The Michigan Court of Claims heard arguments Tuesday over the constitutionality of a new 24% wholesale tax on cannabis products.

Michigan cannabis industry fights massive tax hike in court is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Bitcoin Magazine

Congressman Warren Davidson Introduces Bitcoin For America Act, Proposes Federal Tax Free Payments in Bitcoin

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) introduced today the Bitcoin For America Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, a landmark proposal designed to modernize the U.S. financial system and position the nation at the forefront of the global digital asset economy. 

The bill would allow Americans to pay federal taxes in bitcoin, with all proceeds deposited into a newly created Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR).

“By allowing taxpayers to pay federal taxes in Bitcoin and directing those funds into a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, the nation gains a tangible asset that appreciates over time—unlike the U.S. dollar, which is susceptible to inflation,” Davidson said. “This bill strengthens the nation’s financial foundation and positions the U.S. to lead—not follow—in the global race toward sound money and digital innovation.”

Under the proposed legislation, taxpayers would be able to transfer bitcoin (BTC) to the Treasury or to approved financial agents designated by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

The transferred BTC would count as full satisfaction of tax liabilities, with no capital gains recognized on the transaction. Fair market value at the time of transfer would determine the amount credited, similar to how foreign currency payments are handled today.

The bill also empowers the Treasury to establish robust custody measures for the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Provisions include cold storage, multi-signature wallets, and geographically distributed storage facilities. 

BTC deposited into the reserve would be held for at least 20 years, according to the bill, with limited scheduled dispositions allowed only after that period, ensuring the assets are preserved for future generations.

The bitcoin bill’s strategic implications

The legislation is intended to bolster national financial resilience by diversifying U.S. assets into a non-inflationary, appreciating store of value. 

The 21 million-coin supply of BTC creates inherent scarcity, offering a hedge against long-term currency devaluation. Davidson and supporters argued in a conversation with the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) that this move reduces reliance on debt and strengthens the U.S. balance sheet.

Other major nations, like China and Russia are “already accumulating Bitcoin,” Davidson contends. By adding BTC into federal finances, Davidson believes the United States can maintain its competitive edge in the digital economy.

“Other nations are actively acquiring Bitcoin to diversify reserves and protect against global financial instability,” the bill notes. “The United States risks falling behind unless it takes a similar approach.”

In his conversation with BPI, Davidson discussed the long-term national benefits of the bill, noting that if the United States had been accumulating the crypto since 2012, it could help address the nation’s $38 trillion debt.

Davidson also stressed that the bill is opt-in and democratic, explaining, “every American can basically make the choice at the end of the year… to contribute to the reserve.” 

On the broader vision for sound money, he argued, “money is increasingly designed as a surveillance system… Bitcoin’s premise is kind of a return to sound money… separating money from the state.”

The act also highlights BTC’s decentralized, permissionless system as a tool to expand financial access. 

By enabling payment of federal taxes in BTC, the government can provide more Americans — including unbanked or underserved populations—an opportunity to participate in the digital economy.

At the time of writing, BTC’s price is $90,480. 

For context, back in March, the U.S. formally established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve via an executive order signed by President Trump, making it the largest nation-state BTC holder with an estimated 200,000 BTC. 

Funded entirely through government-held assets seized in criminal and civil proceedings, the reserve cost taxpayers nothing. The order mandates a full audit of federal BTC holdings, prohibits any sales from the reserve, and allows budget-neutral acquisitions of additional BTC. 

This post Congressman Warren Davidson Introduces Bitcoin For America Act, Proposes Federal Tax Free Payments in Bitcoin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Micah Zimmerman.

Licensed Los Angeles cannabis shops have failed to pay about $400 million in taxes as they struggle with illegal operations.

LA cannabis retailers stage tax revolt is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

