Tax filers will soon receive settlement checks from Intuit Turbotax. Following reporting by ProPublica and subsequent action by all 50 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia, states are preparing to distribute checks to consumers that were misled into paying for TurboTax software. New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the investigation into the software company’s practices, said that mailings of checks will begin next week. Intuit’s settlement with states totals $141 million that will be directed to 4.4 million low-income customers. Payments will range from $29 to $85, depending on how many years a consumer used TurboTax.
The SCOTUS review of the ‘Chevron’ doctrine could impact major tax regulations. Writing in Tax Notes (paywall), attorney Jasper Cummings talks about the ramifications of an upcoming US Supreme Court case revisiting the precedent set under Chevron v. National Resource Defense Council, which outlines how much courts should defer to regulatory agency expertise in settling disputes. Overturning the Chevron doctrine could “undermine Treasury’s power to enforce the tax laws, most importantly in the international tax regulations and other overbroad regulations,” Cummings writes.
Pennsylvania’s Senate votes to reduce the Philadelphia commuter tax. The Republican-controlled chamber passed a measure that would scale back a law that allows Philadelphia to levy a commuter tax on suburban residents. The tax has been in effect since the Great Depression. Under the bill, Philadelphia would no longer be allowed to levy a wage tax on people who work from home, even if their employers are in the city. For those who perform some of their duties outside the city, Philadelphia would only be able to tax earnings proportionate to the amount of work performed in the city.
Maine lawmakers take another step toward repealing the state sales tax on diapers. A House panel advanced a measure that would exempt from sales tax all diapers, including adult diapers and diaper accessories such as covers and pins. To date, consumers in 22 states do not pay tax on diaper purchases.
Virtual TPC and UNC Tax Center event on May 16: “Raising Revenue from Corporations.” Join TPC and the University of North Carolina Tax Center for a discussion of the new minimum tax on reported financial income of large US corporations, the excise tax on stock buybacks, and the proposed global tax agreement. Keynote speaker Itai Grinberg, former deputy assistant secretary for multilateral negotiations at the US Treasury Department, will discuss the new global tax agreement for multinational corporations rubber-stamped by the European Union, Japan, and other jurisdictions. Two expert panels will assess the effects of proposals to use corporate financial income as a tax base and to impose an additional tax on corporate share repurchases. Learn more and register here.
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