Local privilege license taxes will be history as of July 1, 2015.   I’ve blogged about their repeal here and here, but lots of interesting questions continue to fill my email inbox.  Here are more Q&A’s about the disappearance of these … Read more

With this week’s men’s and women’s championship games (neither of which featured my beloved Blue Devils, alas), the college basketball season came to a close.  But don’t despair—you won’t need to wait a full year for another Final Four.  After … Read more

Were I a gambler, I would not have bet on this result.  No, I don’t mean Duke’s glorious trouncing of the Tar Heels on Saturday night.  I mean last Friday’s surprising ruling from the North Carolina Supreme Court that Lumberton’s … Read more

It took more than two years, but the ban on video sweepstakes that was originally scheduled to take effect in December 2010 is finally enforceable.   The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled on December 14, 2012, that the ban did not … Read more

For those of us who work with local taxes, the most important news out of the General Assembly this summer was what didn’t happen. The legislature did not create any major new property tax exemptions.  The long-awaited overhaul of the registered … Read more

[Update: In 2013 the Court of Appeals reversed its opinion in the Fayetteville case discussed below based on a related N.C. Supreme Court opinion.  See this blog post for more details.] The N.C. Court of Appeals celebrated tax day a few weeks later … Read more

[Update:  In 2013 the N.C. Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals decision discussed below.  See this blog post for more details.] In the first of three decisions we are expecting on internet sweepstakes, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled … Read more

Harry Potter and those Twilight vampires need to move over and make room for a new literary superhero.  The mighty local government tax collector returns to the best seller lists this week after a fourteen-year absence with the release of … Read more

[Update:  The ban on internet sweepstakes became law when Gov. Perdue signed H.B. 80 on July 20. The ban was upheld by the N.C. Supreme Court in late 2012.  See this blog post for more details. ] The General Assembly moved … Read more

Given the gaming industry’s aggressive litigation strategy against criminal sanctions, it seemed only a matter of time before internet sweepstakes operators responded similarly to the growing number of municipal privilege license taxes imposed on their businesses.  That time has arrived.   In late April lawyers for … Read more