Federal
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August 16, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Cleary, Kirkland, Skadden
In this week's Taxation with Representation, Mars Inc. sets a 2024 record with its $36 billion acquisition of Kellanova, Carlyle inks a $3.8 billion purchase with Baxter International Inc., and Performance Food Group Co. agrees to a $2.1 billion cash deal with Cheney Bros. Inc.
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August 15, 2024
Doctor Wants Contempt Fine Dropped In Foreign Asset Case
A doctor who incurred $1.1 million in liabilities for failing to report his foreign bank accounts is asking a Michigan federal court to waive his $20,000 civil contempt fine because the court restricted his only financial assets to paying the liabilities.
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August 15, 2024
Applicable Federal Interest Rates To Drop In September
Applicable federal rates for income tax purposes will decrease in September, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday, the third month-to-month drop in a row.
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August 15, 2024
IRS Nix Of $52M Easement Deduction Invalid, Donor Says
An Alabama partnership asked the U.S. Tax Court to reverse an Internal Revenue Service adjustment that cut its roughly $52 million deduction for its donation of a conservation easement, saying, among other things, that the IRS defied the Administrative Procedure Act.
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August 15, 2024
Partnership's $47M Easement Deduction Is Fraud, IRS Says
A North Carolina partnership lied and hid details related to a fraudulent conservation easement donation for 2018, the Internal Revenue Service told the U.S. Tax Court, saying the partnership is wrong in claiming the IRS improperly slashed its almost $47 million corresponding tax deduction.
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August 15, 2024
Tax Pros Navigate Chaos, Rewards In Climate Law's 2nd Year
Energy tax attorneys have been knee-deep in project finance deals for the past year since the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 triggered a flurry of clean energy investments, but the work, they say, has been fulfilling as part of broader efforts to save the environment.
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August 15, 2024
IRS Reopens Improper Retention Credit Disclosure Program
Businesses that think they improperly received COVID-era employee retention credits have another chance to apply for a voluntary disclosure program that could reduce their penalty and allow them to avoid future audits, penalties and interest, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday.
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August 15, 2024
Ga. Man Accused Of Trying To Steal $1.9M In COVID Funds
A Georgia man was indicted in a scheme to steal $1.9 million in pandemic relief money and accused of wire fraud, submitting fraudulent federal tax returns and stealing dozens of Social Security numbers, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
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August 15, 2024
IRS Corrects Regs For Digital Asset Brokers, Energy Credits
The Internal Revenue Service issued corrections to three sets of final regulations Thursday, including those related to digital asset brokers and two clean energy tax credit provisions.
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August 14, 2024
Disbarred Atty Admits To Tax Evasion Over Mass Tort Fees
A disbarred attorney pled guilty to a single count of tax evasion Wednesday in Pennsylvania federal court stemming from allegations he didn't pay taxes on more than $100 million in legal fees he earned from representing 4,300 plaintiffs in a mass tort case, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
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August 14, 2024
Tax Court Judge Again Deems CPA's Refund Claim Frivolous
A U.S. Tax Court judge rejected a certified public accountant's calculation that the IRS owed him a nearly $30,000 tax refund, repeating her opinion that the CPA was making frivolous arguments in claiming he owed no taxes on his income.
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August 14, 2024
Medical Device Maker Pleads Guilty To $2.4M Tax Evasion
A man who made millions of dollars on medical devices and sold one purporting to eradicate viruses by using sound waves pled guilty to evading $2.4 million in taxes in a trust scheme involving his girlfriend, according to Florida federal court documents.
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August 14, 2024
DC Tax Relief Can Aid Office Projects, But It's No 'Silver Bullet'
While tax relief programs may help a handful of office conversion projects in Washington, D.C., and make financial sense, much more needs to happen to bring the city's struggling downtown back to life again, real estate experts say.
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August 13, 2024
Hunter Biden Says Corruption Claims Don't Belong In Tax Trial
Hunter Biden has urged a California federal judge to bar a jury weighing his tax charges from hearing any allegations of corruption regarding foreign sources of income for fear it would "insinuate extraneous, politically charged matters" into the trial.
