Federal
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November 04, 2024
Justices Let Stand Bar On Late-Filed Returns In Bankruptcy
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would let stand a Ninth Circuit decision finding late-filed returns prevented a taxpayer from discharging his federal tax debt in bankruptcy, rejecting the taxpayer's request to resolve what he described as a significant circuit split.
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November 04, 2024
IRS Finalizes Seized Property Rules To Include Online Sales
The Internal Revenue Service issued final rules Monday meant to modernize regulations governing the seizure of property by levy, including facilitating the online sale of a property and the agency's ability to maximize sale proceeds for the property owner's benefit.
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November 01, 2024
Previously Taxed Profit Rules Due By Year's End, Official Says
The Internal Revenue Service will publish the first tranche of long-awaited regulations on offshore earnings and profits previously taxed in the U.S. before the end of the year, an agency counsel said Thursday.
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November 01, 2024
NOL Rules May Retain Favorable Approach, IRS Counsel Says
New proposed regulations governing business net operating losses that could retain a popular provision allowing some businesses expanded use of those losses are a priority to be published next year, a top Internal Revenue Service lawyer said.
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November 01, 2024
Brazil Should Adopt Latest Pillar 2 Safe Harbor, NFTC Says
Brazil should include the latest updates to globally agreed-upon safe harbors in its legislation to enact an international minimum tax agreement known as Pillar Two, according to the National Foreign Trade Council, which said these measures help prevent double taxation.
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November 01, 2024
Couple Tries To Block IRS Summons Issued For Spain
A couple asked a California federal court to block an IRS summons for their financial information issued on behalf of Spain, saying the demand is tantamount to a fishing expedition meant to help the foreign government prosecute them.
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November 01, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Davis Polk, Wachtell
In this week's Taxation with Representation, BC Partners sells its majority equity interest in GardaWorld, Lone Star Funds sells specialty chemicals company AOC to Nippon Paint Holdings, Crescent Biopharma takes GlycoMimetics private, and Francisco Partners buys AdvancedMD from Global Payments.
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November 01, 2024
Danish Tax Agency To Settle With Atty In $2.1B Tax Fraud Suit
Denmark's tax authority has agreed to settle with an attorney whom it has accused of helping clients claim fraudulent tax refunds in a sprawling $2.1 billion case, according to a letter by its attorney in New York federal court.
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November 01, 2024
GOP Gains Could Prompt Push For Endowment Tax Hike
If Republicans make significant gains in the upcoming elections, it could clear the way for GOP lawmakers to push to boost taxes on the endowments of some private colleges and universities.
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November 01, 2024
IRS Ups Contribution Limit For 401(k), Other Plans
The annual amount that employees can contribute to various retirement plans has been increased to $23,500 from $23,000 as part of cost-of-living adjustments released Friday by the IRS.
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November 01, 2024
CFC Dividend Tax Issue Brewing In Exams, IRS Official Says
A memorandum from the IRS chief counsel explaining why a controlled foreign corporation cannot claim a 100% deduction for certain foreign-based earnings was necessary to inform field agents dealing with the issue in the exam process, an agency official said Thursday.
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November 01, 2024
Accountant Gets 1 Year For Failing To Report Stolen Income
An accountant for a manufacturing company who embezzled more than $800,000 and failed to report it on his tax returns was sentenced to just over a year in prison and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution, according to New Jersey federal court documents.
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November 01, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included the annual inflation adjustments to over 60 tax provisions.
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October 31, 2024
Man Didn't Justify His Claims He Couldn't Pay, Tax Court Says
The Internal Revenue Service didn't abuse its discretion when it upheld levies to collect over $58,000 in outstanding tax liabilities, including penalties and interest, after a man failed to substantiate his claims of medical hardship, the U.S. Tax Court said Thursday.
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October 31, 2024
Treasury Using Help To Clear Pillar 1 'Logjam,' Official Says
Other executive agencies in President Joe Biden's administration have backed the U.S. Treasury Department in urging negotiators at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to reach a final deal on the international taxing rights overhaul known as Pillar One, a top Treasury official said Thursday.
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October 31, 2024
Exxon Entitled To Interest Deduction On Qatar Deal
Exxon Mobil is entitled to an interest expense deduction on payments to Qatar under a natural gas deal, a Texas federal judge ruled, rejecting the U.S. government's classification of an underlying transaction as a royalty rather than a loan.
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October 31, 2024
Treasury Official Previews M&A Details For Corp. AMT Rules
U.S. rulemakers plan to further address how the country's corporate alternative minimum tax applies to transactions including spinoffs and deals that involve a member of a tax consolidated group, a U.S. Treasury Department official said Thursday.
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October 31, 2024
4 Ways Congress Could Try To Close The Tax Gap
The gap between federal taxes owed and paid — recently estimated at $696 billion for 2022 — could be addressed in several ways, including increasing information reporting or simplifying the tax code, experts told Law360.
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October 31, 2024
Pro Baller Avoids Prison Over Tax, Child Support Scam
A professional basketball player was sentenced to three years of probation in Ohio federal court after being charged with conspiracy and wire fraud for allegedly attempting to avoid paying child support and taxes for several years.
