News Category: Corporate & Business Law
Warning to Washington Corporations: Refusal to Engage and Assist Customers in a Valid Dispute May Prove Costly in Court
In February 2022, Washington’s Court of Appeals for Division III reached a decision awarding attorney’s fees and costs for prelitigation bad faith in a matter of first impression for Washington courts. In Dalton v. North Cascade Trustee Services and U.S. Bank, the appellate court reversed the superior court’s judgment in favor of a homeowner in
City of Seattle Verification of Vaccination Order Now in Effect
Yesterday, October 25, 2021, the City of Seattle’s new local Verification of Vaccination Order went into effect, requiring and empowering local officials to require all patrons and customers (aged 12 years and older) to provide verification that they are fully vaccinated at the following events and establishments: Outdoor recreational and entertainment events with 500 or
The Accidental Partnership: What to Know if You Have Unwittingly Formed a Business
One day you are sitting with your friend brainstorming different ideas for your new startup business and before you know it you have a name, marketing and social media accounts, and a lease for your store front. In the excitement of putting together a business, you never formalize (in writing) the structure of the business,
Tax Day is now May 17th, 2021 – The IRS extension: What it means to you.
The IRS announced Wednesday that the April 15th deadline for federal tax return filing and payments due for individuals, tax year 2020, will be automatically extended to May 17th, with formal guidance to practitioners to follow in the coming days. Individual taxpayers can also postpone federal income tax payments for the 2020 tax year due
Think Twice Before Reimbursing Your Employees
Under the recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”), as of January 1, 2018, employees are no longer able to deduct unreimbursed employee business expenses on their individual tax returns for tax years 2018- 2025. Previously, any qualified expenses that employees incurred while on the job could be deducted on their individual tax return subject
Sales Tax Developments
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
Favorable Tax Treatment Made Permanent (Qualified Small Business Stock)
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
Real Estate Excise Tax Developments
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
Taxation of Corporate Director Fees
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
More Than a Name: The Legal Reality of Hiring Independent Contractors
The Huffington Post recently ran the headline “Why We’re All Becoming Independent Contractors.”{http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/why-were-all-becoming-independent-contractors_b_6731760.html}. The article recounts that GM and Uber are valued at $60 billion and $40 billion respectively, but that GM has over 200,000 employees while Uber has a paltry 850 employees. Uber has a simple, but concerning, explanation for this discrepancy – Uber’s