International
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May 15, 2024
Russian Gas Ex-CFO Can't Nix $44M FBAR Suit, Judge Rules
The former chief financial officer of a Russian gas company who was sentenced to seven years in prison for hiding money in Swiss banks can't escape the government's civil suit seeking nearly $44 million in reporting penalties, a Florida federal judge ruled Wednesday.
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May 15, 2024
EU Court Upholds Ruling Against Spanish Ship Tax Scheme
The European Union's General Court upheld Wednesday a European Commission ruling that a Spanish tax scheme for ships constructed in the nation's domestic shipyards was incompatible with the EU's internal market.
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May 15, 2024
Schulte Roth Adds Ex-Kleinberg Kaplan Partner To Tax Group
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP added a former Kleinberg Kaplan Wolff & Cohen PC partner with a focus on private investment funds to its tax group in New York.
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May 15, 2024
South African Tax Official Says Data Swaps Too Limited
South Africa's requests to exchange information on taxpayers with authorities around the world are often denied for criminal investigations of tax crimes, while automatic exchanges sometimes lack the full identifying information of taxpayers, the commissioner of the country's tax agency said Wednesday.
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May 15, 2024
Taxpayers Let Down By HMRC Digital Service, Says Watchdog
HM Revenue and Customs has let down taxpayers by failing to deliver better online services, according to a report published on Wednesday by the public spending watchdog.
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May 15, 2024
Swiss Seek Feedback On Crypto Information Exchange
Switzerland's executive body, the Federal Council, is seeking feedback from the public on its plan to adopt two Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development standards that will update the country's automatic exchanges of information to account for crypto-assets, it said Wednesday.
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May 15, 2024
11 Arrested In €25M Italian VAT Fraud Case
Italian police arrested 11 suspects in a value-added tax fraud ring involving electronic products that resulted in losses of over €25 million ($27.2 million), the European Public Prosecutor's Office said Wednesday.
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May 15, 2024
Gentiloni Warns EU States Not To Be Too Harsh With Budgets
European Union tax commissioner Paolo Gentiloni warned EU countries Wednesday not to be too aggressive with budget cuts, even as some may have to take a more restrictive fiscal stance this year and next than had been planned.
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May 15, 2024
German Finance Minister Wants Lower Tax Burden
Germany's finance minister said he would like to see the tax burden lowered as part of a broader push to make life less burdensome for industry as the country tries to stimulate economic growth.
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May 15, 2024
EU Finance Ministers Plan Road To Tax Revamp
European Union finance ministers agreed on a work program to implement about 40 measures to improve business financing, including a targeted makeover of tax systems in member countries covering corporate taxes, capital gains and tax breaks for interest payments.
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May 14, 2024
A Fifth Of Big Cos. Use Tax Transparency Standard, Org. Says
About a fifth of the largest 1,000 public companies worldwide have voluntarily used a public country-by-country reporting standard created by an international independent standards organization, the nonprofit said Tuesday.
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May 14, 2024
Solarium Sunbaths Not Tax-Free Wellness, Sweden Says
After receiving multiple questions about whether paying to sunbathe in a solarium is eligible for Sweden's tax-free wellness allowance, the country's tax agency said Tuesday that such activity is not eligible.
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May 14, 2024
Microsemi Calls IRS' Penalty Approval 'Woefully Inadequate'
An Internal Revenue Service supervisor's sign-off on a transfer pricing penalty for Microsemi was "woefully inadequate" to meet statutory requirements for penalty approval, the semiconductor manufacturer told the U.S. Tax Court.
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May 14, 2024
Aussie Budget Proposes Green Credits, Capital Gains Change
Australia would offer tax credits for hydrogen production and critical mineral mining and update its foreign resident capital gains tax rules as part of a proposed 2024-25 budget released Tuesday.
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May 14, 2024
British Industry Group Calls For Green Energy Tax Breaks
The U.K. needs to "outsmart rather than outspend" other countries to grow in the green energy sector, a British business advocacy group said, calling for the government to create a 40% so-called green innovation tax credit, among other tax breaks.
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May 14, 2024
Ex-Whiteford Taylor Business Co-Chair Joins Baker Donelson
Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC has welcomed a new shareholder who spent more than a decade with the Internal Revenue Service and previously co-chaired Whiteford Taylor & Preston LLP's business department, the firm announced on Monday.
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May 14, 2024
EU Finance Ministers Strike Deal On Withholding Tax Refunds
European Union finance ministers agreed Tuesday to a withholding tax refund law, as previous holdouts Poland and the Czech Republic withdrew their objections.
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May 14, 2024
EU Chair To Fight On For VAT Deal After Estonia's Rejection
The chair of the European Union's council of finance ministers said he will fight to get unanimous support for a wide-ranging reform of value-added tax rules after Estonia blocked agreement to the law Tuesday.
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May 14, 2024
Aussie Senate Faces Separation Of Promoter Penalty, Gas Tax
The Australian government is poised to double the penalty for corporate promoters of tax avoidance schemes, but it may first have to compromise by separating its bill from another one dealing with a tax on offshore gas exports, according to a legislative report.
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May 13, 2024
Corp. Transparency Act An Overbroad Dragnet, 11th Circ. Told
Congress exceeded its authority in passing the Corporate Transparency Act, which prompted the U.S. Treasury Department to solicit personal information for law enforcement purposes from those that registered and owned state-registered entities, a small-business group told the Eleventh Circuit on Monday.
