Author: mskllp

Since 1908, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP (MSK) has proven its ability to understand the complex, demystify the mysterious, and define the unknown. With more than 130 lawyers and offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Washington D.C., MSK is often distinguished as a “go-to” firm by industry and legal insiders, and has extensive experience in a variety of practice areas, including Entertainment & IP Litigation, Labor & Employment, Entertainment Transactions, Immigration, Corporate Securities, Regulatory, Tax, Trusts & Estates, Real Estate and International Trade. Relentlessly innovative, our lawyers have developed groundbreaking legislation, established influential precedents, and shaped the legal landscape. For more information, visit www.msk.com.
Tax

Tax Act Enhances Deductibility of Disaster Relief Donations for a Limited Time Only

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Photo Credit: istock.com/alfexe

Written by David Wheeler Newman

Tax legislation that was included in the massive spending bill signed by the President included provisions affecting the charitable sector.  We previously reported on one provision that will be welcomed across the sector.  Another provision will be good news for donors making charitable contributions for disaster relief.

The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Relief Tax Act signed into law on December 20 includes various tax provisions intended to mitigate a portion of the enormous financial cost of recent hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires, earthquakes and other natural disasters.  Included was an enhanced tax benefit for donors making charitable contributions to organizations providing disaster relief.

Continue reading “Tax Act Enhances Deductibility of Disaster Relief Donations for a Limited Time Only”

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Tax

Hasta la Vista to the Reviled Nonprofit Parking Tax

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Photo Credit: istock.com/nonnie192

Written by David Wheeler Newman

Christmas came early for the nonprofit community when Congress repealed the hugely unpopular tax on parking and other transportation employee benefits.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act added a provision to the Internal Revenue Code that had no friends in the charitable sector: section 512(a)(7) made transportation fringe benefits including parking and public transit benefits, provided by nonprofit employers, subject to the unrelated business income tax (UBIT).  Not only did this provision defy logic by taxing expenses rather than income, it forced the filing of an income tax return (Form 990-T) upon thousands of nonprofits that before 2018 had only filed a Form 990 informational return, but not a 990-T, not to mention countless churches that don’t even need to file the Form 990.

Continue reading “Hasta la Vista to the Reviled Nonprofit Parking Tax”

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Labor & Employment

NLRB Issues Changes to Representation Case Procedures

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Photo Credit: istock.com/worawee meepian

Written by Jonathan Turner

If you regularly deal with union concepts, read on! Otherwise you may find this a tad wonky…

After some three years into the current administration, the NLRB (“Board”) has issued new election rules that reverse or modify rules put in place during the Obama administration.  The Obama era rules, commonly referred to as the “fast track” or “quickie” election rules, were the subject of controversy and debate between the business community and organized labor prior to their becoming law in 2014.  The stated policy objectives for the Obama era rules were “to simplify and modernize” the Board’s election procedures for determining employee desire for union representation, establish “greater transparency and consistency” in administration of those procedures, and provide for a more “fair and expeditious resolution” of NLRB election cases; however, the business community objected to the Obama era rules primarily because they imposed procedural and substantive limits on the types of issues that can be adjudicated in a pre-election hearing, and shortened the time frame within which such hearings were to occur.

The new rules became effective December 18, 2019.  Set forth below is a summary of the more significant aspects of the new rules and how those rules differ from those previously in place. Continue reading “NLRB Issues Changes to Representation Case Procedures”

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International Business, International Trade

Yikes to the Year End!

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Photo credit: iStock.com/Rawf8

By Susan Kohn Ross

Clearly, there is more going on these days in Washington, D.C. than just the impeachment hearings, and activities this week made that point clear. In the span of only a few days, we saw progress on two key issues – the China 301 tariffs and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

First, we saw an indefinite suspension of the List 4B 15% China tariff which was to take effect on December 15, 2019. The President tweeted about it, saying “The 25% Tariffs will remain as is with 7 1/2% put on much of the remainder…” (see here for the full text) and USTR issued a press release (see here). Regretfully, neither is very clear, beyond stating the tariff on goods on List 4B is suspended indefinitely. CBP confirmed the suspension later in the day at CSMS 40984510. There was also a Fact Sheet issued by USTR (see here), but it, too, failed to clear up the tariff impact. Continue reading “Yikes to the Year End!”

