Latest 6 Cases This Week: City & Cty. of Denver v. Expedia, Inc. (Colo.), Medical College of Wisconsin v. United States (7th Cir.), Musa v. Commis ...
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310-251-3959 CellWebSite: http://www.harriscompanyrec.com Resume: http://www.harriscompanyrec.com/rESUME2011.pdf Commercial Appraiser Blog: http://commercialappraiser.typepad.com/blog/ IT'S THE LAW-Designation Discrimination is Illegal [FIRREA, Sec. 564.6]: Professional Association Membership: "A State Certified General Appraiser may not be excluded from consideration for an assignment for a federally related transaction by virtue of membership or lack of membership in any particular appraisal organization," including the appraisal institute. http://www.ofi.state.la.us/re-otspart565.pdf CONFIDENTIALITY/PRIVILEGE NOTICE: This transmission and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee. The information contained in this transmission is confidential in nature and protected from further use or disclosure under U.S. Pub. L. 106-102, 113 U.S. Stat. 1338 (1999), and may be subject to consultant/appraiser-client or other legal privilege. Your use or disclosure of this information for any purpose other than that intended by its transmittal is strictly prohibited and may subject you to fines and/or penalties under federal and state law. If you are not the intended recipient of this transmission, please destroy all copies received and confirm destruction to the sender via return transmittal.
From: Tax Law - Justia Weekly Opinion Summaries [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tax Law - Justia Weekly Opinion Summaries
Sent: Friday, 28 April, 2017 7:04 AM
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Subject: Latest 6 Cases This Week: City & Cty. of Denver v. Expedia, Inc. (Colo.), Medical College of Wisconsin v. United States (7th Cir.), Musa v. Commis ...
Free Tax Law case summaries from Justia.
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April 28, 2017
Table of ContentsCity & Cty. of Denver v. Expedia, Inc.Business Law, Government & Administrative Law, Tax Law Colorado Supreme CourtMedical College of Wisconsin v. United StatesTax Law U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh CircuitMusa v. Commissioner of Internal RevenueTax Law U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit8x8, Inc. v. United StatesCommunications Law, Tax Law, Utilities Law U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal CircuitWash. Trucking Ass'ns v. Emp't Sec. Dep'tBusiness Law, Government & Administrative Law, Tax Law Washington Supreme CourtCounty of Douglas v. Nebraska Tax Equalization & Review CommissionGovernment & Administrative Law, Real Estate & Property Law, Tax Law Nebraska Supreme Court
New on VerdictLegal Analysis and CommentaryMr. No-Government President Discovers the Government MARCI A. HAMILTON Marci A. Hamilton, a Fox Distinguished Scholar in the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, describes how the separation of powers built into U.S. democracy is working as it should to prevent abuses of power by, at this time, the executive.Read More
Tax Law OpinionsCity & Cty. of Denver v. Expedia, Inc. Court: Colorado Supreme CourtCitation: 2017 CO 32 Opinion Date: April 24, 2017Judge: Coats Areas of Law: Business Law, Government & Administrative Law, Tax Law In July 2010, the City and County of Denver issued nine Notices of Final Determination, Assessment and Demand for Payment against various online travel companies: Expedia, Inc.; Hotels.com LP; Hotwire, Inc.; Orbitz, LLC; Trip Network, Inc.; Priceline.com Incorporated; Travelweb, LLC; Site59.com, LLC; and Travelocity.com LP. The Notices claimed unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest due according to the city lodger’s tax article, for the period from January 2001 through April 2010, totaling over $40 million. These online companies filed nearly identical protests, requesting hearings before a Denver Department of Finance hearing officer, and the protests were consolidated by stipulation. Denver petitioned for review of the court of appeals opinion reversing the judgment of the district court and remanding with directions to vacate the subject tax assessments against respondent online travel companies (“OTCs”). The district court had largely upheld the hearing officer’s denial of protests. Unlike the hearing officer and district court, the court of appeals concluded that the city lodger’s tax article was at least ambiguous with regard to both the purchase price paid or charged for lodging, upon which the tax is to be levied, and the status of the OTCs as vendors, upon which the ordinance imposes the responsibility to collect the tax and remit it to the city; and the intermediate appellate court considered itself obligated to resolve all ambiguities in the lodger’s tax article, being a tax statute, in favor of the OTCs. The Colorado