Federal

  • July 10, 2024

    Engineer Who Faced Export Charges Cops To Tax Counts

    A Chinese-born engineer has pled guilty to two counts of filing a false tax return related to allegations that he and his wife omitted gross income from their tax returns between 2015 and 2019, after Texas federal prosecutors initially charged the couple with export violations and fraud. 

  • July 10, 2024

    Tax Court Nominees Vow To Sort Out Post-Chevron Cases

    Three nominees for spots on the U.S. Tax Court assured Senate lawmakers Wednesday that they could resolve cases involving federal regulations and congressional intent after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference doctrine.

  • July 10, 2024

    OECD Publishes Pillar 2 Technical Reporting Language Draft

    The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development published a draft of technical details required to digitally input and disseminate information required for Pillar Two global minimum tax returns Wednesday.

  • July 10, 2024

    Americans Overseas Ask for Clarity In Foreign Trust Regs

    An advocacy group representing U.S. citizens living abroad urged the U.S. Treasury Department to clarify proposed rules for reporting transactions with foreign trusts, contending that guidance should explain which common pension arrangements are exempt from disclosure obligations.  

  • July 10, 2024

    IRS Says Related Biz Arms Must Each Apply For Fuel Credit

    Two related business departments that are both clean fuel producers and that have their own employer identification numbers must each apply on their own for the clean fuel production credit, the Internal Revenue Service said in an FAQ released Wednesday.

  • July 10, 2024

    Chevron's End Won't Affect Cubs Sale Tax Suit, 7th Circ. Told

    An anti-abuse rule the IRS is using to push for taxes on gains from Tribune Media Co.'s sale of the Chicago Cubs is not threatened by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the Chevron deference doctrine, an attorney for the IRS told the Seventh Circuit on Wednesday.

  • July 10, 2024

    IRS Issues Electricity Credit Reference Price For Wind

    The Internal Revenue Service released a 2024 reference price for determining the availability of the renewable electricity production credit for wind energy facilities in a notice issued Wednesday.

  • July 10, 2024

    House Dems Seek IRS Review Of Groups' Church Status

    A group of House Democratic lawmakers asked the Internal Revenue Service to review the tax exemptions of conservative advocacy groups that they contend have improperly received tax-exempt status as churches, according to a letter released Wednesday.

  • July 10, 2024

    5th Circ. Told 'Pay To Litigate' Rule Doesn't Bar Refund Suit

    A couple arguing the IRS failed to apply their tax overpayments to deficiencies claimed by the agency asked the Fifth Circuit to reverse a lower court's dismissal of their suit on the grounds that they hadn't paid their bill, saying the decision effectively asks them to pay twice.

  • July 09, 2024

    IRS Funding At Stake In 2025 Tax Cut Negotiations

    Lawmakers are girding for battle over the soon-to-expire individual tax cuts in the 2017 tax law, and IRS funding will be central to the debate at a time when the agency may be in need of additional resources due to changes in law.

  • July 09, 2024

    House Panel OKs Tax Breaks For More Education Expenses

    The House Ways and Means Committee sent several education-related tax bills to the full House of Representatives on Tuesday, including legislation that would make additional elementary and secondary school expenses eligible for tax-advantaged education savings accounts.

  • July 09, 2024

    Dems Request Special Counsel To Probe Justice Thomas Gifts

    Two Democratic senators have asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate whether U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' failure to disclose various gifts received during his tenure on the high court amounts to chargeable ethics violations or tax crimes.

  • July 09, 2024

    IRS Errors Foul $51M Levy, Calif. Man's Estate Tells Tax Court

    The Internal Revenue Service made a slew of errors in determining a California man's estate faces a $46.2 million estate tax deficiency and a $4.6 million penalty, the estate's executor told the U.S. Tax Court.

  • July 09, 2024

    Veriwave Telco Faces FCC Action Over 'Tax Relief' Robocalls

    The Federal Communications Commission is moving to block robocalls about purported "tax relief" programs from a Delaware-based telecommunications company, announcing in an order Monday that Veriwave Telco had another 14 days to demonstrate compliance with the agency's rules or risk having downstream providers cut its traffic.

  • July 09, 2024

    Senate Tax Panel To Consider 3 Tax Court Nominees

    The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Wednesday to consider three U.S. Tax Court judge nominees, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the panel's chairman, said in a statement Tuesday.

  • July 09, 2024

    5 Firms Steer $513M Ryan-Altus Cross-Border Tax Deal

    Dallas-based tax services and software provider Ryan said Tuesday it has inked a deal to acquire the property tax business of Altus Group Ltd. for CA$700 million ($513.4 million), enlisting three firms to assist on a deal that will expand its footprint in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K.

  • July 09, 2024

    Medical Office Manager Gets 5 Years For Tax, Mail Fraud

    The former office manager of an Illinois medical practice was sentenced to five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $3 million in restitution — most of it to his former employer — after admitting to filing a false tax return and stealing from the practice.

  • July 09, 2024

    Companies Deliberate Pillar 2 Prep After OECD Signals Relief

    Multinational corporations facing the Pillar Two global minimum tax in various jurisdictions are weighing comments from OECD officials that hint at more relief as they decide whether to prepare to comply with the rules now or gamble on the prospects of permanent safe harbors.

  • July 08, 2024

    IRS Details Steps To Take For Scam-Credit Letter Recipients

    The Internal Revenue Service published a fact sheet Monday to help taxpayers respond to letters from the agency identifying tax returns as requiring authentication after the agency said that inaccurate advice from social media and a series of scams led to an increase in questionable refund claims.

