On March 30, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (“TIGTA”) issued a report entitled “The Growth of the Marijuana Industry Warrants Increased Tax Compliance Efforts and Additional Guidance. We’ve reviewed the report and summarize it as follows:
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COVID-19 created a state of emergency in the United States and around the world. Compounding the medical emergency is the economic one as the company faces a possible economic contraction not seen since the Great Depression; whole populations are being directed not to travel, restaurants…
We recently discussed the impact of the Harborside opinion on cannabis tax planning, a tax court decision that disturbed, but didn’t really surprise, those of us who regularly work on the application of tax rules in the cannabis industry. The industry faces a secondary assault following the U.S. Tax Court’s opinion in Alternative Health Care…
The U.S. Tax Court’s recent Harborside opinion confirmed what we have warned our clients for quite some time: section 263A is unavailable for any cannabis business that traffics a Schedule I or II controlled substance. This conclusion is consistent with the IRS view espoused in a 2015 IRS Chief Counsel Advice memorandum and the flush…
Earlier this week the U.S. Tax Court issued its long-awaited opinion for the Harborside case, which addresses several issues that impact cannabis tax planning strategies. Those issues include:
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The federal tax reform law that passed in December 2017 included a new incentive, the qualified opportunity zone (QOZ) regime. The purpose of this tax incentive is to unlock and redirect trillions (yes, trillions) of capital gains into investments into new businesses, and substantial improvements to existing businesses, so long as those businesses are located…
We are proud to support Seattle University’s 6th Annual Northwest Marijuana Law Conference taking place on Friday, November 16. Josh Ashby and Sativa Rasmussen are the program’s Co-Chairs and will lead the conversation, bringing together experts from the law and the industry to provide critical focus and frameworks.
Ben Pirie will present on “Updates on…
Just in case you missed it, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) sent a memo to Democratic congressional leaders on Wednesday outlining a comprehensive plan to legalize marijuana in the United States as soon as 2019. You can read the full text here, and we couldn’t have said it better ourselves. It’s hard to overstate the…
A significant tax bill may await RICO plaintiffs involving cannabis lawsuits because in most cases the plaintiffs will be taxable not only on amounts recovered but also on the amounts spent on lawyers and court costs.
We recently discussed the latest in a series of Oregon RICO cases that generally involve property disputes. Plaintiffs and…
On June 13, the U.S. Tax Court issued Tax Court Memo 2018-83, Alterman and Gibson v. Comm’r. Based on the way this case is being reported in the trade press, one might think that this decision portends doom and gloom for taxpayers in the cannabis industry. Such fears are not justified for anyone…