Federal

  • January 14, 2025

    House GOP Urges TCJA Permanency At First 2025 Tax Hearing

    The 2017 tax law's expiring provisions, including the opportunity zone tax incentives, credit for advanced manufacturing and child tax credit expansion, must be made permanent as soon as possible, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith said Tuesday.

  • January 14, 2025

    IRS Floats Counting Affiliate Pay In $1M Pay Deduction Cap

    Compensation from affiliates of publicly traded companies would count toward the $1 million limit on tax deductions for performance-based pay of high-earning employees under rules proposed Tuesday by the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service.

  • January 14, 2025

    Man Didn't Prove Travel, Vehicle Deductions, Tax Court Says

    An Ohio man the IRS said incorrectly claimed nearly $14,000 in travel- and vehicle-related costs failed to substantiate them, the U.S. Tax Court said Tuesday, including failing to remember the names of trade shows he said he attended in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • January 14, 2025

    Easement Worth $1M, Not $18M, Gov't Tells 11th Circ.

    The U.S. Tax Court was right to believe expert testimony that a claimed conservation easement donation of roughly $18 million was only worth $1 million, the government told the Eleventh Circuit, urging it to reject the donors' claims that the expert was unreliable.

  • January 14, 2025

    IRS Appoints 18 Members To Advisory Council

    The Internal Revenue Service appointed 18 new members to its advisory council to serve three-year terms starting this month, the agency said Tuesday.

  • January 14, 2025

    IRS Releases Latest Surprise Healthcare Bill Calculation Rate

    The Internal Revenue Service provided Tuesday a percentage increase for calculating certain out-of-network healthcare coverage for 2025 under legislation that barred surprise medical bills.

  • January 14, 2025

    Trump Announces Plans To Create 'External Revenue Service'

    President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he planned to create an "External Revenue Service" that would collect tariffs and revenue from foreign countries.

  • January 14, 2025

    IRS Updates Scam Protections For 2025 Filing Season

    The Internal Revenue Service announced changes Tuesday for the 2025 tax filing season designed to help protect taxpayers and tax professionals from scams and schemes, including updates to certain forms and increasing reviews and education.

  • January 14, 2025

    Feds Ask 2 Years For Ex-Pol On Tax, Pandemic Aid Charges

    A former Massachusetts state senator should spend two years in prison after being convicted of illegally obtaining unemployment assistance and filing a false tax return, the federal government argued, citing the "greed" at the heart of the politician's conduct.

  • January 14, 2025

    DOL Finalizes ERISA Voluntary Correction Program Changes

    The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm has finalized changes to a program allowing retirement plan managers to voluntarily self-correct when they fail to forward employee contributions on time or make other transaction errors, according to a notice the agency posted online Tuesday.

  • January 13, 2025

    Special Counsel Slams Biden's Critique Of Son's Prosecution

    The special counsel who oversaw the investigation into Hunter Biden, which was wiped out by a presidential pardon, released a report published Monday criticizing President Joe Biden's "baseless accusations" that his son was "selectively" prosecuted and warning that such comments threaten "the integrity of the justice system as a whole."

  • January 13, 2025

    Feds Say Par Funding Fraud Caused $404M In Losses

    Prosecutors and defense attorneys spent hours in a marathon hearing Monday trying to convince a Pennsylvania judge of how much financial damage they thought the principals of the Par Funding merchant lending business did by allegedly fleecing investors, with the government pushing for a $404 million figure.

  • January 13, 2025

    IRS Puts Out Spinoff Rules, Multiyear Reporting Regime

    The Internal Revenue Service released proposed regulations Monday for a narrow set of corporate separation transactions, known as spinoffs, that the agency will approve as tax-free ahead of time, alongside guidance detailing multiyear reporting requirements for those deals.

  • January 13, 2025

    AGs, Lobbyists Ask Justices To Keep Shell Co. Law Blocked

    The U.S. Supreme Court should deny the federal government's emergency application to stay a Texas district court's injunction on a law aimed at cracking down on crimes committed with shell companies, according to numerous state attorneys general and interest groups and a handful of small businesses.

  • January 13, 2025

    Tax Firm Asks Court To Ax Final IRS Microcaptive Rules

    A global tax services provider asked a Texas federal court to vacate finalized tax rules requiring the reporting of certain transactions involving captive insurance companies deemed as potentially abusive, arguing the guidance goes beyond the agency's authority.

  • January 13, 2025

    Sen. Warren To Grill Treasury Pick On Trump's Tax Agenda

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., plans to ask Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent at his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday about President-elect Donald Trump's tax agenda and plans for the Internal Revenue Service, according to a letter she sent the nominee.