• The Treasury Department is officially suspending Direct File, a free, online tax filing platform the IRS launched last year. The department said it’s exploring alternatives. That includes strengthening its partnership with tax preparation companies through its Free File program. Direct File expanded to 25 states during this year’s filing season and saw higher favorability scores. But Treasury said the program cost too much and didn’t see enough usage to keep scaling it up. It said the IRS spent more than $40 million on Direct File this year. That breaks down to nearly $140 for every return submitted using Direct File.
  (Report on the replacement of Direct File - Treasury Department)
• Senate Democrats are trying to stop reductions-in-force during the government shutdown once and for all. A new bill called the SAFE Act would undo all RIF-related actions that have happened since the shutdown began. The legislation would also bar additional RIFs from occurring during any future lapse in appropriations. The Democrats’ bill comes after more than 4,000 RIF notices went out to federal employees last month. Almost all of those layoffs are currently on hold due to a court order.
  (Securing Assurance for Federal Employees (SAFE) Act - Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.))
• More than 35,000 people applied to work at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services since Sept. 30 under its Homeland Defender Campaign. USCIS said it has made hundreds of job offers and will begin onboarding the first Homeland Defenders soon. The agency said among those receiving offers are former law enforcement personnel and veterans with experience serving and protecting communities and the homeland. USCIS Homeland Defenders may be eligible for signing bonuses up to $50,000, student loan repayment, flexible duty locations and remote work options. USCIS is using an expedited hiring process for entry-level positions that do not require a college degree.
  (USCIS receives 50,000 applicants for Homeland Defenders jobs - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services)
• Federal employees are experiencing disruptions in the workplace at a rate far higher than the national average. Close to one-third of federal employees say their workplace has been disrupted “to a very large extent.” That’s nearly triple the 10% of U.S. employees who say the same, according to the latest data from Gallup. The frequent disruptions in the workplace are leading to increases in stress and loneliness among federal employees, as well as a decline in employee engagement and satisfaction.
  (Federal employees are reporting major workplace disruptions at nearly triple the national average - Federal News Network)
• Michael Payne, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office, told lawmakers he would work to restore the office’s credibility by refocusing on CAPE’s statutory mission as an independent advisory rather than an advocacy organization. The office has faced scrutiny for operating beyond its statutory responsibilities. House lawmakers previously considered shutting down the office altogether. While the 2024 defense policy bill mandated the department to overhaul how the office operates, it has yet to implement those changes. Payne also said the office has been pushing some of its cost-estimation work to the military services due to its strained workforce.
  (Nominee for Pentagon CAPE director pledges to return the office to its core mission - Federal News Network)
• Feds anticipate more co-workers will call out sick as the shutdown drags on. A Federal News Network “pulse poll” taken over a 36-hour period earlier this week shows two-thirds of the 730 respondents say they believe more of their co-workers will call out sick more often if the lapse in appropriations continues deeper into November. The concept of a "sick-out" has been used by air traffic controllers and transportation security officers, but it hasn't been widespread among other agencies. More than 43% of the respondents to the survey say they haven't noticed more employees taking sick leave since the shutdown began. A majority of the respondents, however, did say as the shutdown continues, they are very or somewhat concerned about their personal finances.
  (If the shutdown continues, more feds expecting ‘sick outs’ - Federal News Network)
• The Marine Corps has rolled out its enlistment bonuses for fiscal 2026, offering the biggest payout to recruits who sign up for specialized roles in cyber and electronics maintenance. The incentives aren't limited to high-demand technical roles; the service is also offering shipping bonuses to recruits in any specialty who agree to leave for boot camp on the service’s schedule. Recruits who enter the electronics maintenance and cyber and cryptologic operations career fields could earn up to $15,000. Recruits across dozens of military specialties can also qualify for a $5,000 or $10,000 shipping bonus. The service is also offering $7,000 or $15,000 “targeted investment” bonuses for applicants willing to extend their enlistment contracts by one or two years.
  (Marine Corps offers $15,000 bonuses to attract cyber, electronics recruits - Federal News Network)
• Federal employee unions are suing the Trump administration for including a new essay question on thousands of federal job applications. One of several new essay questions on job applications asks candidates how they would “advance the President’s executive orders and policy priorities,” and to name one or two executive orders significant to them. The unions claim the question allows the administration to weed out applicants who aren’t loyal to President Donald Trump’s policies. Guidance from the Office of Personnel Management states candidates aren’t required to respond to the essay question and that responses can’t be treated as a political litmus test. But candidates are still encouraged to answer the question.
  (Unions sue Trump administration over ‘loyalty question’ added to federal job applications - Federal News Network)

The post Treasury Department explores alternatives to suspended Direct File first appeared on Federal News Network.

Voters in Seattle have overwhelmingly approved Proposition 2, which will reshape the city’s business and occupation (B&O) tax that applies to gross revenue. It will impact both small startups and large tech companies such as Amazon.

The ballot measure garnered a 67.7% approval in King County’s unofficial election results posted Tuesday evening.

The initiative will temporarily eliminate B&O taxes for small- and medium-sized businesses — including tech startups — with gross receipts of $2 million or less.

To offset the revenue loss for the city, large companies would see their B&O tax rate increase by more than 50% — from 0.427% to 0.65% for service businesses. Only revenue above $2 million will be taxed.

The new tax rules is expected to raise an additional $81 million per year for human services and other city programs.

The city, which is trying to address a substantial budget shortfall over the next two years, says about 90% of small- and medium-sized businesses in Seattle will pay fewer B&O taxes if the proposal passes.

Smaller companies and those just getting off the ground would no longer pay B&O taxes, potentially saving them thousands of dollars per year. A services company with $1 million in revenue pays $4,270 in B&O tax annually at the current rate.

The tax change adds another wrinkle to the dynamic between Amazon — Seattle’s largest employer — and city lawmakers, following years of a strained relationship over tax policy.

