Tax Legislation | TaxConnections

10 May 2024

Governor Newsome Team: California Voters Simply Do Not Have Capacity To Decide Complicated Matters Like Tax Hikes

Governor Newsome: California Voters Simply Do Not Have Capacity To Decide Complicated Matters Like Tax Hikes

‍This week Governor Gavin Newsom asked the California Supreme Court to block the California Taxpayer Protection Initiative from the November ballot. Newsom argued that “voters simply do not have the capacity” to decide on “complicated” matters like tax hikes. What do you think?

Read article: https://reformcalifornia.org/news/gavin-newsom-claims-voters-dont-have-capacity-to-decide-on-tax-hikes

Reform California recently announced a special initiative in 2024 to recruit, train, endorse, and support candidates for state and local offices who will be part of a statewide “Reform Caucus” of elected officials willing to fight aggressively to break the Super-Majority control in the state. Reform California Chairman Carl DeMaio himself is running for a State Assembly seat.

“California’s Super-Majority Democrats have ruined our state, and we need to unite behind the one best candidate in each target seat who can give voters an alternative — and that’s where the Reform California Voter Guide comes in,” says Carl DeMaio, Chairman of Reform California.

Reform California’s Voter Guide has packed a punch in previous elections — and has become the most downloaded endorsement guide in the entire state with almost half-a-million unique downloads during the 2022 election alone.

“Voters from all backgrounds know the problems are bad in California and they are hungry for change — and we’re excited that many are increasingly relying on this voter guide when they cast their ballots,” DeMaio says.

Reform California’s Voter Guide is distributed to target voters in a number of ways each election cycle — including by tens of thousands of the organization’s volunteers who canvass their neighborhoods and use their social media to virally promote it.

Reform California also convenes ballot harvesting events throughout the state — and provides its volunteers with a template for organizing their own ballot harvesting parties. The Reform California Voter Guide is distributed at what is called “Barbeque, Beer & Ballots” events. Contact Reform California to host your own B-B-Q Event: https://reformcalifornia.org/campaigns/stop-the-tax-hikes

Access the Reform California “Plain English” Voter Guide for your area:

Written by TaxConnections Admin | Posted in Tax Hikes Proposed • Tax Legislation

24 Jun 2022

Crypto Currency Legislation Pending In The 50 States

Introduction

With the crypto industry’s dramatic loss of market capitalization in recent weeks, some of the shimmer and gravitational attraction has shaken off digital assets. Consequently, some of the impetus behind legislative efforts related to digital assets and technology may have been lost this year. But digital assets and the blockchain technology on which they reside are likely to continue to interest investors and consumers and to play an important, albeit sometimes disruptive, role in modern economies.

Therefore, state legislatures remain likely to pass several crypto-related bills that vary widely in their subject matter and scope, including proposals that clarify existing regulation, create new regulatory frameworks, and dedicate state resources to support or study the impact and use of digital assets. This month the National Conference of State Legislatures surveyed legislation pending in each of the U.S. states and territories. See Heather Morton (June 6, 2022), Cryptocurrency 2022 Legislation, NCLS.ORG. This post synthesizes and summarizes the content of that publication, with a focus on identifying general trends in the subject matter of the pending bills.

Despite significant legislative interest in crypto, not all states have bills pending this year. The legislatures of Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas are at rest during this fiscal year, with no regular sessions scheduled. Others had no digital assets legislation introduced. At the time of the NCLS report, the following states and territories had not introduced digital assets legislation in 2022: Arkansas, Delaware, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, Maine, Maryland, Texas, Nevada, U.S. Virgin Islands, Wisconsin, and South Dakota.

New York, Hawaii, and Arizona are among the jurisdictions with the most bills pending related to crypto and digital assets. Filed bills in New York include one that would create a moratorium on cryptocurrency mining centers. Another would create new criminal offenses, including for token fraud, rug pulls, private key fraud, and fraudulent failure to disclose interests in virtual tokens. New York would also require certain disclosures in advertisements involving virtual tokens. California also has significant, substantive legislation pending.

Pending Legislative Proposals

Below is a list the subject matter addressed by the most common bills pending and the states in which they have been proposed. These proposals would:

(1) Allow or prohibit some or all political subdivisions or agencies to pay employees and others in virtual currency, to accept payment in virtual currency, or to use virtual currency as collateral in state financings.

Written by Micah Miller | Posted in Cryptocurrency • Tax Legislation

31 Mar 2017

Need To Register As A Lobbyist? A Must Read!

Moving on to a more serious question, are the actions you, your staff, or your client take subject to the Federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA), effective as of January 1, 2008 and revised as of January 31, 2017? This highly technical Act is a must read by all persons involved in contacting Members of Congress and/or their staff.

Written by Thomas Kerester | Posted in Tax Legislation

30 Mar 2017

Contacting Members of Congress – Dos And Do Nots

Members of Congress have many sources from which they can obtain critical information on the impact a proposed tax will have on taxpayers generally. But they value most the information they obtain from tax practitioners who deal with tax matters hourly and daily. So, take advantage of the opportunity to furnish the Members of Congress the vital and critical information they need and cannot obtain that information elsewhere. Please review the list of The Dos and The Do Nots.