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August 13, 2024
Gov't Seeks To Use Liens To Nab Decades-Old $2.8M Tax Debt
A businessman and his trust face the prospect of losing a New York property as the Internal Revenue Service asked a federal court to set aside conveyances to him of property with IRS tax liens and collect on a $2.8 million tax debt.
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August 13, 2024
Walz Backed Tax Hikes Funding Plans For Children, Families
As Minnesota's governor, Democrat Tim Walz, now the presumed vice presidential nominee of his party, separated himself from most other governors by signing into law numerous tax increases funding progressive priorities such as a paid family leave plan and the nation's largest child tax credit.
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August 13, 2024
Treasury's Loss Rules Take Broad Approach To Min. Tax Deal
The U.S. Treasury Department recently dashed the hopes of multinational corporations seeking regulations that would have carved out an international minimum tax agreement from interacting with long-standing domestic rules aimed at preventing companies from using the same economic loss twice.
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August 13, 2024
Partnerships' Easement Fight Ends As Gov't Drops IRS Notice
An Alabama federal judge dismissed a complaint by dozens of partnerships claiming they shouldn't have to comply with an IRS notice regarding conservation easement transactions, following an Eleventh Circuit ruling upholding the notice as invalid and the government's agreement not to enforce it.
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August 13, 2024
IRS Delays Tax Deadlines In Vermont After Hurricane Debby
Taxpayers in Vermont will be given until Feb. 3 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments after the state was hit by Hurricane Debby, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.
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August 13, 2024
Tax Court Nixes Loss Deduction, But Owners Owe No Penalty
The Internal Revenue Service was right to determine a business created to provide guidance to real estate owners and investors couldn't claim loss deductions because its business had not actually started, the Tax Court said Tuesday, but the owners are not liable for an accuracy-related penalty.
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August 13, 2024
IRS Wrongly Denied Tomato Cos. Deductions, 9th Circ. Told
Two companies that supply 40% of the United States' tomato paste and diced tomatoes told the Ninth Circuit that the U.S. Tax Court erred in keeping the companies from deducting the costs of restoring their production facilities before the actual restoration occurs.
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August 13, 2024
Firm Asks Court To Reconsider $1.5M Freeze In Tax Dispute
A Baltimore law firm that sued the IRS for freezing $1.5 million in its operating account to satisfy a client's tax debts told a Maryland federal court it was "dead wrong" in denying the firm's request to release the money without going to trial.
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August 13, 2024
Tax Court Design Violates US Law, Widow Tells 11th Circ.
The widow of a grocery store butcher fighting a tax liability upheld by the U.S. Tax Court has told the Eleventh Circuit that the decision should be sent back for reconsideration, arguing that a provision restricting the president's power to remove Tax Court judges is unconstitutional.
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August 13, 2024
IRS Announces Sept. Meeting On Advisory Council Report
The Internal Revenue Service's Advisory Council will hold a public meeting on Sept. 5 to discuss a future report from the council, the agency announced Tuesday.
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August 12, 2024
Accused Accounting Prof Is No Tax Expert, NJ Jury Told
New Jersey federal jurors were urged Monday to keep one word at the front of their minds as they listen to the government present its case against an accounting professor accused of failing to report $3.3 million in income from a pharmacy he co-owned with his wife: willful.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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BF Borgers Clients Should Review Compliance, Liability
After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently announced enforcement proceedings against audit firm BF Borgers for fabricating audit documentation for hundreds of public companies, those companies will need to follow special procedures for disclosure and reporting — and may need to prepare for litigation from the plaintiffs bar, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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What Updated PLR Procedure May Mean For Stock Spin-Offs
A recently published Internal Revenue Service revenue procedure departs from commonly understood interpretations of the spinoff rules by imposing more stringent standards on companies seeking private letter rulings regarding tax-free stock spinoff and split-off transactions, and may presage regulatory changes that would have the force of law, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Proposed Cannabis Reschedule Sidesteps State Law Effects
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent proposal to move cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act provides certain benefits, but its failure to address how the rescheduling would interact with existing state cannabis laws disappointed industry participants hoping for clarity on this crucial question, says Ian Stewart at Wilson Elser.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.