Taxable Talk

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law a bill authorizing online gambling in New Jersey. I’ve seen tweets from friends saying things like, “Great! Christie legalizes online poker in New Jersey.” Well, that’s not exactly what happened. While I’d prefer not to throw some cold water on the party, I’m afraid I have to.

What was signed into law is a bill authorizing the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to authorize licensees to run games online. The NJCCC will authorize which games can be run online. While it is virtually certain that poker will be allowed online, the NJCCC still has to vote for it.

Further, licensees of the Commission will need to put together proposals for running the games online. They’ll need to demonstrate that they have the systems in place so that everything works smoothly; that the games are fair; that appropriate measures are in place to prevent cheating and underage gambling; etc. Nevada legalized intrastate online poker nearly a year ago; the first real money virtual poker in Nevada has yet to take place. I suspect it will take at least twelve months in Nevada (fifteen is my guess). It may take slightly less time in New Jersey (companies with Nevada licenses will have more of the processes in place), but it’s a good bet that the first game of New Jersey virtual poker will occur in 2014, not 2013.

I’ve heard some say that New Jersey will be able to partner with sites that are in Europe, so that residents of the Garden State will be able to play poker against Europeans. That’s not going to happen–at least, for now. The US Constitution gives the federal government the sole right to make treaties with foreign countries. That’s in Article I, Section 8, Clause 3:

[The Congress shall have Power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes….

New Jersey can’t make a treaty with, say, Italy. That’s not happening.

It’s even debatable whether interstate poker would be legal. Must their be legislation before, say, Nevada and New Jersey can enter an interstate compact for online gambling? Congress has specifically allowed multi-state lottery compacts (such as Powerball). Must Congress specifically authorize the same kinds of compacts for online poker? It is clear that if Congress authorized such compacts they would be legal; without such legislation, it becomes a question of law.

I don’t know the answer to this question. I’ve heard both yes and no from people well versed in this area of law. It’s the kind of case that could be fought in the courts for years. Interestingly, the states where all gambling is required to be run by lottery commissions (such as West Virginia) could make online poker compacts with other such states; those have a higher likelihood of being legal.

Today’s signing of online gambling legislation is welcome news for American online poker players. It is, however, just one step among many that must be made before legal online gambling is available for all Americans (or even residents of New Jersey).

Living in Las Vegas gives me, at times, a very jaded perspective on life. I see individuals who otherwise pinch pennies spend $100 on bottle service at a club (or $4.95 for a thimble-sized amount of alcohol). You can still find $4.95 meal specials in the late night/early morning hours at many casinos in town. The latter, if you’re hungry, is a far better use of $4.95 than the former.

Another use of $4.95 is to purchase Robert Flach’s My Best Tax Advice. The 27 pages of tax advice within the ebook (a pdf document) are full of good, common-sense advice. While I don’t agree with everything Robert has written, any individual who follows Robert’s advice will be far, far better off than those who don’t. I especially like his comments about notices from the IRS; as Robert states, “Do not ignore an IRS or state tax notice. The problem will not just go away.” I used basically the same line in my book.

In any case, for less than five dollars you can get some common-sense advice that if followed would help most taxpayers. You can order the book through Robert’s website.

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance announced that they have extended all tax deadlines falling from October 26 to November 14 to November 14th because of Hurricane Sandy. I expect similar actions to be taken by the IRS, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other impacted areas.

The New York extension directly effects MCTMT tax returns on extension that would be due on October 31st; those are now due on November 14th. Also, third quarter MCTMT estimated payments for 2012 are now due on November 14th. This will likely also impact payroll tax filings.

The Tax Foundation released its 2013 State Business Tax Climate Index today. Last year, I was a California resident; in the 2012 Index, California ranked 48th out of 50 states. I now reside in Nevada, which ranks 3rd out of the 50 states. In this case, 3rd is third best. Here are the top ten:

1. Wyoming
2. South Dakota
3. Nevada
4. Alaska
5. Florida
6. Washington
7. New Hampshire
8. Montana
9. Texas
10. Utah

And the bottom ten:
41. Maryland
42. Iowa
43. Wisconsin
44. North Carolina
45. Minnesota
46. Rhode Island
47. Vermont
48. California
49. New Jersey
50. New York

This just a listing based on taxes. If we added in regulations, California might even fall to 49. (Based on what I know of New York, it would be difficult for the Bronze Golden State to hit bottom.) States showing the best improvement were Michigan (which went from 18 to 12) and Maine (from 37 to 30). Michigan is especially notable because its corporate ranking went from 49th to 7th!