GeekWire has reached out to Amazon for comment on the new B&O tax.

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck unveiled the proposal in June, framing it as a way to protect Seattle’s small businesses while shielding from potential federal funding cuts. They have also cited the city’s gaping budget deficit.

Jon Scholes, president and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, called it “a boneheaded proposal of epic proportions” in a post on LinkedIn in June. Scholes supported exempting small businesses from the B&O tax. But he said raising taxes on larger companies “will ultimately result in Seattle defunding its tax base.”

Previously: Bold or boneheaded? Seattle’s proposed tax hike on big business draws fire as Amazon stays silent

Amazon’s cash tax bill has dropped sharply this year under a new U.S. tax law that lets companies immediately deduct the cost of equipment and research — a policy designed to encourage spending on technology development and other investments.

The decrease is detailed in the company’s third-quarter 10-Q filing, released Friday morning following its blockbuster earnings report. Amazon’s shares rose more than 10% in early trading after beating expectations and reassuring investors about long-term AI demand.

In the filing, Amazon cites the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025” as a key factor in the tax deduction. The situation illustrates how tax changes championed by President Trump and the Republican-led Congress are rewarding U.S. investment and reshaping corporate finances.

But it’s not as simple as a basic tax break: while the law accelerates short-term deductions for domestic investment, it also changes the tax treatment on foreign profits — boosting long-term tax liabilities overall.

According to its quarterly filing, Amazon paid $1.1 billion in cash for income taxes in the third quarter, a 45% decrease from the $2 billion it paid in the same period last year — even as quarterly profits rose 38% to $21.2 billion. For the first nine months of 2025, cash tax payments fell to $6.8 billion, down from $8.2 billion in 2024.

The new law changed two key rules that impact companies making big capital investments.

• First, it reinstated 100% “bonus depreciation,” allowing companies to deduct the full cost of new equipment — such as servers for AWS and AI or warehouse robotics — in the year it’s purchased rather than spreading the deduction over many years.
• Second, it restored the immediate expensing of domestic R&D costs, reversing a recent rule that required this spending to be amortized over several years.

Boosting capital spending and cutting jobs

For a company like Amazon, these changes create a significant and immediate reduction in taxable income. The tech giant spent $35.1 billion on property and equipment in the third quarter, up 55% from a year earlier, driven by massive investments in AI infrastructure.

Backers of the U.S. tax changes said they would spur investment and job creation in the United States, but Amazon’s situation shows that the reality is more complicated. The company is reaping the benefits of the new tax incentives while eliminating about 14,000 corporate jobs. 

Speaking on Amazon’s earnings call, CEO Andy Jassy attributed the layoffs not to cost-cutting but to efforts to simplify operations and reduce bureaucracy after years of growth. Amazon took a $1.8 billion pre-tax charge in the quarter for severance and other costs related to the layoffs.

Amazon isn’t alone in spending big on AI infrastructure or benefitting from the tax changes.

Although they didn’t go into as much detail as Amazon did, Microsoft and Google both referenced the 2025 U.S. tax law in their latest quarterly reports, noting the reinstatement of immediate R&D expensing and accelerated depreciation. Both companies are realizing similar near-term tax benefits as they expand their AI and cloud infrastructure investments.

Long-term tax provision still intact

For Amazon, the changes in U.S. tax law mark a new chapter in a long-running national debate. The company, which faced criticism in years past for paying little or no federal income tax despite strong profits, has long maintained that it pays what it owes under U.S. law.

However, the immediate reduction is only part of the picture.

While Amazon’s cash payments declined, the tax expense reported on its income statement — a figure based on accounting rules rather than cash paid — nearly doubled. The company’s income-tax provision for the first nine months of 2025 was $14.1 billion, up from $6.9 billion in the same period last year.

Amazon’s filing says this increase was also driven by the new tax act, which reduced other benefits, such as the deduction for profits made overseas. 

This $7.3 billion gap between its accounting provision ($14.1 billion) and its cash tax bill ($6.8 billion) shows how the new law shifts the timing of tax payments rather than eliminating them. In effect, the deductions reduce the company’s cash outlay for taxes in the short term but will ultimately be paid in future years as those assets are depreciated on the company’s books.

Michigan cannabis taxes will increase significantly in January.

Massive Michigan cannabis tax hike approved is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

State lawmakers in Michigan recently approved imposing a new 24% wholesale tax.

Michigan marijuana operators protest, plot lawsuit over massive tax hike is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

Congress must end 280E’s punishment of cannabis small businesses is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

California's cannabis excise tax will go down under a bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Newsom signs California cannabis excise tax cut into law is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

A push to cut the California cannabis tax from 19% back to 15% by Oct. 1 is moving forward, and Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to sign it into law.

California cannabis tax cut inches forward as state industry lags behind is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs