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Marketplace Fairness Act May Help Clear Muddy Tax Waters
With my mom probably one of only a handful of people who haven't made an Internet purchase, I think it is fair to say that we have all seen certain online retailers almost bragging that there is no sales tax on merchandise ordered from their e-store. As I write, I observe the following on a national electronics retailer's website: “No Sales Tax & Free Shipping on Qualifying Orders.” The first question this raises is whether the “qualifying order” language refers to the shipping, the sales tax or both. The second is: Can these e-tailers work this magic to make an otherwise taxable event, nontaxable. If the answer was yes, we would all be fighting for their talents to be applied to other areas of the tax law. In reality, they are simply muddying the waters, but clarity may be on the way in the unlikely form of federal legislation.
Understanding the Sales and Use Tax Picture
While, I can't answer the free shipping issue, as a tax professional I can confirm that many, including some who may be your clients, are being misled if they believe that Web purchases are tax free. Whether or not the e-tailer is obligated to collect the sales tax does not relieve the purchaser from owing his or her state's corresponding use tax. The notion that Internet purchases are “tax free” is one that practitioners have had to dissuade their clients of ever since the 1998 passage of the Internet Tax Freedom Act. While the Act played an important role in largely prohibiting the states from taxing Internet access, it in no way restricted a state's ability to require an e-tailer to collect sales tax under certain circumstances and correspondingly apply the use tax where no sales tax collection effort was made ' whether or not collection was required by the e-tailer.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Stranger to the Deed Rule
In 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.