Taxes and regulations matter. On Monday, the Tax Foundation released a map showing annual income lost and gained due to interstate migration in 2009:

Shock of shocks, New York and New Jersey are in the top ten of loss of income back in 2009. Michigan was worst off (remember, Michigan’s tax system was horrible); Montana was best followed by South Carolina. Low tax states generally did quite well, with Florida #3, Wyoming #4, and Arizona #5.

Returning to the state business tax climate, taxes matter. Kudos to the Tax Foundation for their vital work. As the Tax Foundation stated in their report,

Taxes matter to business. Business taxes affect business decisions, job creation and retention, plant location, competitiveness, the transparency of the tax system, and the long-term health of a state’s economy. Most importantly, taxes diminish profits…

States do not enact tax changes (increases or cuts) in a vacuum. Every tax law will in some way change a state’s competitive position relative
to its immediate neighbors, its geographic region, and even globally…Entrepreneurial states can take advantage of the tax increases of their neighbors to lure businesses out of high-tax states

Lee Gottesman is a bankruptcy attorney in Toms River, New Jersey. He is also facing a heap load of tax troubles for some of the usual reasons.

According to the Department of Justice, Mr. Gottesman allegedly created a sub account within his attorney trust account after he had a tax lien filed against him in 2002. That account was for his wife…but his wife supposedly wasn’t a client. Then he allegedly ran all his expenses — both personal and business — through that sub-account. Adding to his troubles, from 2006 through 2009 Mr. Gottesman supposedly didn’t file tax returns…while allegedly earning more than $400,000. According to the indictment, Mr. Gottesman had a CPA prepare tax returns; he just couldn’t be bothered to file them. That’s tax evasion. The indictment noted that Gottesman, “…created and began to use the Sub Account to deposit business income and to pay personal expenses after the 2002 Tax Lien due to his belief that the IRS could not levy the Gottesman [Attorney Trust Account].”

But the reason he likely got into trouble is something that I’ve mentioned over and over again: Withholding payroll taxes but not remitting them. If you do this, you will be investigated. The indictment states, “He [Gottesman] knew that he was required to pay payroll taxes to the IRS, but that he had not.” Given that he allegedly collected (withheld) taxes on his employees but didn’t remit them, that’s a huge mistake. That’s another 15 counts to go with the four counts of tax evasion.

I look at the press release and the indictment and have to wonder. An attorney knows (or should know) the rules regarding taxes. He apparently had good advice from a CPA. He practices in bankruptcy, so he knows that there are alternatives to simply not filing and paying taxes. Yet Mr. Gottesman allegedly committed numerous felonies–and apparently admitted doing so to investigators.

Yet another survey puts California among the worst three states from a tax perspective. Alvarez & Marsal Taxand, a consulting and tax advisory firm, surveyed 800 financial executives (302 responded). Among the questions asked was Which states do you view as most competitive from a tax perspective? The usual suspects finished on the bottom: California, New York, and New Jersey. As Alvarez & Marsal Taxand noted, “…the states generally viewed as having complex tax systems and high tax rates are the three states listed (by a wide margin) as the least competitive states.” Alvaraz & Marsal Taxand Managing Director Don Roverto told the the Orange County Register, “The feedback from clients who do business in California is that it has one of the highest combinations of high rates and complex systems and that’s why it’s at the bottom.”

It’s also not a surprise which states finished at the top: Texas, Florida, and Nevada. These states all feature a tax exclusion or non-income tax based system.

Perhaps California will consider tax simplification, lowering rates, and making businesses feel wanted. Of course not–the Bronze Golden State will have one or two tax hike proposals on the November ballot.