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Immigration

Update to Critical Restrictions on French Nationals (E and L Visas) as of November 12, 2019

Worker is applying for Visa to Paris France.
Photo credit: iStock.com/junce

By Frida P. Glucoft and Janice Luo

Today, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) changed the reciprocity schedule for France to reflect decreased E-1, E-2, and L-1 visa validity periods. Specifically, effective November 12, 2019, E-1 and E-2 visas are now limited to a validity of only 25 months per visa issuance. Similarly, L-1 visas are now limited to a validity of only 17 months per visa issuance. Until this change, E and L visas have had validity for 60 months.

In general, different types of U.S. nonimmigrant visas have different allowable validity periods depending on the nationality of the applicant, because the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) requires the DOS to set country-specific visa policies based on reciprocity. The validity periods, number of entries, and visa fees for different types of visas are based on each country’s treatment of similar classes of U.S. visitors to its territory, as well as national security, immigration, and other considerations. Since August 2019, there have been announcements by the U.S. Embassy in France regarding decreased E visa validity periods for French nationals. According to the U.S. Embassy in France’s website at that time, the reduction in validity time on E visas was implemented to correspond with the “treatment afforded to U.S. citizens by the Government of France”. However, until today, the DOS has not changed the reciprocity schedule to reflect the changes. Continue reading “Update to Critical Restrictions on French Nationals (E and L Visas) as of November 12, 2019”

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Labor & Employment

More Bad News For California Employers as Governor Signs Bills Into Law

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Written by Jeremy Mittman

Recently, we informed our readers about a new law making it more difficult to classify independent contractors as such.  Unfortunately, that was just the tip of the iceberg.  A number of additional new employment-related bills recently signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom will have a negative impact on California employers. Unless specifically noted, these laws go into effect on January 1, 2020.  MSK recommends that any employer with California employees should consult with their employment counsel to address questions regarding changes to current policies/procedures in light of these new laws.  Continue reading “More Bad News For California Employers as Governor Signs Bills Into Law”

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Cybersecurity, Regulatory

California Consumer Privacy Act: Are You Ready? (Part 2)

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By Susan Kohn Ross

In Part 1, we summarized the recent legislative changes regarding the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). Bearing in mind the CCPA takes effect on January 1, 2020 and the Attorney General is required to issue regulations by July 1, 2020, these regulations both meet that time frame, but also seek to provide much-needed guidance to industry.

Most of the legislative changes focused on narrowing the definition of personal information, clarified the time frame which applies when a consumer demands information the business possesses about him or her, and also confirmed the CCPA applies to businesses, not non-profits or government entities. In this Alert, we summarize the regulations which were recently issued. However, even in the regulatory context, the starting point remains the same. Companies should begin by asking the following questions: Continue reading “California Consumer Privacy Act: Are You Ready? (Part 2)”

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Cybersecurity, Regulatory

California Consumer Privacy Act: Are You Ready? (Part 1)

CCPA California Consumer Privacy Act Lock Orange and Gold
Photo Credit: istock.com/Torrey

By Susan Kohn Ross

In the last few weeks we have seen both regulatory and legislative action that has helped to clarify the scope and impact of the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). By way of a refresher, the CCPA seeks to protect the personal information of California consumers by giving them greater knowledge about the nature and extent of the data collected about them, how it is used (sold or shared) by those who possess it, and how the individual consumer can control the use of his/her personal data. The CCPA applies to companies, regardless of where they are located, which:

  • Have annual gross revenues in excess of $25 million;
  • Alone or in conjunction with others annually buy, sell, receive or share for commercial purposes, the personal information of 50,000 or more consumers, households, or devices; or
  • Derive 50% or more of their annual revenues from selling consumer personal information.

This framework leaves companies to ask some very basic questions before deciding next steps:

  • What is our annual gross revenue (not limited to California income)?
  • Do we have the personal information of at least 50,000 consumers, households or devices located in California?
  • Do we sell the personal data we have of those California consumers, households or devices? If so, do we derive 50% or more of our annual revenues from those sales?
  • Even if we do not sell that personal data, do we disclose any portion of it to any third parties?

If you answered more than $25 million to the first question or yes to any of the remaining questions, you could be subject to the CCPA, but there is more to the analysis. The next important question is: do you hold personal data belonging to any California consumers, households or devices? If you answered no, you can breathe a sigh of relief. If not, get ready for the year-end push! Continue reading “California Consumer Privacy Act: Are You Ready? (Part 1)”

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