Alston & Bird Tax Blog

Kendall Houghton

Kendall Houghton

About Kendall Houghton

Ms. Houghton is a nationally recognized expert whose practice focuses on state and local tax planning, tax controversies and unclaimed property/escheat matters. She leads the Alston & Bird SALT practice and serves on the firm’s Partners’ Committee.

[Read Bio]

Challenges With Escheatment of Tax-Deferred Retirement Assets, Part 2

By and

Holders of tax-deferred retirement assets must weigh and balance significant owner-facing risks against a clear set of state-facing compliance requirements and risks. In this installment of “UP Ahead” for Tax Notes State, unclaimed property partners Kendall Houghton and Matt Hedstrom continue their discussion of potential challenges of a holder’s escheat compliance process for traditional and Roth IRAs. To read part one, click here. To read part two, click here. [...]Read more

Pushing Beyond the Limit: Examining the Scope of Subpoenas Issued During Unclaimed Property Audits

By , , , , , and

A Delaware court quashed a subpoena aimed at an unclaimed property holder, but the victory may be short-lived. Our Unclaimed Property Team explores the latest court decision addressing a subpoena for records dating back to the 1990s. The subpoena asked for every check issued from 27 accounts over 20 years, including cleared and voided checks and checks issued to payees in other statesThe court found the subpoena too expansive and unreasonableThe third-party auditor’s incentives and motives were called into question Read the full advisory here. [...]Read more

New York Assembly Introduces a Bill on the Escheat of Virtual Currency

By and

New York Assembly Bill 8314, introduced on June 13, 2019, would provide for the escheat of virtual currency. The bill, which also directs the comptroller to create regulations establishing when electronic communication qualifies as “written contact” from an owner, defines “virtual currency” as “any type of digital unit that is used for  a  medium of exchange or a form of digitally stored value.” The definition is meant to be broadly construed and includes decentralized currencies and those with a central depository or administrator. However, the bill excludes online gaming currencies, [...]Read more

Unclaimed Property Challenges in the Health Care Industry

By and

States across the country are undertaking unclaimed property audit campaigns. These audits are targeting large national health care providers and insurance companies. Learn from Unclaimed Property partners Kendall Houghton and Matt Hedstrom why these audits raise HIPAA and unclaimed property concerns for the health care sector.

Click here to read the article.

  [...]Read more

What Is the Future State of Unclaimed Property?

By

Over the past two years, a series of sea-change developments in the unclaimed property compliance arena has impacted corporations in the U.S. As part of this series of articles produced by Duff & Phelps asking what's next, Kendall Houghton considers how investment assets will continue to generate audit disputes and litigation.

Read the articles here. [...]Read more