Over the years, I’ve referred to New Jersey as the swamplands. Their politics, corruption, and tax policies left a lot to be desired. But something unusual happened in 2010: Chris Christie, a Republican, was elected governor in the historically Democratic state. This past week Governor Christie decided he’d like to improve on the Tax Foundation’s ranking of New Jersey as the worst state in the country for taxes; he proposed a 10% across-the-board cut to the state’s income tax.

I do need to point out that even with a 10% cut New Jersey’s top income tax rate would be 8%. That’s quite high, but in comparison to the nearly 13% a New York City resident would pay it’s not that bad.

I have no idea if Governor Christie will be successful or not but the Wall Street Journal noted that his proposal has caused Democrats to propose lowering other taxes. Meanwhile, Governor Jerry Brown of California proposes higher taxes. If both Governors are succesful I suspect that next year California and New Jersey will swap places on the Tax Foundation’s rankings so that the Bronze Golden State will truly be tarnished.

The Tax Foundation released their 2012 State Business Tax Climate Index today. And it was no surprise to see the bottom three composed of California, New York and New Jersey. These states have high taxes overall (California adds high regulatory costs, too; however, the business climate index ignores this). Meanwhile, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nevada are the top three states. No surprise: These states don’t have high taxes (they don’t have personal or corporate income taxes at all).

Here are the top ten:
1. Wyoming
2. South Dakota
3. Nevada
4. Alaska
5. Florida
6. New Hampshire
7. Washington
8. Montana
9. Texas
10. Utah

And the bottom 10:
41. Iowa
42. Maryland
43. Wisconsin
44. North Carolina
45. Minnesota
46. Rhode Island
47. Vermont
48. California
49. New York
50. New Jersey

For those who wonder if business pay attention to taxes, I can speak from experience: They do.

If you are a resident of New Jersey, New York City/Westchester County/Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode Island, or Massachusetts, you need to drop what you’re doing and get prepared for Hurricane Irene. Now.

Maybe we’ll get lucky and Hurricane Irene will veer out to sea. However, the current forecast track map puts Irene directly over the New York metropolitan area on Sunday. Unfortunately, there is no reason to think that Irene will veer away; the recent forecast maps have moved Irene toward the west rather than the east.

Hurricanes don’t strike New York City often, and I suspect residents of the Big Apple think this might be just another storm. The effects, though, of a direct hurricane strike might be truly horrifying: Flooding the subway system for weeks to months, devastation along the Long Island shore, flooding in lower Manhattan, millions without power, etc.

If you reside in a low-lying flood-prone area in the Northeast threatened by Irene, consider taking action today. The moment that government authorities announce possible evacuations, people will panic. Buy your supplies now. The National Hurricane Center has links to preparedness guides.

Again, I am hopeful I’ll be looked at in a week as a fear-monger. I just remember the last time I saw such a map, and the disaster that occurred (Katrina). I also remember a saying from my mother: Better safe than sorry.

Edit:
Some Resources:
National Hurricane Center (Irene Home Page)
Dr. Jeff Masters’ Blog
Ryan Maue’s Twitter Feed
Brendan Loy’s Blog

And, most importantly, your local office of emergency preparedness.

Hopefully, my writing this post is much ado about nothing. I just don’t like what I’m seeing on the maps.

Football season is over, but the New York Giants are still in a fight. The Giants faced off against East Rutherford, New Jersey in state tax court last week.

The battle is over whether or not the Giants should pay property tax on their practice facility, the Timex Performance Center. According to this story on NorthJersey.com, the issue resolves around the legislation that created the Meadowlands 40 years ago.

Back then, the suspension of property taxes attracted the New York Giants (who used to play at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York) to cross the Hudson River and play in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Now the question is whether or not the law absolves the Giants from paying property tax on ancillary facilities. The news story also notes that it’s possible the Giants could, if the Court rules against them, be forced to pay property taxes on their $1.6 billion replacement to the original Giants Stadium.

In any event, states and localities use taxes to attract businesses. This usually leads to predictable shenanigans, such as the Iowa film credit fiasco. Of course, some states do this in reverse, raising their taxes so that business figure out that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

As for the Giants, a loss in state tax court would likely be a loss for their fans as that additional cost would undoubtedly be passed on to their customers in the form of higher ticket prices.