Federal
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August 29, 2024
Colo. Group Asks US Justices To Revive Ballot Law Dispute
A Colorado organization asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower-court decision upholding a state law requiring financial impacts be included in the titles of some tax-related ballot initiatives.
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August 29, 2024
Couple Tells 5th Circ. Tax Overpayments Enable Refund Suit
A couple claiming they paid their tax bill should not be allowed to sue the Internal Revenue Service for a refund in a federal district court, the government told the Fifth Circuit on Thursday, saying the agency thinks the couple still owes about $480,000.
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August 29, 2024
Day Pitney Lands Former Reuters Tax Counsel In Conn.
Day Pitney LLP continued its recent growth in its tax practice in Connecticut with the addition of an experienced tax attorney from Thomson Reuters.
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August 29, 2024
IRS Expands Accounting Change Waiver Eligibility
The Internal Revenue Service adjusted a previous notice Thursday to modify certain procedures for obtaining automatic consent of the agency commissioner to change methods of accounting for expenditures paid or incurred in taxable years beginning after 2021.
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August 29, 2024
Churches Attack Nonprofit Politics Ban As Unconstitutional
Churches and Christian advocacy groups asked a Texas federal court to declare unconstitutional a provision in the Internal Revenue Code that prevents tax-exempt nonprofits from endorsing political candidates, saying the IRS discriminates against conservative religious groups and churches in applying the law.
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August 29, 2024
IRS Corrects Partnership Conservation Easement Limit Rules
The Internal Revenue Service issued corrections Thursday to finalized rules that curb the conservation easement tax deduction claimed by certain partnerships under the Secure 2.0 Act.
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August 28, 2024
Hunter Biden's Addiction Expert Knocked Out Of Tax Trial
A California federal judge on Tuesday barred Hunter Biden's expected addiction expert from testifying in his upcoming trial on tax charges, saying the expert's opinions hadn't been clearly linked to the specifics of Biden's own struggle.
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August 28, 2024
IRS Declines Watchdog's Ask For Attys In Talks With Big Cos.
The IRS declined a recommendation by its internal watchdog to require the agency's counsel to attend talks held with large multinational corporations by its appellate division, which agents say thwarts their ability to correctly enforce the economic substance doctrine, according to a report.
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August 28, 2024
Pa. Atty Admits To Dodging Taxes On Mass Tort Deal Fees
A Pennsylvania attorney pled guilty Wednesday to failing to pay taxes for approximately $1.2 million in income she received over three years, depriving the government of up to half a million dollars in revenue, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
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August 28, 2024
Feds Looks To Toss Ex-Citizens' Renunciation Fee Challenge
The federal government asked a D.C. federal judge to throw out a lawsuit brought by former U.S. citizens who want their $2,350 citizenship renunciation fee refunded, arguing during a Wednesday hearing that the United States is immune from the litigation and the plaintiffs can't relitigate claims that they already lost.
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August 28, 2024
3 Items Tax Pros Want To See In Student Loan Matching Regs
Practitioners and experts are hoping the IRS will flesh out a recently released notice on student loan matching contributions to retirement plans with details including how to fix errors and whether plans may need to be changed depending on how they provide matches. Here, Law360 explores three issues practitioners and observers want the agency to address.
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August 28, 2024
Mo. Partnership Challenges Nix Of $79M Easement Deduction
The Internal Revenue Service offered no explanation for its claims that a Missouri partnership's conservation easement donation was overvalued and didn't serve a conservation purpose, the partnership told the U.S. Tax Court in challenging the rejection of a $79 million tax deduction.
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August 28, 2024
5th Circ. Upholds Tax Preparer's Sentence, Delays Restitution
The Fifth Circuit upheld a Texas federal jury's conviction that resulted in a prison sentence for a tax preparation service owner for assisting in filing false tax returns, but it determined that the nearly $72,000 in restitution that she owes should be delayed until after her sentence ends.
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August 28, 2024
IRS Must Reconsider Pair's Ability To Pay Tax Liability
The U.S. Tax Court sent a case involving a levy against a pair of Californians for six years' worth of tax deficiencies back to the IRS' Office of Appeals, saying Wednesday that more work needs to be done to determine the couple's ability to pay.
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August 28, 2024
IRS Corrects Proposed Foreign Currency Accounting Regs
The Internal Revenue Service issued corrections Wednesday to proposed rules that would adjust the timing for when companies could opt to use what is known as the mark-to-market accounting method for gains or losses that arise from foreign currency transactions.
