William P Cook

Tax Alerts

Tax Briefing(s)

Congress Approves Sweeping Tax Overhaul Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2017 Year-End Tax Planning

2018 Inflation-Adjusted Amounts Modified
The IRS has modified certain previously released inflation-adjusted amounts. Generally, these new inflation-adjusted figures apply to tax years beginning in 2018 or transactions or events occurring in...

Virtual Currency Transactions: They Are Reportable
The IRS has reminded taxpayers that income from virtual currency transactions is reportable on their returns and that these transactions are taxable just like those involving any other property.Virtua...

New Carried Interest Holding Period to Apply to S Corps
The IRS plans to issue regulations clarifying the new three-year holding period for certain carried interests. The new regulations will provide that partnership interests held by S corporations are su...

Proposed Regs Would Expand ACA-Exempt Short-Term Insurance
In response to President Trump’s Executive Order 13813, the Departments Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury (the Departments) are proposing regulations to expand the availability o...

IRS Ending Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program
The IRS has announced it will begin to shut down the 2014 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP). The program will close on September 28, 2018. Therefore, U.S. taxpayers with undisclosed foreign...

OPR Highlights Important Process Change
The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) on March 6 issued an alert highlighting an important process change. The OPR has modified its investigation procedures to give practitioners an oppo...

New Withholding Calculator, W-4 Released
The IRS has released a new withholding calculator, as well as a new version of Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate. The new withholding calculator will let employees check tha...

AK - Repeal of alternative capital gains tax proposed
Legislation reported favorably from the Alaska House Committee on Resources proposes to repeal:the 4.5% alternative tax on a corporate income taxpayer's capital gains;the corporate income tax credit f...

AR - Transfer of investArk credits to successor entity approved
The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration approved the transfer of a taxpayer’s InvestArk gross receipts and use tax credits to its successor entity pursuant to a merger of two lumbe...

CA - Distributors’ first quarter 2018 cannabis tax return is due
California advises cannabis distributors that the cannabis tax return and payment for the period January 1, 2018, through March 31, 2018, is due by April 30, 2018. Electronic cannabis returns are now ...

CO - Personal income tax payment options discussed
The Colorado Department of Revenue has issued a press release explaining the various personal income tax payment options available for taxpayers. The due date for filing returns is April 17, 2018. Tax...

DE - Taxpayers alerted to new refund scam
// // The Delaware Division of Revenue (division) issued a press release alerting personal and corporate income taxpayers to a new scam involving fraudulent tax refunds being deposited into genuine ta...

FL - Department amends regulations
Florida has amended a number of sales and use tax and administrative rules.Repossessed Merchandise and Bad DebtsSales and use tax Rule 12A-1.012, regarding repossessed merchandise and bad debts, is am...

GA - Constitutional amendment on forest land conservation use property proposed
The Georgia Legislature adopted a resolution proposing to amend the state constitution concerning forest land conservation use property's ad valorem tax classification. Under the proposed amendment, t...

HI - Taxpayers reminded to file personal income tax and general excise tax returns
The Hawaii Department of Taxation has issued a press release reminding taxpayers to file their personal income tax return or general excise tax return (sales and use tax) if the taxpayer did business ...

IL - Appeal dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
An Illinois not-for-profit licensed life care facility's (taxpayer's) appeal from the circuit court's denial of a property tax general homestead exemption was dismissed because of lack of jurisdiction...

IN - Purchase of shotgun shells not exempt
A stone and aggregate manufacturer's (taxpayer's) purchase of shotgun shells was not exempt from Indiana sales and use tax because the shells were not an integral part of the manufacturing process. Ge...

IA - Federal conformity bill introduced, decouples from bonus depreciation
A bill introduced in the Iowa Senate would adopt the IRC in effect on January 1, 2018 for the:franchise tax;corporate income tax; andpersonal income tax.The current IRC conformity date is January 1, 2...

LA - Denial of refund claim upheld
A metal supplier's claim for a refund of Louisiana sales taxes paid on its commercial purchase of welding gases was dismissed because recent legislation (Act 9 of 2008) that excluded only commercial p...

ME - Credit for investment in shipbuilding enacted
Maine enacted a nonrefundable credit for major investments and the preservation of jobs in the shipbuilding industry. The credit is available beginning with the 2020 tax year. However, the credit may ...

MD - Taxpayers alerted to phone scam
The Maryland Department of Revenue has issued a news release alerting personal income taxpayers to a phone scam in which scammers call taxpayers to warn that they owe taxes and will face arrest if the...

MS - Local hotel and restaurant taxes authorized, amended, and extended
Several bills have been enacted that authorize certain Mississippi cities to impose local taxes on sales by hotels, motels, and restaurants or that extend the repeal date of existing local taxes.Grena...

MO - Rate table issued for upcoming show-me green tax holiday
The Missouri Department of Revenue has issued rate tables for the Show-Me Green Sales Tax Holiday set for April 19 through April 25, 2018.The rate table can be found at http://dor.mo.gov/pdf/rate...

NE - Taxability of interest and dividend income from state, local, and U.S. government obligations discussed
The Nebraska Department of Revenue has updated a personal income tax information guide on the addition and subtraction adjustments to federal adjusted gross income (AGI) for interest and dividend inco...

NV - Additional credit amount authorized for scholarship organization donations
Recently enacted Nevada legislation authorizes the Department of Taxation to allow additional credit amounts to be claimed against the modified business tax and the financial institution modified busi...

NH - Internet sales tax fight announced
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and Attorney General Gordon MacDonald have announced that New Hampshire is joining the fight against internet sales tax. The state will argue to the U.S. Supreme Co...

NM - Taxpayer entitled to high-wage jobs tax credits for certain employees
A corporate income taxpayer was entitled to claim the New Mexico high-wage jobs tax credits with respect to certain employees based on their residential status and promotion. In this matter, the Taxat...

NY - Summary judgment denied due to existence of issues of material fact
A New York administrative law judge’s (ALJ’s) decision granting summary determination in favor of the Division of Taxation in a case concerning a taxpayer’s claim for a refund of sal...

NC - Form E-589CI, affidavit of capital improvement, is updated
North Carolina has updated Form E-589CI, Affidavit of Capital Improvement, for sales and use tax purposes. The form is updated to reflect legislative changes enacted by the 2017 Session of the General...

OK - Cap on itemized deductions enacted
For tax years beginning after 2017, the amount of itemized deductions permitted on an Oklahoma personal income tax return is capped at $17,000.The following items are not subject to the cap:charitable...

OR - Charitable contributions deduction denied for lack of sufficient documentation
For Oregon personal income tax purposes, taxpayers' claim for charitable contributions deduction was denied for lack of sufficient documentation. Generally, no deduction may be taken for cash or nonca...

PA - Reimbursement for repairs denied for lack of sufficient evidence
For Pennsylvania property tax purposes, a trial court’s decision that denied the tax sale purchaser’s request for reimbursement of necessary repair costs that it paid during its possession...

SC - Refund request granted due to retroactive application of amendment
The South Carolina Administrative Law Court’s (ALC’s) affirmation of the Department of Revenue’s denial of taxpayers’ (property owner and lessee’s) request for a refund o...

TN - Proposed exemption for wooden barrels used to manufacture whiskey is not constitutional
Proposed legislation that would, if enacted, add a Tennessee property tax exemption for wooden barrels used in the process of manufacturing whiskey is not constitutional. Under article II, section 30,...

TX - Internet-based subscription services taxable as both cable television and amusement services
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts has issued a private letter ruling stating that a taxpayer's internet-based subscription services were subject to sales and use tax as cable television service...

UT - Solar energy system credits extended, phased out
The Utah tax credits for installations of residential energy systems that generate electricity from sunlight (photovoltaic systems) are extended through 2023. Previously, the personal income tax credi...

VA - Virginia court reaches similar conclusion in “subject to tax” exception rehearing
In a revised opinion, the Virginia Supreme Court confirmed that the "subject to tax" exception to the state's intangible addback provision applies only to the extent that royalty payments ar...

WY - Demurrage and labor charges discussed
Demurrage charges and labor charges are discussed in a Wyoming Department of Revenue sales tax newsletter.Demurrage chargesDemurrage charges are not treated the same as the rental of gas cylinders or ...