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October 31, 2024
6th Circ. Wary Of Bid To Overturn $500M Win For Truck Co.
Sixth Circuit judges seemed skeptical Thursday of the government's $500 million bid to overturn a Tennessee jury's decision that a company's refurbished trucks qualified for a safe harbor from excise taxes, saying the government's reading of a tax provision was unclear.
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October 31, 2024
The 2024 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard
Check out the Law360 Pulse Leaderboard to see which firms made the list of leaders in all-around excellence this year.
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October 31, 2024
Firms' Hiring Strategies Are Evolving In Fight For Top Spot
Competition for top talent among elite law firms shows no signs of slowing down, even amid economic uncertainty, with financially strong firms deploying aggressive strategies to attract and retain skilled professionals to solidify their market position.
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October 31, 2024
11th Circ. Nixes ERISA Claim To John Hancock's $100M Credit
John Hancock Life Insurance Co. had no fiduciary duty to pass on to retirement plans $100 million in foreign tax credits that it had taken from taxes paid on foreign investments, a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit said in upholding a lower court ruling.
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October 30, 2024
FinCEN Extends BOI Report Deadline For Hurricane Victims
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has extended deadlines for submitting beneficial ownership information for victims of recent hurricanes, offering an additional six months to file or update reports, or to correct prior reports.
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October 30, 2024
Jury Finds Importer Didn't Report $17M On Tax Returns
A Los Angeles jury found an importer of Chinese clothing guilty of skirting more than $8 million in customs duties and failing to report more than $17 million in cash transactions on tax returns, federal prosecutors in California announced Wednesday.
Expert Analysis
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Newman Suspension Shows Need For Judicial Reform
The recent suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman following her alleged refusal to participate in a disability inquiry reveals the need for judicial misconduct reforms to ensure that judges step down when they can no longer serve effectively, says Aliza Shatzman at The Legal Accountability Project.
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How And Why Your Firm Should Implement Fixed-Fee Billing
Amid rising burnout in the legal industry and client efforts to curtail spending, pivoting to a fixed-fee billing model may improve client-attorney relationships and offer lawyers financial, logistical and stress relief — while still maintaining profit margins, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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How Law Firms Can Use Account-Based Marketing Strategies
Amid several evolving legal industry trends, account-based marketing can help law firms uncover additional revenue-generating opportunities with existing clients, with key considerations ranging from data analytics to relationship building, say Jennifer Ramsey at stage LLC and consultant Gina Sponzilli.
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While Risks Exist, AI Could Transform IRS Enforcement
The Internal Revenue Service's recently announced use of artificial intelligence could revolutionize the agency's enforcement efforts, and transparency about its use and a forum for challenging AI findings could help mitigate fears that the technology will increase bias, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.
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Strategic Succession Planning At Law Firms Is Crucial
Senior partners' reluctance to retire, the rise of the nonequity partner tier and generational differences in expectations are all contributing to an increasing number of departures from BigLaw, making it imperative for firms to encourage retirement among senior ranks and provide clearer leadership pathways to junior attorneys, says Laura Leopard at Leopard Solutions.
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Maximizing Law Firm Profitability In Uncertain Times
As threats of an economic downturn loom, firms can boost profits by embracing the power of bottom-line management and creating an ecosystem where strategic financial oversight and robust timekeeping practices meet evolved client relations, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.
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Enforcement Of International Tax Reporting Is Heating Up
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s February decision in Bittner v. U.S. changed how penalties for failure to report offshore accounts are calculated, recent developments suggest the government is preparing to step up enforcement and vigorously pursue the collection of resulting penalties, say Daniel Silva and Agustin Ceballos at Buchalter.
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How Gov't Agencies Will Fare In The Event Of A Shutdown
With a federal shutdown potentially set to begin at the end of this month, it may be useful to consider the approximate timelines that agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and IRS have announced for curtailing operations, and potential strategies for mitigating challenges that may arise while agency functions are limited, say attorneys at Cleary.
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IRS Notice Clarifies R&E Amortization, But Questions Remain
The IRS and Treasury Department’s recent notice clarifying the treatment of specified research and experimental expenditures under Section 174 provides taxpayers and practitioners with substantive guidance, but it misses the mark in delineating which expenditures are amortizable, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Preparing Your Legal Department For Pillar 2 Compliance
Multinational entities should familiarize themselves with Pillar Two of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s BEPs 2.0 project and prepare their internal legal tracking systems for related reporting requirements that may go into effect as early as January, says Daniel Robyn at Ernst & Young.
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What Large Language Models Mean For Document Review
Courts often subject parties using technology assisted review to greater scrutiny than parties conducting linear, manual document review, so parties using large language models for document review should expect even more attention, along with a corresponding need for quality control and validation, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Participating In Living History Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My role as a baron in a living history group, and my work as volunteer corporate counsel for a book series fan association, has provided me several opportunities to practice in unexpected areas of law — opening doors to experiences that have nurtured invaluable personal and professional skills, says Matthew Parker at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
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Private Equity Owners Can Remedy Law Firms' Agency Issues
Nonlawyer, private-equity ownership of law firms can benefit shareholders and others vulnerable to governance issues such as disparate interests, and can in turn help resolve agency problems, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.