Insights & Developments

Virginia is facing a potential $4.2 billion budget shortfall over the next two fiscal years—one of the largest shortfalls in its history. In a bid to close the gap, former Gov. Timothy Kaine issued a budget proposal that calls for a series of tax increases, including a retroactive amendment to a state law requiring the addback of deductions claimed for intangible property and interest expenses related to intangible holding companies. In this article, authors Craig D. Bell and J. Christian Tennant, of McGuireWoods LLP, argue that, based on a standard of reasonableness, the retroactive amendment violates due process and should be abandoned as unconstitutional.

Many industrial operators, forced to reduce production or shut down plants in the midst of a severe economic downturn, may not be taking advantage of an opportunity that the downturn presents to argue for a break in property taxes. In this interview, BNA talks with Bob Henderson, national director of property tax with Ernst & Young LLP, about the impact of economic obsolescence on the assessed value of machinery and equipment.