
Tax Court Slashes $38M In Easement Donation Deductions
The U.S. Tax Court on Tuesday slashed $38 million in deductions for donations of two conservation easements across hundreds of acres in Georgia, finding one lacked the required conservation purpose and neither was potentially headed for mining development as the donors had claimed.

Airbnb Fights $10.5M Colorado Tax Bill On Guest Fees
The guest fee charged by Airbnb on rentals in Colorado is not subject to state and local sales taxes, the company told a state court, seeking to overturn a $10.5 million assessment by the state Department of Revenue.

UBS Settles Long Tax Dispute With France For An €835M Fine
UBS has resolved its long-running tax dispute with France over cross-border transactions, agreeing to pay a fine of €835 million ($985 million), the company said Tuesday.
Federal More
Two Republican lawmakers and two allied nonprofit groups told the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday that it should allow President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs authorized under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
A Pennsylvania federal judge upheld a $6.6 million civil fraud tax penalty against an insurance broker over its captive deductions, ruling Tuesday that the Internal Revenue Service's assessment of the penalty ... (more story)
The European Union's preferred method for accommodating the U.S. proposal to exempt American companies from the 15% global minimum tax's international provisions would be to allow a conditional safe harbor tha... (more story)
The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm issued guidance Tuesday making clear that employers can offer lifetime income insurance products as a default investment in 401(k) plans, responding to an e... (more story)
Economic growth in the U.S. is expected to dip in 2026 partly because of global trade tensions, the full effects of which "have yet to be felt," the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported Tuesday.
A recent e-discovery dispute over hyperlinked data in Hubbard v. Crow shows how courts have increasingly broadened the definition of control to account for cloud-based evidence, and why organizations must reth... (more story)
A company that claimed the Internal Revenue Service secretly passed a rule targeting its employee stock ownership plan failed to show the rule exists, a Wisconsin federal judge said in tossing the company's case.
State & Local More
Atty-Trustee Conflicts Doom Scaife Estate's $26M Tax Refund
A Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky attorney was also acting as Mellon heir Richard Scaife's lawyer, trustee and media executive when he signed releases that kept Scaife's spending of his inheritance secre... (more story)
Star Chef Didn't Violate 'Vague' Pact With Boston, Judge Says
A Massachusetts state court has ruled that a "vague" agreement between celebrity chef Barbara Lynch and the city of Boston to escrow proceeds from the sale of her flagship No. 9 Park restaurant while the city ... (more story)
State False Claims Acts Can Help Curb Opioid Fund Fraud
State versions of the federal False Claims Act can play an important role in policing the misuse of opioid settlement funds, taking a cue from the U.S. Department of Justice’s handling of federal fraud cases i... (more story)
Conn. Board Seeks To Cement Win Over Tax Atty's Firing
The Connecticut Employees' Review Board has asked an appellate court not to rehear a fired tax attorney's unsuccessful appeal en banc, arguing that she has failed to show any fatal flaws in a three-judge panel... (more story)
Perkins Coie Adds Former US Treasury Tax Policy Atty In DC
Perkins Coie LLP has brought on a tax attorney who worked in the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Tax Policy, where he handled work related to laws such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the One Bi... (more story)
Mich. Says No Redo Needed Of Disney, IHOP Escheat Ruling
A Michigan appeals court should deny a request by Disney and the parent company of IHOP to reconsider its finding that unclaimed property audit determinations create new obligations to remit property, the stat... (more story)
Feds Urge Justices To Back Trump's Emergency Tariffs
The federal government told the U.S. Supreme Court Friday that lower courts incorrectly determined President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs unlawful under a statute that gives the executive broad authority t... (more story)
Preserving Refunds As Tariffs Await Supreme Court Weigh-In
In the event that the U.S. Supreme Court decides in V.O.S. Selections v. Trump that the president doesn't have authority to levy tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, importers should ... (more story)
Revamped Opportunity Zones Can Aid Clean Energy Projects
The Qualified Opportunity Zone program, introduced in 2017 and reshaped in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, offers investors federal tax incentives for development in low-income communities — incentives that ar... (more story)
A Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky attorney was also acting as Mellon heir Richard Scaife's lawyer, trustee and media executive when he signed releases that kept Scaife's spending of his inheritance secre... (more story)
