State & Local Tax Insights - Spring 2011

In this Issue:

• Honey, I Shrunk the Dormancy Periods!
  By Hollis L. Hyans and Amy F. Nogid
• No Solicitation: Sales Tax Nexus, the Amazon Law, and the Perils of Affiliate Advertising
  By Thomas H. Steele, Andres Vallejo, and Kirsten Wolff
• California Adopts Regulation Prescribing Sales and Use Tax Audit Procedures
  By Jenny Kim

HONEY, I SHRUNK THE DORMANCY PERIODS!

By Hollis L. Hyans and Amy F. Nogid¹

Dormancy periods — the periods after which a state presumes that property has been abandoned by its owner and requires that the property be turned over to the state — have become incredibly short. These periods, once characterized as "long lapses of time,"² are now as short as three years for many of the most common property types. Owners are routinely caught unaware that states will seize — or have seized — their property. Property that owners believe is safe, sound and protected, earning interest and appreciating in value, often becomes lost or