  • January 13, 2025

    Tax Court Spares Woman From Fine For Frivolous Arguments

    A woman who frivolously claimed her wages were nontaxable owes $15,700 in taxes and penalties, but she doesn't owe a fine for making groundless arguments, the U.S. Tax Court said in an opinion Monday.

  • January 13, 2025

    IRS Eases Process Of Insurance Co. Alternate Tax Revocation

    The Internal Revenue Service laid out a streamlined process Monday by which certain insurance companies that took an elective application of an alternative tax may obtain automatic consent to revoke that election.

  • January 13, 2025

    The Tax Angle: GOP Lawmakers Grapple With TCJA Renewal

    From a look at Congress setting parameters for consideration of legislation to renew the GOP's 2017 tax overhaul law to other upcoming tax action in the House and Senate, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few of the week's developing tax stories.

  • January 13, 2025

    Tax-Exempt Regs Should Cover Trust Payments, Tribes Say

    Five tribal leaders told the U.S. Treasury Department on Monday that trust payments distributed to members, including those issued to minors and special-needs individuals, should be included among the tribal welfare benefits that recent proposed rules would exempt from federal income taxes.

  • January 13, 2025

    Ariz. Taking Rebate Tax Fight With IRS To 9th Circ.

    Arizona is turning to the Ninth Circuit its battle with the Internal Revenue Service over the federal taxation of its 2023 rebates to taxpayers with dependents, the state told the lower court that dismissed its case.

  • January 13, 2025

    Trump Wants Higher SALT Cap, House Republican Says

    President-elect Donald Trump wants to increase the $10,000 federal cap on state and local tax deductions, a House Ways and Means Committee member said Monday.

  • January 13, 2025

    Tax-Lien Biz Atty Accused Of Duping Bank Can't Touch Money

    A Manhattan federal judge declined Monday to unfreeze assets on behalf of a former compliance lawyer accused of duping a bank into lending his tax-lien investment firm $20 million, complicating his plan to go to trial with private counsel.

  • January 13, 2025

    Justices Won't Review Reversal Of Firm's Tax Penalty Win

    The U.S. Supreme Court let stand Monday a Fifth Circuit decision overturning a jury ruling that a wealth management company didn't owe $579,000 in tax penalties because an employee's mental health problems excused the company's failure to file information returns on time.

  • January 12, 2025

    Justices To Review Whether Ex-Wife Can Challenge Tax Levy

    The U.S. Supreme Court will review a Third Circuit decision allowing a woman to continue challenging what she claims was an improper application of her tax payment to her ex-husband's bill even after the Internal Revenue Service stopped pursuing a proposed property seizure against her.

Expert Analysis

  • This Earth Day, Consider How Your Firm Can Go Greener

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    As Earth Day approaches, law firms and attorneys should consider adopting more sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint — from minimizing single-use plastics to purchasing carbon offsets for air travel — which ultimately can also reduce costs for clients, say M’Lynn Phillips and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • Energy Community Tax Credit Boost Will Benefit Wind Sector

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    Recent Internal Revenue Service guidance broadening tax credit eligibility to more parts of offshore wind facilities in so-called energy communities is a win for the industry, which stands to see more projects qualify for a particularly valuable bonus in the investment tax credit context due to the capital-intensive nature of offshore wind projects, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Weisselberg's Perjury At Trial Spotlights Atty Ethics Issues

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    Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg’s recent guilty plea for perjury in the New York attorney general's civil fraud trial should serve as a reminder to attorneys of their ethical duties when they know a client has lied or plans to lie in court, and the potential penalties for not fulfilling those obligations, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease

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    This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.

  • Why Supreme Court Should Allow Repatriation Tax To Stand

    If the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't reject the taxpayers' misguided claims in Moore v. U.S. that the mandatory repatriation tax is unconstitutional, it could wreak havoc on our system of taxation and result in a catastrophic loss of revenue for the government, say Christina Mason and Theresa Balducci at Herrick Feinstein.

  • For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill

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    A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law

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    A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.

  • Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea

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    A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.

  • 4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best

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    As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.

  • How IRA Unlocks Green Energy Investments For Tribes

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    An Inflation Reduction Act provision going into effect May 10 represents a critical juncture for Native American tribes, offering promising economic opportunity in green energy investment, but requiring a proactive and informed approach when taking advantage of newly available tax incentives, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.

  • Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs

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    Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.

  • What To Know About IRS' New Jet Use Audit Campaign

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    The Internal Revenue Service recently announced plans to open several dozen audits scrutinizing executive use of company jets, so companies should be prepared to show the business reasons for travel, and how items like imputed income and deduction disallowance were calculated, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent

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    Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.

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