Federal
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July 12, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included the reporting and recording obligations associated with the stock buyback excise tax.
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July 11, 2024
3 Defenses The IRS Can Fall Back On After Chevron's Demise
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to eliminate federal agencies' ability to rely on the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine to defend their interpretations of ambiguous laws will likely trigger more litigation against the IRS. But that doesn't mean the agency is completely defenseless against such suits. Here, Law360 explores three defense options for the IRS following Chevron's demise.
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July 11, 2024
House GOP Urges USTR To Probe Canada Digital Services Tax
The U.S. trade representative should immediately launch an investigation into Canada's recently enacted digital services tax and determine if trade actions are necessary to protect American interests, U.S. House Ways and Means Republicans said in a letter Thursday.
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July 11, 2024
Tax Court Denies Real Estate Loss Deduction To Builder
The U.S. Tax Court said Thursday that it didn't believe a man who claimed to work an extra 48 hours a week beyond his regular full-time job to build a short-term rental property, denying him a $22,000 rental real estate loss deduction reserved for real estate professionals.
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July 11, 2024
ABA Attys Seek To Avoid Reporting Foreign Trust Loans
The American Bar Association's tax, real estate and trust attorneys are seeking to prevent the U.S. Treasury Department from tightening reporting requirements for the exemption of loans from foreign trusts, which are often used by wealthy families and in succession planning, according to a consultation response.
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July 11, 2024
Railroad Benefits Are Taxable, Tax Court Says
A retired railroad worker and his wife must include benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board in their taxable income, having failed to prove that the benefits are nontaxable due to their disabilities, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Thursday.
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July 11, 2024
Ex-Leaders Ask Biden For Int'l Coordination On Billionaire Tax
President Joe Biden should get behind Brazil's proposal for the Group of 20 nations to coordinate a minimum tax on billionaires, nearly 20 former presidents and prime ministers from countries such as Canada, France and South Korea said in an open letter.
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July 11, 2024
IRS Proposes 'Basket Contracts' As Listed Transactions
The Internal Revenue Service proposed rules Thursday that would flag so-called basket option contracts as potentially abusive listed transactions, imposing additional reporting requirements under the threat of penalty for individuals and businesses involved in such arrangements.
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July 11, 2024
Low-Speed EV Maker Sues Treasury Over Blocked Tax Credits
The U.S. Department of the Treasury violated the Administrative Procedure Act when it passed final regulations excluding low-speed vehicles from qualifying for clean vehicle tax credits, a maker of low-speed electric cars told a D.C. federal court.
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July 11, 2024
IRS Crackdown Yields $1B From Millionaires, Treasury Says
The Internal Revenue Service collected more than $1 billion from millionaires with large tax debts through an enforcement initiative against high-income, high-wealth taxpayers who hadn't paid their tax bills, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said Thursday.
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July 10, 2024
Ex-VP Of Fla. Aerospace Co. Sentenced To Prison For Fraud
The former vice president of a Miami-based aerospace company was sentenced to just over a year in federal prison after he pled guilty to fraud-related charges in connection to a scheme that involved embezzling millions of dollars and splitting the proceeds with a co-conspirator.
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July 10, 2024
Engineer Who Faced Export Charges Cops To Tax Counts
A Chinese-born engineer has pled guilty to two counts of filing a false tax return related to allegations that he and his wife omitted gross income from their tax returns between 2015 and 2019, after Texas federal prosecutors initially charged the couple with export violations and fraud.
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July 10, 2024
Tax Court Nominees Vow To Sort Out Post-Chevron Cases
Three nominees for spots on the U.S. Tax Court assured Senate lawmakers Wednesday that they could resolve cases involving federal regulations and congressional intent after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference doctrine.
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July 10, 2024
OECD Publishes Pillar 2 Technical Reporting Language Draft
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development published a draft of technical details required to digitally input and disseminate information required for Pillar Two global minimum tax returns Wednesday.
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July 10, 2024
Americans Overseas Ask for Clarity In Foreign Trust Regs
An advocacy group representing U.S. citizens living abroad urged the U.S. Treasury Department to clarify proposed rules for reporting transactions with foreign trusts, contending that guidance should explain which common pension arrangements are exempt from disclosure obligations.
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July 10, 2024
IRS Says Related Biz Arms Must Each Apply For Fuel Credit
Two related business departments that are both clean fuel producers and that have their own employer identification numbers must each apply on their own for the clean fuel production credit, the Internal Revenue Service said in an FAQ released Wednesday.
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July 10, 2024
Chevron's End Won't Affect Cubs Sale Tax Suit, 7th Circ. Told
An anti-abuse rule the IRS is using to push for taxes on gains from Tribune Media Co.'s sale of the Chicago Cubs is not threatened by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the Chevron deference doctrine, an attorney for the IRS told the Seventh Circuit on Wednesday.
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July 10, 2024
IRS Issues Electricity Credit Reference Price For Wind
The Internal Revenue Service released a 2024 reference price for determining the availability of the renewable electricity production credit for wind energy facilities in a notice issued Wednesday.
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July 10, 2024
House Dems Seek IRS Review Of Groups' Church Status
A group of House Democratic lawmakers asked the Internal Revenue Service to review the tax exemptions of conservative advocacy groups that they contend have improperly received tax-exempt status as churches, according to a letter released Wednesday.
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July 10, 2024
5th Circ. Told 'Pay To Litigate' Rule Doesn't Bar Refund Suit
A couple arguing the IRS failed to apply their tax overpayments to deficiencies claimed by the agency asked the Fifth Circuit to reverse a lower court's dismissal of their suit on the grounds that they hadn't paid their bill, saying the decision effectively asks them to pay twice.
