SCOTUS: Bank Secrecy Act penalty applies per FBAR, not per foreign account. Via Tax Notes (paywall), the US Supreme Court ruled yesterday in favor of the taxpayer in a 5-4 decision. In the case, a dual citizen of Romania and the US submitted five years’ worth of annual Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs) and later corrected information in those reports covering 272 accounts. He was fined $2.72 million for non-willful violations. His challenge succeeded and the Court agreed the Bank Secrecy Act authorizes a maximum penalty of $10,000 per report, not per account. 

Recreational marijuana sales deliver millions in tax revenue to Michigan communities.  Michigan communities that allow recreational marijuana sales will get a share of $59.5 million in tax revenue collected during fiscal year 2022, per data from the state’s Department of Treasury. Adult-use marijuana sales carry a 10 percent excise tax. Each of the 224 municipalities that have recreational marijuana dispensaries or microbusinesses within their borders will receive about $52,000 per dispensary or microbusiness. The Marijuana Regulation Fund is distributing $198.4 million in total. Nearly $70 million went to the School Aid Fund, and $69.4 million went to the Michigan Transportation Fund.

Californians have a few more months to file their taxes. The state’s residents and businesses will have until Oct. 16 to file federal taxes if they’ve been affected by the state’s recent inclement weather. The agency had earlier postponed the deadline to May 15 for 41 of California’s 58 counties designated as disaster areas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Will Vietnam increase its sin taxes? Its Ministry of Finance has proposed increasing its tax on items deemed harmful to health, including tobacco, beer, and alcoholic products. The goal is to limit imports, production, and consumption. Currently, Vietnam levies a tax on alcohol ranging from 35 percent to 65 percent and a 75 percent tax on cigarettes.

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