Many Seattle residents are not aware that the city has extensive regulations in place which relate to the cutting down of trees, even those located on private property within the City limits. There are two major sections in the Seattle Municipal Code…

The Washington Supreme Court recently issued a ruling relating to the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (commonly referred to as “MERS”). MERS was established in the 1990s by a group of various public and private entities in the home loan…

During a recent conversation, I was reminded of an area that routinely causes problems for small businesses in Washington - sales taxation of photography services. Especially in this area it is important for businesses to remember the old sales tax…

In Atlas Supply, Inc. v. Realm, Inc., Division One of the WA Court of Appeals answered the question: if a contract provides for an award of the “cost of collection, including reasonable attorney fee” does this include fees and costs incurred…

On July 24, 2012, a decision was rendered by the California Court of Appeal in a case involving a group of companies, including Gillette. The case provides that taxpayers may use the apportionment formula provided for in the Multistate Tax Compact (MTC)…

Digital information plays an important role in today’s world. We are inextricably tied to the internet and the online world- We socialize using online social media, we search for jobs using the internet, and we even control our finances using internet…

Seattle is set to become the third major city in the country, after San Francisco and Washington, D.C. to mandate paid leave for employees to care for themselves or family members when ill, or fall victim to domestic violence. The paid leave legislation…

A recent note from a colleague reminded me of the dangers taxpayers face when entering into state tax amnesty programs. In many cases, these programs are excellent and provide taxpayers with an opportunity to settle past liabilities at a reasonable cost…

For a number of months the Washington Department of Revenue has been working on guidance for governing the taxation of reimbursement of employee salaries under a common paymaster or common pay agent arrangement. The most recent draft version of an…

In a decision last week, Peck v. AT&T Mobility, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that a seller is prohibited from recouping its B&O taxes by collecting a surcharge in addition to its monthly service fee. The case involved cell phone services…

Recent amendments to the Washington State Consumer Loan Act (“CLA”) may have a big impact on lenders whose commercial loans are secured by a lien on the borrower’s primary residence. Under the newly amended CLA, a person in the business of making a loan…

On April 2, 2012, Division I of the Court of Appeals in Washington found against American Honda Motor Company (Honda) that the Seattle B&O tax was properly applied to imports delivered to Seattle customers. Despite having a rule that appeared to…

Recent changes to the Washington Limited Liability Act (“Act”) addressed the confusion introduced by the 2009 Supreme Court Ruling in Chadwick Farms Owners Ass’n v. FHC LLC, 166 Wash.2d 178, 207 P.3d 1251 (2009). In Chadwick Farms, the court held that…

Partnership, sole proprietorship, limited liability company, and corporation are the four most common forms of business entity people use when starting a small business in Washington State. Although there are more structures to choose from, these four…

A late reminder to anyone involved in the service business in the state of Washington. With the passage of the market-based service apportionment rules in 2010, Washington formalized its procedures for businesses required to apportion their revenues…

On September 29, 2011 the IRS issued Notice 2011-82 alerting executors of the estates of decedents dying after Dec. 31, 2010 to the requirement for filing a timely Form 706 (Estate Tax Return) to preserve a decedent spouse’s unused exclusion amount. A…

One of the most perplexing questions for many businesses is whether a worker is properly classifed as an employee or an indepndent contractor. Many businesses falsely believe that they have an option to treat workers as independent contrators or…

For those businesses engaged in multistate business activities, you might want to review a legal guide that I recently posted on Avvo. The title of the guide is “An Overview of Nexus for Businesses Engaging in Multistate Activities” and it…

On August 5, 2011, the IRS issued guidance to executors of estates for decedents who died in 2010. In Notice 2011-66, the IRS provides that executors of the estate of a decedent that died in 2010 may make an election on Form 8939 on or before November…

President Obama’s 2012 budget, while nowhere close to law, does indicate areas of estate tax planning that taxpayers should consider using before they are restricted. One of these techniques is grantor annuity trusts or GRATs. Obama would place…