Dickinson Law is pleased to announce that 19 of the firms’ attorneys have been selected for inclusion in the 2020 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America®.  Attorney F. Richard Lyford was also recognized by Best Lawyers® as the Litigation – Real Estate  “Lawyer of the Year” in Des Moines. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence and is the oldest and…

Many people view cryptocurrencies as a highly disruptive technology destined to change the economy as we know it. What they will disrupt, however, remains to be seen. In the meantime, at least a couple of federal regulators—SEC and IRS—do not see much of anything new about cryptocurrencies, and are working to apply existing statutes and regulations to cryptocurrencies. This blog has previously covered SEC decisions which clearly and consistently concluded existing exchange and securities…

After years of confusion about whether grain bins are subject to sales tax, this past legislative session the Iowa legislature clarified that grain bins are exempt from sales tax. In doing so, the Iowa legislature—likely unknowingly—increased the complexity of sales tax compliance for construction contractors. Although the new legislation achieves its ultimate goal of exempting from sales tax grain bins used by farmers and manufacturers, the Iowa legislature should have taken a different approach in…

The law regarding post-acquisition tax liability is thought, by most, to be well known: In a stock sale, taxes incurred by the acquired company remain with the company even after new ownership. In an asset sale, taxes incurred by the seller do not transfer to the asset buyer.  While this may be true for federal tax liabilities, it is not necessarily the case for state tax liabilities (I am sure it comes as a shock…

State tax practitioners and multistate businesses, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.  Rather, with respect to sales tax, we’re in the Wild West.  It is not news that states are imposing a whole host of new laws to try to capture sales tax from the digital economy.  One of the areas of sales tax expansion is states’ imposition of sales tax collection responsibility on “marketplace facilitators.”  Typically, marketplace facilitator laws require marketplace facilitators…

On December 14, 2018, the Iowa Supreme Court, in Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC v. Iowa Department of Revenue,  found that there is at least one additional category of taxable services—installation—to consider.  This ruling deviates from the position historically taken by many throughout the State of Iowa that if a service is not a taxable repair, it falls into the non-taxable category of new construction. The Iowa Supreme Court made it clear that taxable repair…

Dickinson Law attorneys Cody J. Edwards and David M. Repp, are pleased to be part of the 2018 Bloethe Tax School December 5-7 at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown.  Edwards and Repp will share their wide-ranging expertise on State and Local tax (SALT) matters in two different Tax School track seminars December 7. David’s seminar, Taxation of Settlements, Judgments and Terminations, will cover the tax nuances associated with these issues.  Cody’s Seminar, Sales and…