Written by Thomas Kerester | Posted in Tax Legislation

21 Mar 2017

Approval Process Of International Tax Treaties By United States

Foreign countries across the world have intricate tax treaties with the United States, which include topics such as exchanging tax information with tax authorities. In order for these tax treaties to come to fruition, they must first pass through the Executive and Legislative Branches of the U.S. Government for approval.

Written by Thomas Kerester | Posted in Tax Legislation

14 Jul 2016

The Major Contenders For London’s Relocating European Financial Center

As I hear it, if the Netherlands were to substantively amend its ‘maximum 20% bonus of salary’ regulation, then the relocation decision for many EU facing funds would be an easy choice. But because of that regulation, it has created an opportunity for other cities to pitch to the institutions for the funds and trading business relocation.

Written by William Byrnes | Posted in Europe • Tax Law Changes • Tax Legislation • Tax Updates

11 Jul 2016

Changing Taxation-Based Citizenship Through Regulation, Not Law

This post is a continuation to my recent post: “The Internal Revenue Code does not explicitly define “citizen”, “citizenship” or require “citizenship-based taxation“.

Written by John Richardson | Posted in Citizenship • IRS • Tax Legislation

31 Mar 2016

2015 Tax Legislation Changes – Lots of Them!

In 2015, over 15 federal laws were enacted, making over 150 changes to the federal tax laws! Many of these bills did not have the word tax in their title because the main purpose was appropriations or trade or the Highway Trust Fund. The tax changes include many administrative changes such as on due Read More

Written by Annette Nellen | Posted in Tax Changes • Tax Legislation

04 Feb 2016

HOW TO DEVELOP A LEADING AND PRODUCTIVE TAX ORGANIZATION IN 2016

We are now almost half of the way through our 12 week special blog series. We hope you have enjoyed our work so far.

If you have missed out on each or any weeks blog so far, you can find them here: Read More

Written by Kat Jennings | Posted in IFA • Individual • International • Legislative • North America • Opportunities • State Tax • Tax Act • Tax Education • Tax Filing • Tax Jobs • Tax Legislation

28 Jan 2016

Colorado Tax Update & Top 10 Hacks To Streamline the Filing Process

My friends at the Colorado Department of Revenue Tax Division have been hard at work amending and repealing several different personal and corporate income tax regulations with a handful of notable mentions for non-residents and part year residents alike.

The updated guidance on determining credits for taxes paid to other states maybe worth a look. Of interest to me is that the year in which the income is actually earned by the taxpayer rather than the year it was paid is the reporting year. This is a sneaker that can be huge for certain folks and is why we “plan” for transitions in our life as best we can.

What is of concern to me and will be monitored to the best of my ability is that mere presence in Colorado directly or indirectly via a pass through entity impacts source income. Read More

Written by John Dundon | Posted in Income Tax • Tax Act • Tax Education • Tax Legislation

15 Jan 2016

Proposed IRS Regulations Oppose Court Decision

Continuing with my list of ten news items and activities from 2015 that I think have particular tax policy relevance. Today, for my fourth item is an odd and unfortunate way that the IRS is telling us they disagree with a 2013 court decision. In August 2015, the IRS issued proposed regulations under Section 199, Income attributable to domestic production activities – REG–136459–09 (8/27/15). This provision was added in 2004 and provides a “bonus” deduction for taxpayers engaged in domestic manufacturing which is broadly defined to include some construction, film production, and software development. It is a fairly complex provision that involves numerous definitions and allocations to identify the specified income that then generally produces a 9% deduction for the taxpayer.

The issue helps show the complexity that is involved when special rules exist. Special rules require precise definitions to know what qualifies and what does not. The particular issue I’m referring to what constitutes minor assembly (no 199 deduction) versus production (generates a 199 deduction).

Written by Annette Nellen | Posted in Tax Controversy • Tax Legislation • Tax Policy • Tax Tips

13 Jan 2016

Mistakes Religious Organizations Make When Filing a Tax Return

When it comes to the IRS and religious organizations, these organizations fall into two categories – churches and other religious organizations. Due to the First Amendment, the IRS is extremely reluctant to tread in the area of church organizations. This is not to say that churches have carte blanche to ignore the tax laws, but that the IRS grants them a great deal of leeway in regulating them. All religious organizations are subject to the law in regard to taxation. However, many operate as if the laws do not apply to them. Some of the most common mistakes made by religious organizations are the subject of this article.

At the outset, it should be noted that churches do not have to apply for 501(c)(3) status. They may choose to do so, and there are some very good reasons that they might wish to make such an application. All other religious organizations must apply for this status by completing and filing Form 1023 or Form 1023EZ. A church is automatically treated as though it has 501(c)(3) status.

Filing a return. Churches do not have to file a Form 990. However, some churches file these returns. This is unnecessary and may cause the IRS to take a closer look at the organization. If you don’t have to file, don’t file. Read More

Written by John Stancil | Posted in Clergy • IRS • Religion • Tax Legislation • Tax Policy