Federal
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August 21, 2024
Wisconsin Latest State To Join Direct File For 2025
The Internal Revenue Service's free electronic tax filing program, Direct File, will be available in Wisconsin for the 2025 tax filing season, the IRS and U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday.
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August 21, 2024
Scrap Metal Dealer Cops To Converter Theft Conspiracy
A North Carolina scrap metal dealer has pled guilty to theft and tax charges associated with a catalytic converter theft conspiracy spanning several states, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
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August 21, 2024
Pros Tell IRS To Ease Off Foreign Gift Reporting Penalties
The Internal Revenue Service should take a more lenient approach when considering penalty abatements for certain individuals who fail to report large foreign gifts under proposed disclosure regulations, practitioners told the agency Wednesday.
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August 21, 2024
Tax Biz Owner Says Any Errant Returns Were Honest Mistakes
The owner of a Miami tax preparation business rejected the government's claim that she deliberately falsified client returns, telling a Florida federal court that she relied in good faith on the information provided to her by her customers.
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August 21, 2024
IRS Issues Corrections For Credit Transfer Rules
The Internal Revenue Service issued corrections Wednesday to final regulations concerning the election under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to transfer certain tax credits.
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August 20, 2024
Mich. Man To Face Loan, Wire Fraud Charges Despite Mistrial
A Michigan business owner already accused of COVID-19 loan fraud cannot have a superseding wire fraud charge tossed even though a mistrial was declared in the loan fraud case, a Michigan federal judge has ruled.
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August 20, 2024
IRS Fee Hikes Threaten Tax Justice For Small Businesses
The Internal Revenue Service is expected to continue raising the cost for private letter rulings that clarify tax matters and provide taxpayer certainty, prompting concerns among tax professionals that economic justice may become unattainable for small businesses unable to bear these escalating costs.
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August 20, 2024
Insider Trading Won't Impact Pilot's Tax Sentencing Guidelines
A Manhattan federal judge found Tuesday that insider trading allegations won't bump up the guidelines sentencing range for a pilot for U.K. billionaire Joe Lewis who pled guilty to tax evasion.
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August 20, 2024
Temple Law Prof, Kostelanetz Atty To Lead ABA Tax Section
A longtime professor at the Temple University Beasley School of Law and a seasoned tax controversy partner at Kostelanetz LLP will together helm the American Bar Association Section of Taxation for the 2025-2026 term, the firm announced Tuesday.
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August 20, 2024
Tax Prep Biz Falsified Credits, Caused $41M Loss, US Says
A cosmetologist who started her own tax-preparation business in Houston caused $40.7 million in tax losses with the help of her husband by falsifying returns, including improperly claiming pandemic-era credits, the U.S. government told a Texas federal court Tuesday.
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August 20, 2024
Allen Matkins Tax Group Leader Jumps To Covington In LA
Covington & Burling LLP has added to its Los Angeles office a partner with more than 20 years of experience who most recently led Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP's tax group, describing the new hire as "one of the country's leading authorities on partnership tax."
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August 20, 2024
Trade Group Urges Consistency In Pillar 2 Reporting Standard
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development should focus on making sure there is a standardized approach to acquiring the cross-jurisdiction information required for Pillar Two global minimum tax returns while also minimizing the compliance burden, the National Foreign Trade Council said Tuesday.
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August 20, 2024
Son Can't Protect Property In $10M Tax Case, US Says
A man whose father is serving a 22-year fraud sentence shouldn't be allowed to stop the IRS from seizing property he claims he bought fairly from his parents, the U.S. government told a Georgia federal court, saying he's a nominee of his parents, who owe $10 million in taxes.
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August 20, 2024
A Deep Dive Into Law360 Pulse's 2024 Women In Law Report
The legal industry continues to see incremental gains for female lawyers in private practice in the U.S., according to a Law360 Pulse analysis, with women now representing 40.6% of all attorneys and 51% of all associates.
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August 20, 2024
These Firms Have The Most Women In Equity Partnerships
The legal industry still has a long way to go before it can achieve gender parity at its upper levels. But these law firms are performing better than others in breaking the proverbial glass ceiling that prevents women from attaining leadership roles.
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August 20, 2024
IRS Proposes Update To Qualified Domestic Trust Regs
The Internal Revenue Service proposed regulations Tuesday that would update federal estate tax rules for estates of decedents passing property to or for the benefit of a noncitizen spouse in a domestic trust in cases where the executor has made an election to be a qualified domestic trust.
