Federal

  • November 15, 2024

    Fla. Health Co. Owner Pleads Guilty In $11M Payroll Tax Case

    A Florida healthcare business owner who caused a tax loss to the IRS of nearly $11 million pled guilty in a Miami federal court to failing to pay employment taxes and not filing his income tax returns, the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday.

  • November 15, 2024

    Applicable Federal Rates Set To Increase In Dec.

    Applicable federal rates for income tax purposes will increase across the board in December, reversing a decline spanning months, the Internal Revenue Service said Friday.

  • November 15, 2024

    Taxation With Representation: Cravath, MoFo, Gibson Dunn

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Cardinal Health takes a majority stake in GI Alliance and acquires Advanced Diabetes Supply Group, Just Eat offloads Grubhub to Wonder Group, Rivian Automotive and Volkswagen Group launch a joint venture, and Ovintiv Inc. buys Montney Basin assets from Paramount Resources Ltd.

  • November 15, 2024

    Judge Advises Axing Bank's Home Stake In $1.7M Tax Dispute

    A federal magistrate judge recommended jettisoning any interest of JPMorgan Chase Bank NA in a California home the government wants to sell to recover $1.7 million in taxes, saying the bank, as a loan holder, hasn't responded to the government's lawsuit seeking the sale.

  • November 15, 2024

    Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin

    The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included increases to the annual amount employees can contribute to various retirement plans as part of the agency's cost-of-living adjustments.

  • November 14, 2024

    Cos. Tell Court To Make IRS Process Worker Retention Credits

    Two companies that help clients obtain pandemic-era employee retention tax credits asked an Arizona federal court to stop the Internal Revenue Service from issuing what they claim are batch denials based on faulty automated systems, saying the agency is required to individually review all claims.

  • November 14, 2024

    TIGTA Head Pick Pledges To Support IRS Modernization

    President Joe Biden's pick for Treasury inspector general for tax administration pledged during a Senate panel nomination hearing Thursday to support the Internal Revenue Service's modernization efforts and be as apolitical as his predecessor.

  • November 14, 2024

    Widow Owes $613K After Mexican Tax Dodge, US Tells Court

    The widow of a Texas man faces $613,000 in penalties that her husband incurred by failing to report his foreign bank accounts, the U.S. told a federal court, arguing that she participated in a Mexican real estate transaction to avoid paying the penalties he owed.

  • November 14, 2024

    Senate Fills Last Remaining Tax Court Seat

    The Senate approved the last of President Joe Biden's nominees to serve on the U.S. Tax Court, marking the sixth judge the chamber has confirmed to the court this year.

  • November 14, 2024

    IRS Asks Court To Toss Woman's Inheritance Tax Penalty Suit

    A woman who missed the deadline for reporting that she received a $350,000 inheritance isn't allowed to sue the IRS for acting arbitrarily in charging her a late penalty because other remedies to her complaint are available to her, the agency told a California federal court Thursday.

  • November 14, 2024

    Duo Charged With Hacking Tax Firms In Refund Fraud Scheme

    Boston federal prosecutors have unsealed charges against two men who allegedly used information hacked and stolen from Massachusetts tax preparation firms to pocket more than $1.3 million from fraudulent tax returns.

  • November 14, 2024

    DC Circ. Won't Rethink Denial Of Church Tax Exemption

    The D.C. Circuit rejected a request to reconsider the tax status of an Iowa church that used a psychedelic drug in its rites, letting stand its decision that because the church uses a federally illegal drug, it isn't entitled to tax-exempt status.

  • November 13, 2024

    Judge Cites 'Deterrence' In Attys' Tax Scheme Prison Sentence

    Two St. Louis tax attorneys and a North Carolina insurance agent's pleas for leniency were largely ignored Wednesday by a federal judge sentencing them for their role in a multimillion-dollar tax avoidance scheme, with the judge declaring that the need for public deterrence was too great to let them off the hook without prison time.

  • November 13, 2024

    Tax Fraud A Potential Topic In Lame-Duck Session, Aides Say

    Congress could include disaster-related tax relief and a legislative fix in a year-end package to address rampant fraud associated with the employee retention tax credit, staffers for the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance committees said Wednesday.

  • November 13, 2024

    Election Clouds Timing of Final Corp. AMT Rules, Official Says

    The Internal Revenue Service's timeline for producing final regulations for the corporate alternative minimum tax will depend on priorities set by whomever President-elect Donald Trump picks to lead the U.S. Department of the Treasury, an IRS official said Wednesday.

  • November 13, 2024

    Senate Panel To Consider Nominee For Tax Inspector General

    The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing Thursday to consider the nomination of David Samuel Johnson to be the inspector general for tax administration, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced Wednesday.

  • November 13, 2024

    $545K FBAR Fine Is Unconstitutional, Ex-Professor Tells Court

    An 86-year-old former college professor's penalty of $545,000 for failing to report foreign bank accounts is excessive and violates the Eighth Amendment, he told a California federal court.