Supreme Court found the “fair and reasonable interpretation” of Denver’s lodger’s tax article was that it imposed a duty on the OTCs to collect and remit the prescribed tax on the purchase price of any lodging they sell, to include not only the amount they have contracted with the hotel to charge and return but also the amount of their markup. The judgment of the court of appeals was therefore reversed, and the matter was remanded for consideration of the remaining issues raised on appeal by the parties.Read Opinion Are you a lawyer? Annotate this case.Medical College of Wisconsin v. United States Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh CircuitDocket: 16-3863 Opinion Date: April 25, 2017Judge: Frank Hoover Easterbrook Areas of Law: Tax Law Medical College of Wisconsin, a nonprofit corporation, received a refund of Social Security (FICA) taxes after the IRS ruled that medical residents were exempt from them until April 2005. The IRS added to the refund approximately $13 million in interest but later demanded $6.7 million back, claiming to have used too high a rate. Medical College returned the money and filed suit under 28 U.S.C. 1346(a)(1), asking to have the disputed sum restored. The district court and Seventh Circuit denied the request, rejecting Medical College’s argument that, under 26 U.S.C. 6621, a nonprofit is not the sort of corporation to which a lower rate in paragraph (a)(1)(B) refers.Read Opinion Are you a lawyer? Annotate this case.Musa v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh CircuitDocket: 16-1841 Opinion Date: April 26, 2017Judge: HAMILTON Areas of Law: Tax Law Musa owns and operates a restaurant in Milwaukee. The IRS determined that Musa made misrepresentations on his tax returns, including underreporting his federal income taxes by more than $500,000 for the years 2006-2010. The Tax Court upheld that determination, plus a civil fraud penalty of more than $380,000. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting, as “heavy on chutzpah but light on reasoning or any sense of basic fairness,” Musa’s argument that after his fraud was discovered, the Commissioner should have allowed him additional deductions on his individual tax returns based on amended employment tax returns in which Musa had corrected earlier false underreporting of wages. The court noted that he made those corrections after the statute of limitations had run on the Commissioner’s ability to collect the correct amounts of employment taxes that Musa’s amended returns admitted were due. The court also rejected Musa’s argument that the Tax Court erred by permitting the Commissioner to amend his answer to add the affirmative defense of the duty of consistency under tax law, and then erred by granting partial summary judgment to the Commissioner on that defense.Read Opinion Are you a lawyer? Annotate this case.8x8, Inc. v. United States Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal CircuitDocket: 16-1959 Opinion Date: April 27, 2017Judge: Wallach Areas of Law: Communications Law, Tax Law, Utilities Law 8x8 provides telephone services via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Customers use a digital terminal adapter, containing 8x8’s proprietary firmware and software. Customers’ calls are switched to traditional lines and circuits when necessary; 8x8 did not pay Federal Communications Excise Tax (FCET) to the traditional carriers, based on an “exemption certificate,” (I.R.C. 4253). Consistent with its subscription plan, 8x8 collected FCET from its customers and remitted FCET to the IRS. In 2005, courts held that section 4251 did not permit the IRS to tax telephone services that billed at a fixed per-minute, non-distance-sensitive rate. The IRS ceased collecting FCET on “amounts paid for time-only service,” stated that VoIP services were non-taxable, and established a process seeking a refund of FCET that had been exacted on nontaxable services, stating stated that a “collector” can request a refund if the collector either “establishes that it repaid the amount of the tax to the person from whom the tax was collected”; or “obtains the written consent of such person to the allowance of such credit or refund.” The IRS denied 8x8’s refund claim. The Claims Court concluded that 8x8 lacked standing and granted the government summary judgment. The Federal Circuit affirmed; 8x8 did not bear the economic burden of FCET, but sought to recover costs borne by its customers, contrary to the Code. The court rejected an argument that FCET was “treated as paid” during the transfer of services to traditional carriers.Read Opinion Are you a lawyer? Annotate this case.Wash. Trucking Ass'ns v. Emp't Sec. Dep't Court: Washington Supreme CourtDocket: 93079-1 Opinion Date: April 27, 2017Judge: Debra Stephens Areas of Law: Business Law, Government & Administrative Law, Tax Law The principal issue in this case was whether taxpayers could bring federal