Bill > S1530

This bill makes several changes to the Commonwealth's tax administrative laws, including clarifying the "sham transaction doctrine" which allows the commissioner of revenue to disallow tax benefits from transactions that lack a genuine business purpose beyond tax avoidance, requiring taxpayers to prove a valid business purpose and economic substance for such transactions, with specific exceptions for common business choices like debt vs. equity financing or corporate structure. It also extends the filing deadline for corporations to seven months under certain conditions, allows the commissioner to pay reasonable attorney fees to taxpayers if they win an appeal after rejecting a settlement offer of 35% or more of the assessed liability, revises the installment payment schedule for certain taxes to four equal quarterly payments, and establishes a two-month tax amnesty program in fiscal year 2015 where penalties are waived for taxpayers who come into compliance by June 30, 2015, with specific provisions for waiving interest and reporting requirements for the commissioner.