Government And Institutions

A New Jersey couple sued an insurance company Friday, claiming it defrauded them out of the sales tax in their Superstorm Sandy claim, and their lawyer said others might also have been affected.

A proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages may be seeing new life in Vermont, while prospects for new revenue from bottle deposits and a tax on grocery bags look dim.

The IRS is warning consumers that unscrupulous tax preparers are using the president's health care law to pocket bogus fines from unsuspecting taxpayers, especially immigrants.

Lobbyists say top House Republicans and Democrats are working toward a $200 billion agreement revamping how doctors are paid for treating Medicare patients.

Hardware Sales Inc. of Bellingham, Washington, does about 25 percent of its online business outside the United States.

Gov. Mark Dayton gave railroad companies and Republicans a public tongue-lashing Friday for their resistance to his tax plan to fund safety improvements across Minnesota's railroad network.

With billionaire investor Carl Icahn poised to take over their casino, hundreds of union members picketed outside the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort on Friday, protesting the elimination of health insurance.

The Treasury Department releases federal budget data for February at 2 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.

The federal government ran a slightly smaller deficit in February than a year ago but the imbalance through the first five months of the budget year is still running ahead of last year.

State environmental regulators are investigating more a dozen farm manure spills that have seeped into creeks, rivers and ditches during the past two weeks.

The board of a Spanish bank catering to rich clients has asked permission from the country's central bank to resign after its Andorran owner was accused by the U.S. of money laundering for clients from China, Russia and Venezuela.

A dysfunctional Congress may not make a May 31 deadline for passing a new transportation funding bill, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch told state lawmakers Thursday, but a temporary measure could get Vermont through another road and bridge construction season.

Gov. Tom Wolf's budget proposal is giving Pennsylvania business owners and executives a lot to think about.

Cash from environmental settlements like an Exxon Mobil payout in an oil and chemical contamination case could once again pad the state's general fund under Republican Gov. Chris Christie's latest budget proposal.

Demonstrators protesting New York Police Department policies briefly halted a City Council meeting Thursday as security guards cleared the public from the chambers during Commissioner William Bratton's budget talk.

New York's financial regulators say Commerzbank will pay $1.45 billion, terminate some employees and install an independent monitor because of banking law violations in dollar-clearing transactions on behalf of Iran, Sudan, and a Japanese corporation that engaged in accounting fraud.

Retailer Lumber Liquidators says it stands by its products and will pay for the safety testing of laminate floors for qualifying customers.

Germany's Commerzbank AG is paying $1.71 billion in agreements with U.S. and New York authorities for alleged violations of U.S. sanctions against countries including Iran and lapses in prevention of money laundering.

Figures on government spending and debt (last six digits are eliminated).

Raising the legal age to buy tobacco to higher than 18 would likely prevent premature death for hundreds of thousands of people, according to a report issued Thursday by the Institute of Medicine.