or state tort claims to challenge tax assessments, or instead must rely on the normal state tax appeals process. The taxpayers here are trucking companies that were assessed unemployment taxes after the Washington State Employment Security Department audited and reclassified their employment relationship with owner-operators who owned and leased out their own trucking equipment. The trucking companies, joined by their trade organization, Washington Trucking Associations, brought this suit asserting a civil rights claim under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and a state common law claim for tortious interference with business expectancies. The superior court dismissed the suit, holding that the trucking companies must challenge the tax assessments through the state tax appeals process. The Court of Appeals reversed in part, holding that the comity principle precluded the section 1983 claim only "to the extent that [Washington Trucking Associations] and the [trucking companies] seek damages based on the amounts of the assessments, but not to the extent that they seek damages independent of the assessment amounts." The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the superior court's dismissal of both the federal and state claims.Read Opinion Are you a lawyer? Annotate this case.County of Douglas v. Nebraska Tax Equalization & Review Commission Court: Nebraska Supreme CourtCitation: 296 Neb. 501 Opinion Date: April 27, 2017Judge: John F. Wright Areas of Law: Government & Administrative Law, Real Estate & Property Law, Tax Law At issue in this case was the adjustment of the valuation of three subclasses of residential real property in Douglas County. The Tax Equalization and Review Commission (TERC) issued an order to show cause why it should not increase the valuation of two properties by seven percent and decrease the valuation of a third property by eight percent. TERC voted to adjust the valuations. Douglas County filed a motion to reconsider, which the TERC commissioners overruled. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) TERC’s order to decrease the valuation of one property by eight percent was not supported by competent evidence and was arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable; (2) TERC’s order to increase the valuation of the other two properties was supported by competent evidence and was not arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable; and (3) TERC did not abuse its discretion by denying Douglas County’s motion to reconsider its order.Read Opinion Are you a lawyer? Annotate this case.
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Thanks!
Curtis D. Harris, BS, CGREA, REB
Associate Degree in Architecture, LACCBachelor of Science in Real Estate, CSULA
State Certified General Appraiser
Real Estate Broker
ASTM E-2018 Commercial Real Estate Inspector
HUD 203k Consultant
HUD/FHA Real Estate Appraiser/Reviewer
FannieMae REO ConsultantCTAC LEED-GREEN Certificate The Harris Company, Forensic Appraisers and Real Estate Consultants
*PIRS/Harris Company and the Science of Real Estate-Partners Since 1984*630 North Sepulveda Boulevard, Suite 9A
El Segundo, CA. 90245
310-337-1973 Office
310-251-3959 CellWebSite: http://www.harriscompanyrec.com Resume: http://www.harriscompanyrec.com/rESUME2011.pdf Commercial Appraiser Blog: http://commercialappraiser.typepad.com/blog/ IT'S THE LAW-Designation Discrimination is Illegal [FIRREA, Sec. 564.6]: Professional Association Membership: "A State Certified General Appraiser may not be excluded from consideration for an assignment for a federally related transaction by virtue of membership or lack of membership in any particular appraisal organization," including the appraisal institute. http://www.ofi.state.la.us/re-otspart565.pdf CONFIDENTIALITY/PRIVILEGE NOTICE: This transmission and any attachments are intended solely for the addressee. The information contained in this transmission is confidential in nature and protected from further use or disclosure under U.S. Pub. L. 106-102, 113 U.S. Stat. 1338 (1999), and may be subject to consultant/appraiser-client or other legal privilege. Your use or disclosure of this information for any purpose other than that intended by its transmittal is strictly prohibited and may subject you to fines and/or penalties under federal and state law. If you are not the intended recipient of this transmission, please destroy all copies received and confirm destruction to the sender via return transmittal.
From: Tax Law - Justia Weekly Opinion Summaries [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tax Law - Justia Weekly Opinion Summaries
Sent: Friday, 28 April, 2017 7:04 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Latest 6 Cases This Week: City & Cty. of Denver v. Expedia, Inc. (Colo.), Medical College of Wisconsin v. United States (7th Cir.), Musa v. Commis ...
Free Tax Law case summaries from Justia.