  • July 08, 2024

    Continued Worker Credit Freeze Could Push Cos. To Court

    More employers tired of waiting for the Internal Revenue Service to process their employee retention credit refund claims could decide to go to court to force the government to review their submissions following the IRS announcing that a moratorium on processing new claims would remain in place.

  • July 08, 2024

    Ways And Means To Vote On Section 529 Tax Bills

    The House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday on several education-related tax bills, including legislation that would make additional elementary and secondary school expenses eligible for tax-advantaged education savings accounts.

  • July 08, 2024

    Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin

    The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin reported recently issued guidance on exceptions to the 10% additional tax for people who make permissible early retirement account withdrawals for emergency personal expenses and for victims of domestic abuse.

  • July 08, 2024

    IRS Failed To Analyze Storage Costs, TIGTA Says

    The IRS didn't negotiate with the federal agency that stores its paper tax records, instead agreeing to pay a new monthly rate of $2.8 million without doing the required cost analysis, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a report released Monday.

  • July 08, 2024

    Top International Tax Cases Of 2024: Midyear Report

    With a U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming a key 2017 tax provision on repatriation, millions of dollars in FBAR penalties upheld and a French ruling confirming the U.S. government's access to foreign bank accounts, the IRS stacked up important court victories on international enforcement in the first half of 2024. Here, Law360 reviews those and other significant rulings from the past six months.

  • July 08, 2024

    Atty Drops FOIA Suit Against IRS Over Partnership Audits

    An Ohio attorney agreed to drop a public records suit against the Internal Revenue Service that had sought documents related to partnership audits after the agency released thousands of records he had requested, according to a D.C. federal court filing.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices Leave Questions Open On Dual-Purpose Atty Advice

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury on grounds that certiorari was improvidently granted leaves unresolved a circuit split over the proper test for deciding when attorney-client privilege protects a lawyer's advice that has multiple purposes, say Susan Combs and Richard Kiely at Holland & Hart.

  • Employee Retention Tax Credit: Gray Areas And Red Flags

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    The subjective nature of the pandemic-prompted employee retention credit, coupled with a lack of Internal Revenue Service guidance, have created fertile ground for opportunists, so businesses seeking this tax benefit should be mindful of tax advisers who would involve them in fraudulent ERC claims, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • High Court Ax Of Atty-Client Privilege Case Deepens Split

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury as improvidently granted maintains a three-way circuit split on the application of attorney-client privilege to multipurpose communications, although the justices have at least shown a desire to address it, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.

  • Clean Energy Tax Credits' Wage, Apprentice Rules: Key Points

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    The Inflation Reduction Act's complicated prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements for clean energy facility construction tax credits recently took effect — and the learning curve will be more difficult for taxpayers who are not already familiar with such programs, say attorneys at Shearman.

  • Crypto Coverage After FTX Fall: Crime And Custody Coverage

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    Cryptocurrency firm FTX's recent implosion provides a case study for potential crypto exposure under traditional insurance policies, and suggests carriers should ask some basic underwriting questions, including whether a company engages in transactions involving cryptocurrencies or holds digital assets in custody, says Anjali Das at Wilson Elser.

  • US-India Advance Pricing Resolutions Should Reassure Cos.

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    The United States' and India's tax authorities' recent resolution of a significant number of pending advance pricing agreements should reduce taxpayer uncertainty, reassure companies of the nations' good working relationship and improve India's investment environment, say Miller Williams and Caroline Setliffe at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Reimagining Benefits For A World Without Noncompetes

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    Though the Federal Trade Commission's recently proposed noncompete ban is still in its infancy, companies should begin considering whether they would need to retool their payment and benefits packages to comply, while still protecting their competitive edge, say Melissa Ostrower and Alec Nealon at Jackson Lewis.

  • A Closer Look At Rep. Santos' Claims And Potential Charges

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    Skadden partner and former federal prosecutor Maria Cruz Melendez discusses Rep. George Santos' legal exposure following his alleged misrepresentations and the possible scope of investigations into his conduct — noting that if history is any indication, the congressman could face prison time if convicted.

  • Stock Buyback Excise Tax Guidance A Mixed Bag For SPACs

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    Recent IRS guidance on the new stock repurchase excise tax includes a welcome exception for publicly traded special-purpose acquisition companies but does not exclude redemptions in connection with a de-SPAC transaction, and further guidance is needed to clarify ambiguities around the exception's application, say Olga Bogush and Evgeny Magidenko at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Crypto Coverage After FTX Fall: Accountant And Atty Liability

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    The recent fall of cryptocurrency firm FTX highlights complexities regarding accounting and tax reporting for digital assets, and reveals lawyers’ potential liability exposure when providing services to crypto firms — as a result, insurers may face unintended vulnerabilities related to this nebulous landscape, say Anjali Das and Farzana Ahmed at Wilson Elser.

  • The Forces Defining Sales Tax Policy And Compliance In 2023

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    In the coming year, expect to see tax policymakers grapple with the complexity of state and local tax compliance, cryptocurrency, metaverse transactions, and more, says Scott Peterson at Avalara.

  • Inflation Reduction Act's Methane Tax May Be Unenforceable

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    Recent legislation directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to impose a first-ever direct charge on methane emissions from oil and gas operations — but two fundamental problems with the formula for calculating this tax could make it impossible for the EPA to implement, say Poe Leggette and Bailey Bridges at BakerHostetler.

  • Atty-Client Privilege Arguments Give Justices A Moving Target

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    Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case regarding the scope of the attorney-client privilege appeared to raise more questions about multipurpose counsel communications than they answered, as the parties presented shifting iterations of a predictable, easily applied test for evaluating the communications' purpose, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.

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