A Massachusetts state court has ruled that a "vague" agreement between celebrity chef Barbara Lynch and the city of Boston to escrow proceeds from the sale of her flagship No. 9 Park restaurant while the city ... (more story)
State versions of the federal False Claims Act can play an important role in policing the misuse of opioid settlement funds, taking a cue from the U.S. Department of Justice’s handling of federal fraud cases i... (more story)
The Connecticut Employees' Review Board has asked an appellate court not to rehear a fired tax attorney's unsuccessful appeal en banc, arguing that she has failed to show any fatal flaws in a three-judge panel... (more story)
Perkins Coie LLP has brought on a tax attorney who worked in the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Tax Policy, where he handled work related to laws such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the One Bi... (more story)
A Michigan appeals court should deny a request by Disney and the parent company of IHOP to reconsider its finding that unclaimed property audit determinations create new obligations to remit property, the stat... (more story)
The federal government told the U.S. Supreme Court Friday that lower courts incorrectly determined President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs unlawful under a statute that gives the executive broad authority t... (more story)
In the event that the U.S. Supreme Court decides in V.O.S. Selections v. Trump that the president doesn't have authority to levy tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, importers should ... (more story)
The Qualified Opportunity Zone program, introduced in 2017 and reshaped in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, offers investors federal tax incentives for development in low-income communities — incentives that ar... (more story)
International More
Hotel Boss Banned From Directorship Over £1.6M Tax Debt
The former boss of a hotel on the Isle of Skye has been banned as a company director over tax debts totaling around £1.6 million ($2.2 million) to Britain's revenue authority, the U.K.'s insolvency agency said Wednesday.
VC Partner Fights IRS Summonses Tied To Korean Tax Probe
A partner at a U.S. venture capital firm urged a California federal court to quash IRS summonses seeking information on his bank accounts in connection with his tax liabilities in South Korea, saying the agenc... (more story)
4th Circ. Scraps Ambulance Co. Owner's Tax Sentence
A former ambulance company owner sentenced to six years in prison for tax evasion will be resentenced after the Fourth Circuit found a Virginia federal court erred by not telling him in person about a conditio... (more story)
Bills Would End Emergencies For Tariffs On Brazil, Canada
A national emergency underpinning U.S. tariffs imposed on Canada and another one justifying most American tariffs on Brazil would be ended under a pair of resolutions introduced with bipartisan support by Sen.... (more story)
$1M FBAR Penalty Without Jury Unconstitutional, Judge Says
A woman who faced more than $1 million in civil penalties for failing to report offshore bank accounts to the IRS is off the hook, as a Texas federal court ruled Friday that the federal government violated her... (more story)
Cayman Hedge Fund Takes $100M Tax Dispute To 3rd Circ.
A Cayman Islands hedge fund urged the Third Circuit to revive its challenge to a $100 million tax bill for earning money in connection with a U.S. business, saying the business did not exist, contrary to claim... (more story)
UK Gov't Borrowing Hits £18B Ahead Of Autumn Budget
U.K. government borrowing reached £18 billion ($24.3 billion) in August, according to official figures published Friday, adding to pressure for the government to hike taxes in its coming budget.
The former boss of a hotel on the Isle of Skye has been banned as a company director over tax debts totaling around £1.6 million ($2.2 million) to Britain's revenue authority, the U.K.'s insolvency agency said Wednesday.
A partner at a U.S. venture capital firm urged a California federal court to quash IRS summonses seeking information on his bank accounts in connection with his tax liabilities in South Korea, saying the agenc... (more story)
A former ambulance company owner sentenced to six years in prison for tax evasion will be resentenced after the Fourth Circuit found a Virginia federal court erred by not telling him in person about a conditio... (more story)
A national emergency underpinning U.S. tariffs imposed on Canada and another one justifying most American tariffs on Brazil would be ended under a pair of resolutions introduced with bipartisan support by Sen.... (more story)
A woman who faced more than $1 million in civil penalties for failing to report offshore bank accounts to the IRS is off the hook, as a Texas federal court ruled Friday that the federal government violated her... (more story)
A Cayman Islands hedge fund urged the Third Circuit to revive its challenge to a $100 million tax bill for earning money in connection with a U.S. business, saying the business did not exist, contrary to claim... (more story)
U.K. government borrowing reached £18 billion ($24.3 billion) in August, according to official figures published Friday, adding to pressure for the government to hike taxes in its coming budget.