If you are unable to see this message, click here to view it in a web browser.Tax Law
April 28, 2017
Table of ContentsCity & Cty. of Denver v. Expedia, Inc.Business Law, Government & Administrative Law, Tax Law Colorado Supreme CourtMedical College of Wisconsin v. United StatesTax Law U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh CircuitMusa v. Commissioner of Internal RevenueTax Law U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit8x8, Inc. v. United StatesCommunications Law, Tax Law, Utilities Law U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal CircuitWash. Trucking Ass'ns v. Emp't Sec. Dep'tBusiness Law, Government & Administrative Law, Tax Law Washington Supreme CourtCounty of Douglas v. Nebraska Tax Equalization & Review CommissionGovernment & Administrative Law, Real Estate & Property Law, Tax Law Nebraska Supreme Court
New on VerdictLegal Analysis and CommentaryMr. No-Government President Discovers the Government MARCI A. HAMILTON Marci A. Hamilton, a Fox Distinguished Scholar in the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, describes how the separation of powers built into U.S. democracy is working as it should to prevent abuses of power by, at this time, the executive.Read More
Tax Law OpinionsCity & Cty. of Denver v. Expedia, Inc. Court: Colorado Supreme CourtCitation: 2017 CO 32 Opinion Date: April 24, 2017Judge: Coats Areas of Law: Business Law, Government & Administrative Law, Tax Law In July 2010, the City and County of Denver issued nine Notices of Final Determination, Assessment and Demand for Payment against various online travel companies: Expedia, Inc.; Hotels.com LP; Hotwire, Inc.; Orbitz, LLC; Trip Network, Inc.; Priceline.com Incorporated; Travelweb, LLC; Site59.com, LLC; and Travelocity.com LP. The Notices claimed unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest due according to the city lodger’s tax article, for the period from January 2001 through April 2010, totaling over $40 million. These online companies filed nearly identical protests, requesting hearings before a Denver Department of Finance hearing officer, and the protests were consolidated by stipulation. Denver petitioned for review of the court of appeals opinion reversing the judgment of the district court and remanding with directions to vacate the subject tax assessments against respondent online travel companies (“OTCs”). The district court had largely upheld the hearing officer’s denial of protests. Unlike the hearing officer and district court, the court of appeals concluded that the city lodger’s tax article was at least ambiguous with regard to both the purchase price paid or charged for lodging, upon which the tax is to be levied, and the status of the OTCs as vendors, upon which the ordinance imposes the responsibility to collect the tax and remit it to the city; and the intermediate appellate court considered itself obligated to resolve all ambiguities in the lodger’s tax article, being a tax statute, in favor of the OTCs. The Colorado Supreme Court found the “fair and reasonable interpretation” of Denver’s lodger’s tax article was that it imposed a duty on the OTCs to collect and remit the prescribed tax on the purchase price of any lodging they sell, to include not only the amount they have contracted with the hotel to charge and return but also the amount of their markup. The judgment of the court of appeals was therefore reversed, and the matter was remanded for consideration of the remaining issues raised on appeal by the parties.Read Opinion Are you a lawyer? Annotate this case.Medical College of Wisconsin v. United States Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh CircuitDocket: 16-3863 Opinion Date: April 25, 2017Judge: Frank Hoover Easterbrook Areas of Law: Tax Law Medical College of Wisconsin, a nonprofit corporation, received a refund of Social Security (FICA) taxes after the IRS ruled that medical residents were exempt from them until April 2005. The IRS added to the refund approximately $13 million in interest but later demanded $6.7 million back, claiming to have used too high a rate. Medical College returned the money and filed suit under 28 U.S.C. 1346(a)(1), asking to have the disputed sum restored. The district court and Seventh Circuit denied the request, rejecting Medical College’s argument that, under 26 U.S.C. 6621, a nonprofit is not the sort of corporation to which a lower rate in paragraph (a)(1)(B) refers.Read Opinion Are you a lawyer? Annotate this case.Musa v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh CircuitDocket: 16-1841 Opinion Date: April 26, 2017Judge: HAMILTON Areas of Law: Tax Law Musa owns and operates a restaurant in Milwaukee. The IRS determined that Musa made misrepresentations on his tax returns, including underreporting his federal income taxes by more than $500,000 for the years 2006-2010. The Tax Court upheld that determination, plus a civil fraud penalty of more than $380,000. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting, as “heavy on chutzpah but light on reasoning or any sense of basic fairness,” Musa’s argument that after his fraud was discovered, the Commissioner should have allowed him additional deductions on his individual tax returns based on amended employment tax returns in which Musa had corrected earlier false underreporting of wages. The court noted that he made those corrections after the statute of limitations had run on the Commissioner’s ability to collect the correct amounts of employment taxes that Musa’s amended returns admitted were due. The court also rejected Musa’s argument that the Tax Court erred by permitting the Commissioner to amend his answer to add the affirmative defense of the duty of consistency under tax law, and then erred by granting partial summary judgment to the Commissioner on that defense.Read Opinion Are you a lawyer? Annotate this case.8x8, Inc. v. United States Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal CircuitDocket: 16-1959 Opinion Date: April 27, 2017Judge: Wallach Areas of Law: Communications Law, Tax Law, Utilities Law 8x8 provides telephone services via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Customers use a digital terminal adapter, containing 8x8’s proprietary firmware and software. Customers’ calls are switched to traditional lines and circuits when necessary; 8x8 did not pay Federal Communications Excise Tax (FCET) to the traditional carriers, based on an “exemption certificate,” (I.R.C. 4253). Consistent with its subscription plan, 8x8 collected FCET from its customers and remitted FCET to the IRS. In 2005, courts held that section 4251 did not permit the IRS to tax telephone services that billed at a fixed per-minute, non-distance-sensitive rate. The IRS ceased collecting FCET on “amounts paid for time-only service,” stated that VoIP services were non-taxable, and established a process seeking a refund of FCET that had been exacted on nontaxable services, stating stated that a “collector” can request a refund if the collector either “establishes that it repaid the amount of the tax to the person from whom the tax was collected”; or “obtains the written consent of such person to the allowance of such credit or refund.” The IRS denied 8x8’s refund claim. The Claims Court concluded that 8x8 lacked standing and granted the government summary judgment. The Federal Circuit affirmed; 8x8 did not bear the economic burden of FCET, but sought to recover costs borne by its customers, contrary to the Code. The court rejected an argument that FCET was “treated as paid” during the transfer of services to traditional carriers.Read Opinion Are you a lawyer? Annotate this case.Wash. Trucking Ass'ns v. Emp't Sec. Dep't Court: Washington Supreme CourtDocket: 93079-1 Opinion Date: April 27, 2017Judge: Debra Stephens Areas of Law: Business Law, Government & Administrative Law, Tax Law The principal issue in this case was whether taxpayers could bring federal or state tort claims to challenge tax assessments, or instead must rely on the normal state tax appeals process. The taxpayers here are trucking companies that were assessed unemployment taxes after the Washington State Employment Security Department audited and reclassified their employment relationship with owner-operators who owned and leased out their own trucking equipment. The trucking companies, joined by their trade organization, Washington Trucking Associations, brought this suit asserting a civil rights claim under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and a state common law claim for tortious interference with business expectancies. The superior court dismissed the suit, holding that the trucking companies must challenge the tax assessments through the state tax appeals process. The Court of Appeals reversed in part, holding that the comity principle precluded the section 1983 claim only "to the extent that [Washington Trucking Associations] and the [trucking companies] seek damages based on the amounts of the assessments, but not to the extent that they seek damages independent of the assessment amounts." The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the superior court's dismissal of both the federal and state claims.Read Opinion Are you a lawyer? Annotate this case.County of Douglas v. Nebraska Tax Equalization & Review Commission Court: Nebraska Supreme CourtCitation: 296 Neb. 501 Opinion Date: April 27, 2017Judge: John F. Wright Areas of Law: Government & Administrative Law, Real Estate & Property Law, Tax Law At issue in this case was the adjustment of the valuation of three subclasses of residential real property in Douglas County. The Tax Equalization and Review Commission (TERC) issued an order to show cause why it should not increase the valuation of two properties by seven percent and decrease the valuation of a third property by eight percent. TERC voted to adjust the valuations. Douglas County filed a motion to reconsider, which the TERC commissioners overruled. The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding (1) TERC’s order to decrease the valuation of one property by eight percent was not supported by competent evidence and was arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable; (2) TERC’s order to increase the valuation of the other two properties was supported by competent evidence and was not arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable; and (3) TERC did not abuse its discretion by denying Douglas County’s motion to reconsider its order.Read Opinion Are you a lawyer? Annotate this case.
About Justia Opinion SummariesJustia Weekly Opinion Summaries is a free service, with 63 different newsletters, each covering a different practice area.Justia also provides 68 daily jurisdictional newsletters, covering every federal appellate court and the highest courts of all U.S. states.All daily and weekly Justia newsletters are free. Subscribe or modify your newsletter subscription preferences at daily.justia.com.You may freely redistribute this email in whole.About JustiaJustia is an online platform that provides the community with open access to the law, legal information, and lawyers.
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