota drug wholesaler does not owe tax on money it rebated to customers under contractual agreements, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, upholding a tax court ruling.
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November 06, 2024
W.Va. Revenue Through Oct. Trails Forecast By $14M
West Virginia's general revenue collection from July through October unperformed an estimate by roughly $14 million, according to the state Budget Office.
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November 06, 2024
Nev. Sales Tax Revenue In Aug. Drops 1.7% From Last Year
Nevada's sales tax collection in August trailed last year's total for that month by 1.7%, the state Department of Taxation reported.
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November 06, 2024
SF Voters Agree To Overhaul City's Business Tax Regime
San Francisco voters agreed to a significant overhaul to the city's business tax regime, including a change in the way gross receipts taxes are levied on all businesses.
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November 07, 2024
CORRECTED: SF Tax On Ride-Hailing Cos. Passes, But To No Effect
San Francisco voters agreed Tuesday to levy an annual additional graduated tax on ride-hailing companies and companies that offer rides in driverless cars, but because of language added to a different ballot measure, the vote will have no legal effect.
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November 06, 2024
Wyo. Voters Approve Residential Property Classification
Wyoming will create a special property classification for residential real estate and a subclass for owner-occupied properties under a constitutional amendment approved by voters.
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November 05, 2024
Trump Has Official Immunity. What About His Aides?
Whether the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity extends to subordinates who follow a president's orders has become a more pressing question in the wake of Donald Trump's projected election win, according to legal experts.
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November 05, 2024
How Trump Can Quash His Criminal Cases
Donald Trump's projected victory at the polls also translates to a win in the courts, as the second-term president will have the power to end both of his federal criminal cases. And the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity would shield him from any consequences for ordering his charges to be dismissed, experts say.
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November 05, 2024
An Early Look At Trump's Supreme Court Shortlist
With former President Donald Trump projected to win the 2024 presidential election and the Republicans' success in securing the U.S. Senate majority, Trump may now get the chance to appoint two more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, cementing the court's conservative tilt for decades to come.
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November 05, 2024
GOP's Senate Win Hands Future Of The Judiciary To Trump
Republicans were projected to take back the White House and Senate and possibly the House early Wednesday, putting the GOP in position to back Donald Trump's agenda and his slate of young, conservative judicial nominees.
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November 05, 2024
The Firms With An Inside Track To A New Trump Admin
Law firms that have represented Donald Trump and the Republican Party on everything from personal legal woes to election-related lawsuits could see the risks of that work pay dividends as Trump is projected to secure a second term in office.
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November 05, 2024
Florida, Georgia, Others Peel Back Real Estate Taxes
Voters in seven states approved a spate of real estate tax ballot initiatives on Election Day, including measures that would curb property taxes for veterans, residential property owners and residents of municipalities that fail to enforce nuisance laws.
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November 05, 2024
Cannabis And Psychedelic Reform Bids Fail In Multiple States
Efforts to liberalize cannabis and psychedelic laws via ballot initiatives met with defeat in multiple states on Election Day, dealing a blow to reformers of drug policies.
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November 05, 2024
Oregon Voters Reject New Tax On Big Businesses
Oregon voters declined Tuesday to impose a new minimum tax on large businesses that could have raised $15 billion each biennium with most of the funding used to make annual payments to residents, rejecting Measure 118.
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November 05, 2024
North Dakota Voters Choose To Retain Property Taxation
North Dakota will continue to allow its political subdivisions to levy property tax after voters rejected a constitutional amendment Tuesday that would prohibit its imposition by a subdivision unless it had outstanding debt.
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November 05, 2024
South Dakota Voters Turn Down Grocery Tax Exemption
South Dakota voters rejected a ballot initiative Tuesday that would have exempted food sales from the state's sales tax.
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November 05, 2024
Nev. Voters Approve Sales Tax Exemption For Diapers
Nevada will exempt diaper sales from the state's sales and use tax under a measure approved by voters Tuesday.
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November 05, 2024
Calif. Managed Care Tax Made Permanent By Ballot Measure
California's tax on managed healthcare insurance plans to fund the state's Medi-Cal health program has been made permanent following voter approval of a proposition on Tuesday.
Expert Analysis
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Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity
The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
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Reading Between The Lines Of Justices' Moore Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Moore v. U.S. decision, that the Internal Revenue Code Section 965 did not violate the 16th Amendment, was narrowly tailored to minimally disrupt existing tax regimes, but the justices' various opinions leave the door open to future tax challenges and provide clues for what the battles may look like, say Caroline Ngo and Le Chen at McDermott.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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Another Crack In The Shield: SALT In Review
From the latest assault on a federal shield against taxing out-of-state businesses to an update on beer taxes, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.
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States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice
The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
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A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.
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Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.
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Less Power To The People: SALT In Review
Starting with a measure that won't appear on the California ballot in November, RSM's David Brunori offers his thoughts on noteworthy state and local tax news.