In Swinomish Indian Tribal Community v. Washington State Department of Ecology (PDF), the Washington Supreme Court determined that the state Department of Ecology (Ecology) overstepped its statutory authority by issuing an Amended Rule for the Skagit River which both established minimum water flow levels and set aside 27 reservations allowing users to draw on the water even if that use would force the river below that minimum flow level.
agency statutory interpretation
In re Estate of Bracken Nos. 84114-4, 85075-5 (Wash. Oct. 18, 2012)
By Hunter Ferguson on
Posted in Notice of Appeal Archive
Via my colleague Kristina Ash.
As a general rule, when a testamentary instrument creates a trust for the benefit of a surviving spouse, the trust property would be included in the deceased spouse’s estate and would not qualify for a marital deduction. Federal tax law contains an exception to this general rule by allowing an…
Appellate Update: Department of Revenue v. Bi-Mor, Inc. [Wash. App. No.42050-3-II]
By Hunter Ferguson, Leonard Feldman & J. Will Eidson on
Posted in Notice of Appeal Archive
Bi-Mor operates various business entities that advertise their prices as including all applicable sales taxes and claims that it is absorbing the tax. For accounting purposes, Bi-Mor manually calculates the applicable sales tax based on the tender paid by the buyer and remits that amount to the Department of Revenue – commonly called “backing out”…