Recent changes to the federal tax code by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (P.L 115-97) have important consequences for businesses’s ability to deduct payments for criminal and civil penalties—and could increase the cost of settlements. Businesses need to be aware of this change before considering settlements with governmental entities. This change could have important implications for many consumer protection actions by state attorneys general, including the Colorado Attorney General’s enforcement of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (CCPA). This change also implicates payments by businesses to governmental agencies for securities, false claims, and antitrust cases. This article first addresses this important change and then discusses civil penalties by the Colorado Attorney General under the CCPA.
Read MoreOne of the pre-filing investigative tools that Colorado statutes provide the Colorado Attorney General in investigating potential deceptive trade practices that violate the Colorado Consumer Protection (Act) is the power to compel the attendance of persons to appear and give sworn testimony under oath. A subpoena to appear for a civil investigative demand hearing can be directed at targets of an investigation and witnesses.
Read MoreMany individuals and businesses who receive or are served with a subpoena (also known as a civil investigative demand) from the Colorado Attorney General (or the district attorney) for alleged violations of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) typically wonder what this document is and what to do with it (and of course at times why they’re receiving it in the first place). The subpoena from the Attorney General can be either a subpoena to produce documents or a subpoena to appear at a hearing to provide sworn testimony to aid in the investigation of violations of the CCPA, or both. These subpoenas can be directed at both targets of an investigation and also witnesses.
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