Diann Smith
Subscribe to Diann Smith's PostsDiann Smith focuses her practice on state and local taxation and unclaimed property advocacy. Diann advises clients at any stage of an issue, including planning, compliance, controversy, financial statement issues and legislative activity. Her goal is to find the most effective method to achieve a client's objective regardless of when or how an issue arises. Diann emphasizes the importance of defining a client's objective - whether it is finality of a frequently audited issue, quick resolution of a stand-alone tax liability, or avoiding competitive disadvantages in the application of a tax. The defined objective then governs the choice of the path to a solution. Read Diann Smith's full bio.
D.C. Council Holds Hearing on New Tax to Fund Unprecedented Family Leave Benefits
By Diann Smith, Eric D. Carstens and Stephen P. Kranz on Dec 3, 2015
Posted In District of Columbia, Local Tax, Nationwide Importance, Tax Base
Yesterday, the D.C. Council Committee of the Whole held an advocates-only hearing on the Universal Paid Leave Act of 2015 (Act), which was introduced on October 6, 2015 by a majority of councilmembers. As introduced, this bill establishes a paid leave system for all District of Columbia (District) residents and all workers employed in the...
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Delaware Court Denies Most of Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Unclaimed Property Gift Card False Claims Action
By Diann Smith and Stephen P. Kranz on Dec 1, 2015
Posted In Audits, Delaware, False Claims Act, Nationwide Importance, Procedure, Unclaimed Property
Two years ago, a former employee of Card Fact, LLC (subsequently purchased by Card Compliant), a company providing gift card issuance and management services to retailers, filed a false claims action in Delaware alleging that his former company and its retailer clients concocted a scheme to avoid remitting unclaimed gift card funds to Delaware. Last...
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Tax Haven List Repealed by D.C. Council
By McDermott Will & Emery, Diann Smith, Eric D. Carstens and Stephen P. Kranz on Nov 3, 2015
Posted In District of Columbia, Income Tax
After being in effect for only a week, the Council of the District of Columbia (Council) unanimously enacted legislation today that will repeal the list of tax haven jurisdictions specifically enumerated in the D.C. Code. The legislation, titled the Fiscal Year 2016 Second Budget Support Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2015 (Act), was introduced on...
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Hut, Hut, Phlmph — Florida Judge Denies Dismissal of Tax on Delivery Charges Lawsuit
By McDermott Will & Emery, Diann Smith and Stephen P. Kranz on Sep 10, 2015
Posted In Florida, Sales Tax
In the latest development in the Florida litigation regarding the taxation of delivery charges, Judge Jack Tuter of the 17th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida determined that the complaint against Pizza Hut was sufficient to withstand a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Order, Lauren Minniti v. Pizza Hut of America, No....
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Post-DMA, Federal Court of Appeals Broadly Interprets Jurisdictional Limitations of Anti-Injunction Act
By Diann Smith, Eric D. Carstens and Stephen P. Kranz on Sep 3, 2015
Posted In Constitutional Issues, Interest and Penalties, Nationwide Importance, Procedure
Earlier this month, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held in Florida Bankers Ass’n v. U.S. Dep’t of the Treasury, No. 14-5036 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 14, 2015) that the Anti-Injunction Act (AIA, codified at 26 U.S.C. § 7421(a)) barred two state banking associations from challenging Treasury regulations that: (1) required banks to...
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Straight Outta Delaware: JLI Invest S.A. et al. v. Cook et al.
By Diann Smith, Eric D. Carstens and Stephen P. Kranz on Aug 25, 2015
Posted In Audits, Constitutional Issues, Delaware, Procedure, Unclaimed Property
As soon as we start to think that Delaware’s unclaimed property practices and administration couldn’t possibly get any more egregious, another lawsuit like JLI Invest S.A. et al. v. Cook et al., Case No. 11274 surfaces. The facts alleged in the complaint highlight the fundamental issue of just how much “protection” state unclaimed property laws provide...
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Uniform Law Commission Completes First Reading of the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act
By Diann Smith, Eric D. Carstens and Stephen P. Kranz on Jul 20, 2015
Posted In Audits, Nationwide Importance, Procedure, Unclaimed Property
On Tuesday, July 14, 2015, at their Annual Meeting the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) completed their first reading of the Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (RUUPA or the Act). While over half of the sections comprising the current draft of the Act were passed over due to strict time constraints imposed by the ULC President...
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Delaware Senate Passes Unclaimed Property Reform Bill
By Diann Smith, Eric D. Carstens and Stephen P. Kranz on Jun 23, 2015
Posted In Audits, Delaware, Interest and Penalties, Procedure, Unclaimed Property
On June 18, 2015, a bill (S.B. 141) was unanimously approved by the Delaware Senate that would place limits on the look-back period and permanently extend the Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (VDA) program. This represents the second bill this year that seeks to implement the recommended changes contained in the Unclaimed Property Task Force’s (Task Force)...
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Tax Amnesty Hits the Midwest (and Beyond)
By Diann Smith, Eric D. Carstens and Stephen P. Kranz on Jun 12, 2015
Posted In Arizona, Audits, Income Tax, Indiana, Interest and Penalties, Local Tax, Maryland, Missouri, Oklahoma, Property Tax, Sales Tax, South Carolina, Tax Base, Transaction Taxes
With many state legislatures wrapping up session within the past month or so, there has been a flurry of last-minute tax amnesty legislation passed. Nearly a half-dozen states have authorized upcoming tax amnesty periods. These tax amnesties include a waiver of interest and, in some circumstances, allow taxpayers currently under audit or with an appeal...
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Ohio Supreme Court Rules City of Cleveland’s Taxation of Nonresident NFL Players’ Compensation Out-Of-Proportion to Games Played at the Browns’ Stadium
By Diann Smith on May 27, 2015
Posted In Allocation/Apportionment, Income Tax, Local Tax, Ohio
On April 30, 2015, out-of-state professional football players earned victories against the City of Cleveland, Ohio. In a pair of cases decided by the Ohio Supreme Court, the court first struck the City’s method of allocating a nonresident professional athlete’s compensation as unconstitutional, and later that day ruled that the city tax cannot reach the...
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