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August 28, 2024
NY Firm Calls Gas Co.'s Contract And Fee Claims Duplicative
Albany, New York-based Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP has moved to trim breach of contract and disgorgement of fees claims brought by a former client over allegedly bungled tax advice, telling a New York federal judge the claims are redundant when the ex-client is also pursuing a legal malpractice cause of action.
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August 28, 2024
Atlanta's Ex-CFO Gets 3 Years For 'Triple-Dipping' In Coffers
Atlanta's former chief financial officer became the latest city hall official to head to prison on corruption charges Tuesday, after getting hit with a three-year prison sentence for what prosecutors called a "triple-dipping" scheme into city coffers to pay for swanky vacations and illegal firearms.
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August 28, 2024
Jury Justified In Dismissing $2.2M FBAR Case, Court Rules
A financial adviser will not face a new trial after an Arizona federal court ruled there was sufficient evidence for a jury to clear him in January of failing to report foreign bank accounts, sparing him at least $2.2 million in penalties.
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August 28, 2024
Sysco, IRS Asked To Address Varian's Foreign Dividend Win
The U.S. Tax Court asked food services giant Sysco and the IRS to address how a tax dispute between them is affected by a recent ruling in a similar case that found medical device company Varian can claim a deduction for foreign dividends.
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August 28, 2024
Farm Co. Defends Switch To Amortization In 8th Circ. Tax Fight
An Arkansas company that leases land eligible for government farm subsidies was entitled to start amortizing the acres for better tax treatment without notifying the IRS, the company told the Eighth Circuit, asking the court to overturn a decision denying its related deductions for 2013 and 2014.
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August 28, 2024
Treasury To Require Reports On All-Cash Real Estate Deals
Anyone who transfers real estate to a legal entity in an all-cash transaction, including attorneys, will be required starting Dec. 1, 2025, to inform the U.S. Treasury Department about that entity's beneficial owners and their identification numbers under a final rule issued Wednesday.
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August 28, 2024
Greenberg Traurig Builds PE Team With Kirkland Hires
Greenberg Traurig LLP has brought on two fund formation partners from Kirkland & Ellis LLP to continue its growth into the private equity space, according to an announcement this week by the firm.
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August 28, 2024
IRS Art Advisory Panel To Discuss Appraisals In Sept.
The Internal Revenue Service's Art Advisory Panel will meet next month to discuss fair market appraisals of pieces of art for tax purposes, the agency said Wednesday.
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August 28, 2024
Virgin Islands Tax Deadlines Delayed After Tropical Storm
Taxpayers in the U.S. Virgin Islands will be given until Feb. 3 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments after the area was hit by Tropical Storm Ernesto this month, the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.
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August 28, 2024
Atty Can't Escape Danish Tax Agency's $2.1B Tax Fraud Suit
An attorney in a $2.1 billion tax fraud case brought by the Danish tax authority cannot argue that a suit filed against him as an individual should be dismissed because it was filed late, a New York federal court ruled.
Expert Analysis
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What DOL Fiduciary Rule Means For Private Fund Managers
Attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss how the U.S. Department of Labor's recently released final fiduciary rule, which revises the agency's 1975 regulation, could potentially cause private fund managers' current marketing practices and communications to be considered fiduciary advice, and therefore subject them to strict prohibitions.
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Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence
As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Navigating New Safe Harbor For Domestic Content Tax Credits
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s recent notice simplifying domestic content calculations for certain solar, onshore wind and battery storage projects, which directly acknowledges the difficulty for taxpayers in gathering data to support a domestic content analysis, should make it easier to qualify additional domestic content bonus tax credits, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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'Energy Communities' Update May Clarify Tax Credit Eligibility
A recent IRS notice that includes updated lists of locations where clean energy projects can qualify for additional tax credits — based 2023 unemployment data and placed-in-service dates — should help provide clarity regarding project eligibility that sponsors and developers need, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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How Cannabis Rescheduling May Alter Paraphernalia Imports
The Biden administration's recent proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana use raises questions about how U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement policies may shift when it comes to enforcing a separate federal ban on marijuana accessory imports, says R. Kevin Williams at Clark Hill.
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NCAA Settlement May End The NIL Model As We Know It
The recent House v. NCAA settlement in California federal court, in which the NCAA agreed to allow schools to directly pay March Madness television revenue to their athletes, may send outside name, image and likeness collectives in-house, says Mike Ingersoll at Womble Bond.
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Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.