Melanie Cohen

North Miami, Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C., United States

Editor at @tax, proud steward at @GuildatBIG. Formerly @ICI, @WSJBankruptcy. Fan of: running, yoga, coffee, cocktails, K-dramas. Can I pet your dog?

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Articles

Focusing on a Hyper-Niche Area Helped Me Build a Robust Practice

1 week ago | news.bloombergtax.com | Melanie Cohen

The biggest thing that lawyers do not understand is that no one wants to hire them. People like buying new cars, swimming in the Pacific Ocean, or hiking the Sierra Nevadas. But no one wakes up in the morning excited to call a lawyer—it’s an expense, a burden, and it induces anxiety. What people do want, however, is to solve a problem. They want their problems to end. They want to resolve disputes and to end the chaos in their lives. If they could solve that without a lawyer, they would.
Quadrupling SALT Cap May Vex States With Passthrough Entity Tax

1 week ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Melanie Cohen

Republicans’ plan to quadruple the federal government’s state and local tax deduction cap to $40,000 could lessen the federal tax benefits in states that have adopted passthrough entity taxes. This in turn may prompt state lawmakers, who adopted PTET regimes to circumvent the existing $10,000 cap, to reevaluate their effectiveness and future viability.
We Need Better Detailed Disclosures on Intangible R&D Assets

1 week ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Melanie Cohen

Not all intangible assets are equal, and their economic values change based on industry. This is why there needs to be better disclosures of when intangibles such as intellectual property and brand reputation are acquired in research and development—and more detailed disclosures on associated risks. The issue has prompted the Financial Accounting Standard Board to invite comment through May 30 as it decides whether to add a project on intangibles to its technical agenda.
Want to Save DEI? Perform Equal Opportunity Audits for Fairness

1 week ago | news.bloombergtax.com | Melanie Cohen

President Donald Trump has made dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion programs central to his political comeback, claiming they’re discriminatory and erode meritocracy. But his attacks ignore both the historical and ongoing reality of discrimination in the US workplace—especially for Black workers—and the broad public support for racial justice. Contrary to conservative talking points, DEI and racial equity programs aren’t fringe causes; they’re mainstream.
Loper Bright Doesn’t Allow Abuse of the ‘Good Cause’ Exception

1 week ago | news.bloombergtax.com | Melanie Cohen

President Donald Trump’s recent memorandum directing executive branch agencies to repeal “unlawful regulations” by using the Administrative Procedure Act’s “good cause” exception likely will cause more legal trouble than the exception is worth. The exception permits agencies to forgo the notice-and-comment procedures required by the APA to repeal regulations.
Killing the Penny Is Smart but Shouldn’t Cost More Than It Saves

1 week ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Melanie Cohen |Jessica Estepa

With the federal government preparing to kill off the penny, states revising sales and use tax regulations must adopt a dual-rounding policy that preserves cent-level tax calculations while allowing nickel-based rounding only for cash—avoiding legal pitfalls under the Internet Tax Freedom Act and practical chaos for retailers at the point of sale. This method will keep the state sales tax system from unraveling over a coin we should have eliminated years ago.
Hawaii’s New Cruise Tax Is Entering Some Uncharted Legal Waters

1 week ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Melanie Cohen

As someone who has spent his entire legal career navigating the intricacies of maritime law, I’ve seen plenty of jurisdictional curveballs. But Hawaii’s new 11% transient accommodations tax on cruise passengers—levied for time spent in port—marks a bold new tack. The state’s goal seems straightforward: Treat cruise passengers like hotel guests. After all, when a floating resort docks in Honolulu, passengers dine, shop, tour, and use local infrastructure.
NY Tax Decision Over Online Retailers May Embolden Other States

1 week ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Melanie Cohen

Any business with an interactive website should take note of a recent New York Supreme Court decision that could expand income tax obligations for out-of-state online retailers. The actual impact of the decision, however, may be narrow. The decision in American Catalog Mailers Association, v. Department of Taxation and Finance is the first state court ruling to uphold these types of internet-directed regulations under Public Law 86-272.
Gutting IRS Will Do Little but Allow Wealthy Tax Cheats to Thrive

2 weeks ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Melanie Cohen |Jessica Estepa

The efforts of President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency to slash the IRS have jeopardized the agency’s ability to fairly enforce the tax code and undermined its capacity to provide helpful and timely customer service. The attacks on the IRS are a calculated effort to cripple one of the government’s most essential functions: fair and effective tax enforcement.
Federal Contractors Need New DEI Diligence Before Cutting Deals

2 weeks ago | news.bloombergtax.com | Melanie Cohen

The Trump administration’s deluge of executive orders aimed at rooting out diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives have made reviewing DEI programming a priority, particularly for federal contractors. The orders are making hiring decisions more complicated and are creating new challenges in the mergers and acquisitions context. The new certifications the EOs require from federal contractors create risk.