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July 09, 2024
IRS Funding At Stake In 2025 Tax Cut Negotiations
Lawmakers are girding for battle over the soon-to-expire individual tax cuts in the 2017 tax law, and IRS funding will be central to the debate at a time when the agency may be in need of additional resources due to changes in law.
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July 09, 2024
House Panel OKs Tax Breaks For More Education Expenses
The House Ways and Means Committee sent several education-related tax bills to the full House of Representatives on Tuesday, including legislation that would make additional elementary and secondary school expenses eligible for tax-advantaged education savings accounts.
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July 09, 2024
Dems Request Special Counsel To Probe Justice Thomas Gifts
Two Democratic senators have asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate whether U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' failure to disclose various gifts received during his tenure on the high court amounts to chargeable ethics violations or tax crimes.
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July 09, 2024
IRS Errors Foul $51M Levy, Calif. Man's Estate Tells Tax Court
The Internal Revenue Service made a slew of errors in determining a California man's estate faces a $46.2 million estate tax deficiency and a $4.6 million penalty, the estate's executor told the U.S. Tax Court.
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July 09, 2024
Veriwave Telco Faces FCC Action Over 'Tax Relief' Robocalls
The Federal Communications Commission is moving to block robocalls about purported "tax relief" programs from a Delaware-based telecommunications company, announcing in an order Monday that Veriwave Telco had another 14 days to demonstrate compliance with the agency's rules or risk having downstream providers cut its traffic.
Expert Analysis
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Recent Provider Relief Fund Audits Are Just The Beginning
Though the Health Resources and Services Administration's initial audits of the Provider Relief Fund program appear to be limited in scope, fund recipients should prepare for additional oversight, scrutiny and disallowances as the HRSA ramps up its efforts, say Brian Lee and Christopher Frisina at Alston & Bird.
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Flawed Analysis Supports Common Law Tax Deficiency Ruling
The Colorado federal district court’s recent decision in Liberty Global, holding that the U.S. Department of Justice may assert a common law tax claim without the notice of tax deficiency required by the Internal Revenue Code, relies on a contorted reading of the statute and irrelevant case law, say Loren Opper and Christie Galinski at Miller Canfield.
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Review Of Repatriation Tax Sets Justices On Slippery Slope
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to review the constitutionality of the repatriation tax in Moore v. U.S. has implications for many tax rules involving unrealized amounts and could leave the court on the brink of invalidating large swaths of the Internal Revenue Code, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
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IRS Guidance Powers Up Energy Tax Credit Transfers
Recent IRS guidance on the monetization of energy tax credits provides sufficient clarity for parties to start negotiating transfer agreements, but it is unclear when the registration process required for credits to change hands will be up and running, say attorneys at Shearman.
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Using Agreements To Cover Gaps In Hydrogen Storage Regs
The Inflation Reduction Act's incentives for energy storage have spurred investment in hydrogen storage and production, but given the lack of comprehensive regulations surrounding the sector, developers should carefully craft project and financing agreements to mitigate uncertainties, say Omar Samji and Sarah George at Weil, and attorney Manushi Desai.
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Secure 2.0 Takeaways From DOL's 2024 Budget Proposal
The U.S. Department of Labor’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal provides insight into the most pressing Secure 2.0 implementation issues, including establishment of a search database for finding lost retirement savings and developing guidance on the execution of newly authorized emergency savings accounts, say attorneys at Maynard Nexsen.
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Avoiding Negative Tax Consequences In Loan Modifications
Borrowers who may be caught in the dramatic uptick in nonperforming commercial real estate loans should consider strategies to avoid income and capital gains tax that may be triggered by loan modifications, says Aman Badyal at Glaser Weil.
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Benefits And Beyond: Fixing Employee Contribution Failures
Employers must address employee contribution failures promptly in order to avoid losing significant tax benefits of 401(k) or 403(b) plans, but the exact correction procedures vary depending on whether contributions were less than or greater than intended, say attorneys at Seyfarth Shaw.
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Now Is The Time For State And Local Sales Tax Simplification
In the five years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, state and local governments increasingly rely on sales tax, but simple changes are needed to make compliance more manageable for taxpayers, wherever located, without unduly burdening interstate commerce, says Charles Maniace at Sovos.
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Recent Bills Show Congress' Growing Maturity On Cannabis
Though two recently introduced cannabis reform bills, the Prepare Act and the Small Business Tax Equity Act, are unlikely to pass in this Congress, they demonstrate a new level of focus and sophistication on the part of lawmakers as it relates to cannabis at the federal level, says Irina Dashevsky at Greenspoon Marder.
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What To Make Of IRS' New Advance Pricing Guidance
Recent guidance on the IRS' goals for its advance pricing agreement system provides helpful insight into review and decision-making procedures for advance pricing agreement requests, but it also raises questions about the IRS' objectives, say Richard Slowinski and Stefanie Kavanagh at Alston & Bird.
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Compliance Obligations Still Murky For Superfund Excise Tax
Comments on the IRS' reinstatement of the Superfund chemicals excise tax show that, given taxpayers' lack of institutional knowledge and the government's previous failure to finalize clarifying guidance, further regulatory action is needed to help taxpayers understand their obligations, say Nicole Elliott and Mary Kate Nicholson at Holland & Knight.
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The Reciprocal Tax Bill Is A Warning Shot At Pillar 2
A bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives to reciprocally tax countries deemed to have imposed discriminatory taxes on U.S. citizens and businesses takes aim at countries implementing the global minimum tax treaty known as Pillar Two, with which the U.S. has not complied, says Alan Cole at the Tax Foundation.