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May 13, 2024
House GOP Bills Target Foreign Funding To Tax-Exempt Orgs
The House Ways and Means Committee will vote Wednesday on a package of bills that would increase scrutiny of foreign donations to tax-exempt organizations, including legislation that would require those organizations to publicly report the donations, the Joint Committee on Taxation announced Monday.
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May 13, 2024
Income Nixes Exxon's 'Final Loss' Deduction, Court Says
Exxon's Norwegian operation cannot deduct 900 million krone ($83.2 million) from its fiscal year 2012 taxable income that it spent liquidating an Exxon subsidiary in Denmark, a European court ruled Monday.
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May 13, 2024
Int'l Authorities Want Increased Anti-Money Laundering Efforts
Countries need to do more to tackle the "huge illicit profits" being generated by international crime organizations and used for harmful practices such as funding terrorism, the heads of the Financial Action Task Force, Interpol and a United Nations group said Monday.
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May 13, 2024
Estonia Needs To Improve Property, Health Taxes, OECD Says
While Estonia has the lowest ratio of government debt to gross domestic product of any OECD country, it has numerous areas where it could improve its tax system, from broadening its tax base to increasing healthcare funding, the OECD said Monday.
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May 13, 2024
EU Initiative Pushes Bloc To Strengthen Carbon Taxing
The European Commission on Monday officially registered a citizen initiative to focus on accelerating the taxing of greenhouse gas emissions as well as making it more equitable, giving the group behind it a year to meet certain criteria that would force the European Union's executive arm to act.
3 Key Takeaways From Floated Foreign Trust Reporting Rules
Proposed rules for reporting transactions with foreign trusts recently issued by the U.S. Treasury Department provide breathing room on disclosure requirements for certain offshore retirement accounts, but leave open some questions about classification. Here, Law360 breaks down three sections of the proposed foreign trust reporting regulations.
Law Prof Comes To Treasury's Aid In 3M Transfer Pricing Fight
The U.S. Department of the Treasury did not act arbitrarily when it wrote transfer pricing regulations that allowed the government to disregard foreign legal restrictions on royalty payments when allocating income to 3M from an affiliate, a law professor told the Eighth Circuit on Tuesday.
2nd Circ. Won't Revive UBS Suit Over Disclosed Account Info
The Second Circuit declined Monday to revive a couple's suit accusing UBS of fraudulently flagging an account to the Internal Revenue Service, finding that any alleged harm resulting from an audit would have been caused by the agency itself.
Featured Stories
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3 Key Takeaways From Floated Foreign Trust Reporting Rules
Proposed rules for reporting transactions with foreign trusts recently issued by the U.S. Treasury Department provide breathing room on disclosure requirements for certain offshore retirement accounts, but leave open some questions about classification. Here, Law360 breaks down three sections of the proposed foreign trust reporting regulations.
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Use Of AI For Tax Comment Letters Poses Ethical Quandaries
While artificial intelligence can streamline the process of conducting a comprehensive review of complex, IRS-proposed federal tax regulations, tax attorneys must be aware of professional and ethical considerations when using it to help draft comment letters to submit to the agency.
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Calif. OTA In Untested Area On Ruling That Biz Wants Binding
A decision by California's Office of Tax Appeals that Microsoft can include 100% of the dividends from foreign affiliates in its California sales factor denominator pleased businesses, who now want the OTA to designate the opinion as precedential, thus binding on it and the state Franchise Tax Board.
Expert Analysis
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs
The Internal Revenue Services' finalized Treasury Regulations addressing whether real estate investment trusts qualify as domestically controlled adopt the basic structure of previous proposals, but certain new and modified rules may mitigate the regulations' impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert
As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic
Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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The Art Of Asking: Leveraging Your Contacts For Referrals
Though attorneys may hesitate to ask for referral recommendations to generate new business, research shows that people want to help others they know, like and trust, so consider who in your network you should approach and how to make the ask, says Rebecca Hnatowski at Edwards Advisory.
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Unpacking The Bill To Extend TCJA's Biz-Friendly Tax Breaks
Attorneys at Skadden examine how a bipartisan bill currently being considered by the U.S. Senate to save the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's tax breaks for research and development costs, and other expiring business-friendly provisions, would affect taxpayers.
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Deciding What Comes At The End Of WTO's Digital Tariff Ban
Companies that feel empowered by the World Trade Organization’s recent two-year extension of the ban on e-commerce tariffs should pay attention to current negotiations over what comes after the moratorium expires, as these agreements will define standards in international e-commerce for years to come, say Jan Walter, Hannes Sigurgeirsson and Kulsum Gulamhusein at Akin Gump.
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4 Ways To Refresh Your Law Firm's Marketing Strategy
With many BigLaw firms relying on an increasingly obsolete marketing approach that prioritizes stiff professionalism over authentic connection, adopting a few key communications strategies to better connect with today's clients and prospects can make all the difference, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law.
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This Earth Day, Consider How Your Firm Can Go Greener
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.
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Cum-Ex Prosecutions Storm Shows No Sign Of Abating
The ongoing trial of Sanjay Shah in Denmark is a clear indicator that efforts remain focused on holding to account the alleged architects and beneficiaries of cum-ex trading, and with these prosecutions making their way across Europe, it is a more turbulent time now than ever, says Niall Hearty at Rahman Ravelli.
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
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.
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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.