Since 2017, California’s Department of Tax and Finance Administration (CDFTA), formerly the Board of Equalization, has been bombarding businesses that use Amazon’s FBA services for sales tax liabilities. Many Amazon sellers received an email in October 2018 reminding them that California has their company’s name, address, and EIN.  Sellers that were already registered and collecting…

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The cannabis industry laws are extremely volatile. This is mainly a result of cannabis being a new industry, with a trial and error type of lawmaking process. To date, marijuana is legal in one form or another in 33 states. This new area of law, coupled with county property appraisers’ broad authority, creates an unstable…

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Good Times USA LLC and its business partners have been accused of devising a scheme to avoid paying federal excise taxes (“FET”). The U.S. government gave a not so happy new year gift to Good Times and its partners on January 4, 2019, as it filed a Complaint in the U.S. Court of International Trade,…

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The United States Constitution’s 21st Amendment gives states the power to regulate the distribution of alcohol within its borders. However, as a check to the states power, the dormant commerce clause prevents states from discriminating against interstate commerce. In summary, this means that a state cannot impose harsher restrictions on an out of state business…

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Prior to the recent amendment, California taxed “tobacco products” which were defined as “all forms of cigars, smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff, and any . . . products made of, or containing at least 50 percent, tobacco.” This meant that certain products, such as blunt wraps, or cigar wraps, may not be subject to these…

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MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE IS CURRENTLY ONE OF THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS IN POLITICS. TO DATE, 33 STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HAVE LEGALIZED THE USE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA. EACH STATES MEDICAL MARIJUANA SYSTEM LOOKS DIFFERENT ON ALL LEVELS SPANNING FROM WHO CAN USE IT ALL THE WAY TO THE TAX TREATMENT OF THE DRUG. FOLLOWING TREND,…

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Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell inserted language from his Hemp Farming Act of 2018 into the Farm Bill to federally legalize the cultivation and sale of industrial hemp. Congress passed the legislation Dec. 12, effectively removing hemp from the list of controlled substances and allowing states to regulate its production, commerce and research…

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