  • November 13, 2024

    3rd Circ. Wary Of Easing Cheesesteak Shop Owner's Sentence

    Third Circuit judges seemed mostly skeptical of overturning an extension to the prison sentence of a Philadelphia cheesesteak shop owner who admitted to paying employees off the books, saying during oral arguments it was unclear whether the employees should be considered co-conspirators in the tax fraud.

  • November 13, 2024

    IRS Issues Corp. Bond Monthly Yield Curve For Nov.

    The Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday published the corporate bond monthly yield curve for November for use in calculations for defined benefit plans, as well as corresponding segment rates and other related provisions.

  • November 13, 2024

    Feds Want 2 Years' Jail For Biz Owner In $2.8M Tax Scheme

    A construction company owner who paid workers off the books by pretending they were subcontractors, even after one of them died, should serve two years in prison and pay $2.8 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for the tax loss, prosecutors told a Massachusetts federal court.

  • November 12, 2024

    Ex-ComEd Exec Asked If Madigan Hires Truly An 'Exchange'

    Defense attorneys got their chance Tuesday to grill an ex-Commonwealth Edison executive who testified the utility hired people who did little to no work at the behest of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, asking if it truly traded those jobs for Madigan's action on ComEd legislation or if the company was just building goodwill with a key decision-maker.

  • November 12, 2024

    House Rejects Bill To Delay Tax Deadlines For Hostages

    The U.S. House of Representatives rejected Tuesday a bill that would have delayed tax deadlines and reimbursed late fees for Americans held hostage or unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad.

  • November 12, 2024

    Woman Asks Justices To Review IRS Social Security Levy

    A Florida woman asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Eleventh Circuit's denial of her challenge to the IRS' garnishment of her Social Security payments, saying in a petition docketed Tuesday that the appellate court wrongly found she had failed to exhaust possible administrative remedies.

  • November 12, 2024

    Mass. Court Says IRS Deal Didn't Fix Man's State Tax Debt

    The former corporate officer of a now-defunct Massachusetts company didn't overpay on his outstanding tax liability despite entering into a settlement agreement with the Internal Revenue Service, a state appeals court said Tuesday.

  • November 12, 2024

    Tax Court Drills Teacher With Frivolous Argument Penalty

    A Georgia high school teacher's claim that roughly $86,000 in income he received didn't qualify as wages was not just incorrect but frivolous, the U.S. Tax Court said Tuesday, upholding the IRS' determination that he owed taxes on that income as well a $25,000 penalty.

Featured Stories

  • New Clean Electricity Credits At Risk In 2025 Tax Talks

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    Clean electricity tax credits in the Democrats' signature climate law could be scaled back amid next year's effort by President-elect Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers to quickly renew expiring provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act once they're in office.

  • Trump, GOP Victories May Imperil OECD Global Tax Plan

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    President-elect Donald Trump's and Republicans' victories in the U.S. elections this month call into question whether the OECD's two-pillar global tax plan can be effectively implemented and whether the plan's minimum tax backstop rule can be applied amid threats of retaliatory tax measures by the U.S.

  • Disaster Tax Relief Could Be On Slate In Lame-Duck Session

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    Congress returns to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday following former President Donald Trump's reelection, and while lawmakers will likely be gearing up for next year's tax negotiations, there are some tax policies that could pass during the lame-duck session, including disaster tax relief.

Expert Analysis

  • Cos. Should Inventory Issues To Prep For New Congress

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    As the legislative and oversight agendas of the 119th Congress come into sharper focus, corporate counsel should assess and plan for areas of potential oversight risk — from tax policy changes to supply chain integrity — even as much uncertainty remains, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Conservation Easement Cases Weave Web Of Uncertainty

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    Much of the IRS and Justice Department’s recent success in prosecuting syndicated conservation easement cases can be attributed to the government’s focus on the so-called PropCo ratio, which could indicate treacherous waters ahead for participants and their advisers, even under the incoming Trump administration, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Legislation Most Likely To Pass In Lame Duck Session

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    As Congress begins its five-week post-election lame duck session, attorneys at Greenberg Traurig break down the legislative priorities and which proposals can be expected to pass.

  • What Trump's 2nd Presidency Could Mean For Crypto Sector

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    Trump's second term will bring a fundamental shift from the Biden administration's approach to crypto-asset regulation and banking supervision, with the most significant changes likely taking effect in the first two quarters of 2025 and broader policy shifts emerging over the next year, say attorneys at Cahill.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Striking A Balance Between AI Use And Attorney Well-Being

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    As the legal industry increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence tools to boost efficiency, leaders must note the hidden costs of increased productivity, and work to protect attorneys’ well-being while unlocking AI’s full potential, says Ed Sohn at Factor.

  • Takeaways From The IRS' Crypto Doc Summons Win

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    A recent First Circuit decision holding that taxpayers do not have a Fourth Amendment reasonable expectation of privacy in cryptocurrency transaction records should prompt both taxpayers and exchanges to take stock of past transactions and future plans, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.

  • Ex-Chicago Politician's Case May Further Curb Fraud Theories

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear Thompson v. U.S. to determine whether a statement that is misleading but not false still violates federal law, potentially heralding the court’s largest check yet on prosecutors’ expansive fraud theories, with significant implications for sentencing, say attorneys at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.