Insight, Analysis, and Perspective for Businesses and Individuals

Overview On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court decided South Dakota v. Wayfair. This pivotal sales tax case allows states to impose sales tax obligations on out-of-state businesses that have no physical presence in the state.  Previously, a business had to have some sort of physical presence in the state, such as an employee working […]

Notifying potential creditors, presenting claims, and rejecting or allowing creditors’ claims in an estate subject to probate may seem like second nature to some attorneys, but a surprising number of claims are litigated as a result of either a personal representative’s failure to properly notify creditors or a creditor’s failure to properly present a claim […]

Although Washington employers are generally not required to provide severance pay to a terminated employee (except if promised in an employee handbook or employment contract), many employers still offer severance as a gesture of good will. There are any several factors, however, that should be considered when deciding whether to sign a severance agreement. An […]

The Washington Law Against Discrimination makes it unlawful for an employer to “discharge, expel, or otherwise discriminate” against a job applicant or employee on the basis of that person’s protected characteristic such as race, age, or sex. Likewise, the WLAD also makes it unlawful for an employer to do the same because he or she […]

Current IRS rules that provide tax breaks on gains of sales of qualified small business stock (QSBS) have been made permanent. More specifically, a taxpayer may be able to exclude from personal income tax up to 100% of any gain realized on the sale or exchange of QSBS held for more than five years (subject […]

In a divorce, there are generally three types of payments that can be made between the divorcing parties. The first is considered an equalizing property transfer payment. For example, if, after the allocation of all real property, bank accounts, retirement accounts, and investment accounts, there is a disparate value between the parties, one party usually […]

Beginning on January 1, 2018, all employers in the State of Washington are required to provide paid sick leave to certain employees. This new law implements Initiative 1433, passed by Washington voters in 2016. While employers may be compliant in theory, the new law and regulations include a number of requirements and obligations that employers […]

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed into law by President Trump on December 22, 2017, is the most significant U.S. tax reform to be enacted in over thirty years. One of its many components is the near doubling of the federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer-tax exemption amount applicable to individuals. The Act raised […]

In today’s online world, more people are turning to the internet as a way to save money and find a do-it-yourself solution. You can watch YouTube videos explaining how to repair items around your house, do your own taxes through programs like TurboTax, and now there are online programs to walk you through the divorce […]

Several recently released cases from the Washington Department of Revenue Administrative Review and Hearings Division provide a good reminder about the reach of the department to collect real estate excise tax (REET) on the transfer of real property. In the first case (Det. No. 16-0350), the petitioner limited liability company transferred a controlling interest in […]

Heirs battling over seemingly “small” personal property items after a loved one has died is a heartbreaking yet familiar scenario in the probate world. While such disputes might seem petty to outsiders, the issue of who gets mom’s favorite purse, dad’s music collection, or even grandmother’s little blue ceramic bowl is often a deeply personal process that can […]

A Special Notice, dated May 24, 2017, from the Washington State Department of Revenue has provided further clarification regarding Business & Occupation (“B&O”) tax and corporate director fees earned within and without the state of Washington. The Notice makes it clear that all compensation received for services rendered as a corporate director may be subject to Washington […]