Insights

February

• 2/4/2020
  Immigration Alert: New Version of Form I-9 Available – Use of New Version Becomes Mandatory Starting May 1, 2020
  The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
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• 2/3/2020
  Labor and Employment Alert: New Jersey Requires Paid Severance in Mass Layoffs
  The federal Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act (WARN Act) requires employers to provide employees with advance notice of certain plant closings and mass layoffs.
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January

• 1/31/2020
  Labor and Employment Alert: Maryland Bans the Box
  Over Governor Larry Hogan’s veto, the Maryland General Assembly recently enacted legislation to prohibit employers from initially seeking job applicants’ criminal records. 
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• 1/30/2020
  Federal Tax Bulletin: Final Qualified Opportunity Zone Regulations Adopt Many Changes
  On December 19, 2019, two years after the federal Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) program was enacted, the Treasury Department released final regulations providing guidance on how to apply the rules under this program.
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• 1/27/2020
  Intellectual Property Alert: 2020 Intellectual Property Primer: Cases to Watch this Year
  2020 is likely to be a busy and influential year for intellectual property cases before the United States Supreme Court.
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• 1/27/2020
  • Victor J. Ferguson
  • John F. Furniss III
  • David A. Groenke
  • Emily S. Pan
  • Michael G. Schwartz
  • David A. Swift
  • Mark E. Vannatta
  • Suzanne R. Galyardt
  • Karen M. Moore
  • Bailey R. Drexler
  The SECURE Act: What Plan Participants and Beneficiaries Must Know
  In late December, 2019, the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act,” or the “SECURE Act,” was enacted.
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• Winter 2020
  • Nicholas M.J. Ray
  • Andrew E. DeBord
  • Lauren M. Johnson
  • Hilary J. Houston
  • Lindsay Doss Spillman
  • Steven L. Smiseck
  • Megan Savage Knox
  • Anthony L. Ehler
  • David A. Froling
  • Scott J. Ziance
  • Steven R. Rech
  The Evaluator: Deadlines Looming in 15 States
  This article outlines states/jurisdictions with upcoming real property tax appeal deadlines.
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• 1/24/2020
  • Evelyn Lundberg Stratton
  Ohio’s Veterans’ Treatment Courts Provide Support
  Eve Stratton, of counsel in the Vorys Columbus office who prior to joining Vorys served as justice on the Supreme Court of Ohio for 16 years, authored an article for the Akron Legal News titled, “Ohio’s veterans’ treatment courts provide support” published on January 24, 2020.
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• 1/21/2020
  Federal Tax Bulletin: Retroactive Repeal of the ‘Parking Tax’ for Tax-Exempt Employers
  As part of general federal tax reform in 2017, Congress enacted a provision that required tax-exempt organizations to pay tax on certain amounts paid or incurred for employee parking (the Parking Tax).
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• Winter 2020
  • Nicholas M.J. Ray
  • Andrew E. DeBord
  • Lauren M. Johnson
  • Lindsay Doss Spillman
  • Hilary J. Houston
  • Steven L. Smiseck
  • Megan Savage Knox
  • Anthony L. Ehler
  • David A. Froling
  • Scott J. Ziance
  • Steven R. Rech
  The Evaluator: January 2020 Valuation Analyses
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• 1/14/2020
  Health Care Alert: Real Property Tax Exemptions for Your Residential Care Facilities and Nursing Homes May Be at Risk
  On January 7, 2020, the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) issued a decision that arguably cuts against prior BTA and Ohio Supreme Court decisions regarding the “life care” requirements for real property tax exemptions for homes for the aged contained in Ohio Revised Code (R.C.) 5709.12.
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• 1/2020
  • Jennifer Bibart Dunsizer
  Participant Investment Advice and Education Considerations for Retirement Plan Fiduciaries
  Jennifer Dunsizer, a partner in the Columbus office, authored a Lexis Practice Advisor^® Practice Note titled “Participant Investment Advice and Education Considerations for Retirement Plan Fiduciaries.”
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• 1/7/2020
  State and Local Tax Alert: Proposed Ohio Legislation Would Apply Real Estate Transfer Tax to Pass-Through Entity Transfers and Result in Increased Tax Valuations
  On December 17, 2019, Representatives Green and Skindell introduced a bill (H.B. 449) to apply the conveyance fee tax to transfers of a controlling interest in a pass-through entity that owns real estate.
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December

• 12/31/2019
  Benefits Alert: The Impact on Health & Welfare Plans in the New Year based on the Fifth Circuit’s ACA Ruling and the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020
  On December 18, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held in Texas v. U.S. that the provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires individuals to maintain health insurance or pay a “shared responsibility payment” (i.e., the individual mandate) is unconstitutional.
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• 12/23/2019
  Labor and Employment Alert: 162(m) Regulations Proposed
  The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act generally eliminated the exception to the $1M deduction cap imposed under Code Section 162(m).
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• 12/18/2019
  Labor and Employment Alert: Medical Marijuana Users are Eligible for Unemployment Compensation in Michigan
  The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act (MMMA) grants qualified medical marijuana users who are using marijuana in accordance with the MMMA immunity from “arrest, prosecution, or penalty in any manner.”
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• 12/17/2019
  Intellectual Property Alert: Patent Prosecution Highway in India and Brazil
  Recently, Brazil and India, both top ten largest world economies and common targets for patent filings, have made changes to their PPH programs to increase the speed at which patents are issued.
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• 12/13/2019
  Labor and Employment Alert: Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Prohibits Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination
  Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia currently prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression.
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• Fall 2019
  Q&A: Thomas Bisacquino, President and CEO, NAIOP
  In this edition of Development Incentives Quarterly, Thomas Bisacquino, the president and CEO of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, joins us for a Q&A.  Tom answers questions regarding the most pressing issues facing commercial developers nationally and locally. 
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• Fall 2019
  • Sean P. Byrne
  Top 10 Things Every Tax Professional Should Understand About Opportunity Zones (Part 1)
  In this two-part series, we’ll cover the top 10 key points for tax professionals to understand about Opportunity Zones (OZs).
  Read more »