Tennessee's Supreme Court has struck down the state's excise tax on illegal substances -- the so-called "crack tax" -- on the bizarre grounds that it was not imposed on "merchants," but on possessors of the substances in question.

KPMG has been keeping a close eye on the global indirect tax scene in a series of consistently useful advisories. The firm’s midyear roundup takes a broad look at developments in over a dozen countries and throws in some discussion of technologies that are currently impacting the field.

U.S. companies with large operations in the United Kingdom have a new layer of compliance complexity to deal with. The Finance Bill, the nation's annual omnibus legislation for changes in the tax law that was enacted last month, now requires senior accounting officers of large U.K. corporate taxpayers to certify that their accounting systems are adequate for the purposes of accurate tax reporting. And they face personal liability for any "careless or deliberate" failure.

The IRS will be taking a closer look at expatriates as part of its increased international enforcement efforts. If your organization's payroll includes expats, this might be a good time to review your tax-related global mobility risks. PricewaterhouseCoopers has identified four key problem areas for international taxpayers.

Business Finance's annual roundup of best-of-breed software vendors provides the latest scoop on tax technology.

Although marijuana is currently illegal in California, legislators are trying to figure out ways to tax sales of the drug. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced a bill that would allow adults 21 and older to possess, grow, and sell pot, and then the state would take its cut in the form of a $50-per-ounce “fee” on all retail sales. According to a Board of Equalization report, the fee could be expected to realize $990 million, and the state’s sales and use taxes would bring in an additional $392 million.

Integrated business planning (IBP) can help organizations sell more, better allocate their resources, and speed up their reaction time to changing market conditions. Learn more by reading Ventana Research's "Integrated Business Planning: Addressing Today's Challenges and Opportunity" in the BPM Resource Center.

The 6th Annual BPM Summit brought together some of the business world's foremost practitioners to explore the transformational role of finance in the enterprise. If you missed the live event, you can still enjoy access to the audio and slide shows from the keynote presentations at our on-demand archive.