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August 19, 2024
Hunter Biden Loses Bid To Duck Tax Case In Calif.
Hunter Biden cannot escape his criminal tax case set to go to trial next month, a Los Angeles federal judge ruled Monday, saying Biden's latest motion comes too late.
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August 19, 2024
'Ghost' Prepper Hasn't Met Settlement Terms, Court Told
A Connecticut businessman accused of "ghost preparing" — filing customers' taxes without the required personal tax identification numbers — and inflating their refunds has failed to shut down his companies as part of the terms of an earlier settlement, the federal government has claimed.
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August 19, 2024
Eaton Ordered To Give Int'l Employee Records To IRS
Eaton Corp. must disclose employment records for some European workers in its transfer pricing dispute with the U.S. government because public interest in curtailing tax avoidance outweighs the interest in protecting the workers' privacy, an Ohio federal judge ruled Monday.
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August 19, 2024
Danish Gov't Wants Evidence Excluded In $2B Tax Fraud Case
A New York federal court should exclude some evidence presented by U.S. pension plans accused in what the Danish tax agency is calling a $2.1 billion tax fraud scheme, the agency said.
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August 19, 2024
Spouse Asks Tax Court To Reconsider Relief Request
A woman barred from innocent spouse relief on grounds that tax debt related to an erroneously issued refund doesn't qualify asked the U.S. Tax Court to reconsider, saying she's entitled to the break for any unpaid tax liability.
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August 19, 2024
IRS Issues Student Loan Matching Contribution Guidance
The Internal Revenue Service issued guidance Monday for employers wanting to take advantage of a retirement plan overhaul that for the first time allows certain plan sponsors to provide matching contributions based on student loan payments.
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August 19, 2024
H&R Block's Case On In-House Judges' Role Is Paused
A Missouri federal judge who refused to halt Federal Trade Commission proceedings accusing H&R Block of deceptive advertising agreed to pause, while the company appeals her refusal, a district court case in which the company has argued that administrative judges should be booted from the proceedings.
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August 19, 2024
IRS Expands Business Tax Account Program Payment Options
The Internal Revenue Service's business tax account online self-service tool for business taxpayers will now allow taxpayers to view and make balance-due payments, the agency announced Monday, also saying the service is now available in Spanish.
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August 19, 2024
Treasury Floats Timing Shift For Foreign Currency Accounting
The U.S. Treasury Department proposed regulations Monday that would adjust the timing for when companies could opt to use the so-called mark-to-market accounting method for gains or losses that arise from foreign currency transactions.
Expert Analysis
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Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.
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How FinCEN Proposal Expands RE Transaction Obligations
Against a regulatory backdrop foreshadowing anti-money laundering efforts in the real estate sector, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's proposed rule significantly expands reporting requirements for certain nonfinanced residential real estate transfers and necessitates careful review, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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What To Know About Employee Retention Credit Disclosures
Employers that filed potentially erroneous employee retention credit claims should take certain steps to determine whether the IRS’ voluntary disclosure program is a good fit and, if so, prepare a strong application before the window closes on March 22, say attorneys at Dentons.
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Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.
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Unpacking FinCEN's Proposed Real Estate Transaction Rule
Phil Jelsma and Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner take a close look at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recently proposed rulemaking — which mandates new disclosures for professionals involved in all-cash real estate deals — and discuss best next steps for the broad range of businesses that could be affected.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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The Corporate Transparency Act Isn't Dead Yet
After an Alabama federal court's ruling last week rendering the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional, changes to the law may ultimately be required, but ongoing compliance is still the best course of action for most, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.
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How New EU Tax And Transfer Pricing Rules May Affect M&A
Companies involved in mergers and acquisitions may need to adjust fiscal due diligence procedures to ensure they consider potential far-reaching effects of newly implemented transfer pricing measures, such as newly implemented global minimum tax and European Union anti-tax avoidance directives and proposals, says Patrick Tijhuis at BDO.
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Employers, Prep For Shorter Stock Awards Settlement Cycle
Companies that provide equity compensation in the form of publicly traded stock will soon have one less day to complete such transactions under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nasdaq rules — so employers should implement expedited equity compensation stock settlement and payroll tax deposit procedures now, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Demystifying IRS' Claims Of $851B Return On Investment
The IRS' recently released analysis, estimating a $851 billion return on the government’s $80 billion investment in the agency, represents a huge increase over its 2022 estimate and that of the Congressional Budget Office and may be best viewed as a best-case scenario, says Joyce Beebe at the Baker Institute.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.