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Luca CM Melchionna, Esq., Managing member Luca CM Melchionna has 25+ years of experience in both private practice and academia, in Italy and in the United States. He is a...
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About us
Mission and Values
Mission Melchionna PLLC is an indipendent law firm. Melchionna PLLC’s mission is to provide outstanding legal services and tax advice. We focus on building a relationship with...
About us
Melchionna PLLC, a law firm with a focus on business, corporate, tax, and IP law.
About us Melchionna PLLC represents and assists North American and European business clients in achieving their goals with sound legal advice and innovative solutions to current...
Alcohol Law
Online alcohol sales benefit of a new regulatory approach
During the Covid-19 pandemic, alcohol sales and home delivery services for wine, beer and spirits are on the rise. This is due to a novel regulatory approach that changed alcohol...
Business law
CARES Act. PPP loans to foreign-owned small businesses (FOSB). April 3, 2020 SBA Guidance.
The CARES Act, enacted March 27, 2020, (P.L. 116-136) includes the new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which offers forgivable loans from $1,000 up to $10 million to small...
Business law
The 2020 CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act – Summary – Business Loan Application and Forgiveness (2020 CARES Act) – Paycheck Protection Program – March 30, 2020 (6:34pm)
On March 25, 2020, the United States Senate unanimously approved a $2 trillion rescue package to combat the Covid-19-induced economic downturn...
Business law
The 2020 CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act – Summary. March, 27 2020 – 10:30 am
On March 25, 2020, the United States Senate unanimously approved a $2 trillion rescue package to combat the Covid-19-induced economic downturn...
International tax
Tax Inversion under Italian and U.S. Regulations
Abstract “Esterovestizione” – a.k.a. “tax inversion” or “corporate expatriation” is the practice of moving a domestic parent company to a foreign jurisdiction with a lower tax...
Business law
COVID-19 – Legal, corporate, and tax advisory
As a law firm with global reach, Melchionna PLLC would like to reaffirm its support to clients and prospective clients affected by the worldwide spread of the COVID-19 (COrona...
Tax Law
Chamberlain and Edelman: double taxation, the dormant commerce clause and a few planning considerations
In the 2015 case Comptroller of Treasury of Md. v Wynne, 575 U. S. 542 (2015)(‘Wynne‘) the United States Supreme Court affirmed that a state’s...
M&A and corporate law
When and how to pull levers: intent and enforceability of term sheet/letter of intent
Introduction A term sheet (TS) should be able to document with reasonable clarity and transparency corporate intent to reach certain goals. Similar to a TS, a letter of intent...
Tax Law
Corporate tax reform in Missouri
Missouri’s Senate Bill 884 of 2018 (the “Act”), which lowered the corporate rate from 6.25% to 4%, became effective on January 1st this year, making the state one of the lowest...
Business law
California’s new data privacy law
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) entered into effect on January 1, 2020, bringing with it a slew of new protectionary measures for consumer data. Below is a summary of...
Online alcohol sales benefit of a new...
During the Covid-19 pandemic, alcohol sales and home delivery services for wine, beer and spirits are on the rise. This is due to a novel regulatory approach that changed alcohol distribution rules. As of today, 42 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia have adopted some (more or less binding) stay-at-home orders due to the Covid-19 outbreak. While many businesses are either shutting down or asking employees to work remotely, the US alcohol industry is booming as more people order from home.
During the week ending March 21, 2020 – the same week that California issued the nation’s first state-wide lockdown order – total alcohol sales rose by 55% across the country. Sales of hard alcohol rose 75%; wine 66% and beer 42%. By the end of March, online alcohol sales had risen 243%. The changing economic circumstances have led some states to relax their otherwise tight regulations on alcohol sales, distribution, and delivery to satisfy 250 million Americans staying home.
The Illinois Liquor Authority, for example, typically requires two separate licenses for establishments that make both off-premise and on-premise alcohol sales. For the duration of the pandemic, however, the liquor authority has granted municipalities the ability to permit restaurants to offer alcohol on their takeout and delivery menus. New York has taken similar measures to allow restaurants to deliver alcohol with food orders.
Alcohol delivery services have benefitted substantially from the decreased foot traffic through traditional alcohol retailers. Delivery app Drizly’s sales were up approximately 300% in March compared to earlier this year, and 41% of orders came from new customers.
Another delivery platform, Minibar Delivery, saw a 131% increase in sales in mid-March.
Both platforms say the average order amount increased by more than 20%.
These temporary policy changes are currently sustaining the food and beverage industry, and at least for the first month of lockdown, policymakers’ efforts have been successful. The industry is already discussing whether to extend these changes indefinitely.