Tax News

CCH (cch.taxgroup.com) reports:

  The Council On State Taxation (COST) has issued an evaluation of the laws governing state administration of unclaimed property. The evaluation is structured in a way that is similar to COST's well-known Scorecard on Tax Appeals & Procedural Requirements and, in the same way, it assigns a grade to each state based on COST's evaluation of several criteria.

  The criteria evaluated by COST include:

  -- whether business-to-business transactions are subject to escheat,

  -- whether a period of limitations for unclaimed reporting requirements exists that corresponds with state tax laws and normal business practices,

  -- whether an independent administrative appeals process is available for holders of unclaimed property,

  -- whether gift certificates are subject to escheat,

  -- whether the state treats both the payment of interest to property owners and the assessment of interest against holders equitably, and

  -- whether the state engages contingent-fee auditors in its administration of unclaimed property.

  The following states were ranked highly by COST: Kansas, Arizona, Wisconsin, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Virginia. The following states were ranked at the bottom by COST: Delaware, Georgia, Mississippi, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Utah, and Wyoming.

  Subscribers to CCH Tax Research NetWork can view the COST report.

   
Scorecard on State Unclaimed Property Statutes, Council On State Taxation, January 2009