Federal
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July 03, 2024
Ex-Defense Contractor Evaded Taxes On $350 Million, US Says
A former defense contractor and his wife face a 30-count indictment alleging they were involved in a decadeslong scheme to defraud the U.S. government and avoid taxes on more than $350 million in income, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
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July 03, 2024
Maryland Fends Off Chamber's Challenge To Digital Ad Tax
A disputed provision of Maryland's tax on digital advertising doesn't violate the First Amendment, a federal judge in the state found Wednesday, throwing out a challenge to the tax brought by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups.
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July 03, 2024
Insurers Ask 10th Circ. To Rethink Toss Of $2M Tax Appeal
Captive insurance companies and their related entities that are challenging more than $2 million in IRS notices of tax deficiencies asked the Tenth Circuit to reconsider its refusal to review a U.S. Tax Court decision finding the notices were not invalid as the entities had claimed.
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July 03, 2024
Warren, Other Pols Push Yellen For Corp. Minimum Tax Rules
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and three other lawmakers urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for the department to quickly release regulations to implement the corporate alternative minimum tax in a letter released Wednesday.
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July 03, 2024
'Real Housewives' Figure Pleads Guilty To $2.5M Tax Offense
A former cast member of a "Real Housewives" TV series and owner of several restaurants and nightclubs in multiple states admitted in a North Carolina federal court to failing to pay over $2.5 million in employment taxes, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
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July 03, 2024
IRS Warns Of Scam Tied To Clean Energy Tax Credit Sales
Individuals should be wary of a scam in which tax return preparers improperly steer them to claim purchased clean energy tax credits to offset income tax from wages, retirement account withdrawals and other sources, the Internal Revenue Service warned Wednesday.
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July 03, 2024
Fox Rothschild Hires Pryor Cashman Nonprofit Leads
Fox Rothschild LLP announced Wednesday the hiring of two Pryor Cashman LLP partners for its corporate department in New York.
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July 03, 2024
IRS Reveals Final Regs For Medicare Drug Negotiation Tax
The Internal Revenue Service finalized regulations Wednesday that govern the quarterly reporting of a new excise tax that pharmaceutical companies, suppliers and importers must pay when they do not negotiate with Medicare over drug prices.
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July 03, 2024
Federal Tax Policy To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2024
Congressional lawmakers are grappling with the looming 2025 expiration of the 2017 GOP tax overhaul, a situation made more difficult by the coming elections in November that could define what, if any, tax legislation is eventually signed into law this year. Here, Law360 examines federal tax policy to watch in the second half of 2024.
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July 02, 2024
Chevron's Fall Places State Tax Rules Under Microscope
State tax regulations could face increased judicial scrutiny in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to jettison the decades-old Chevron deference doctrine, which instructed courts to defer to federal agencies' interpretations of ambiguous laws.
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July 02, 2024
IRS Details Accounting Change For Worthless Debt
Regulated financial companies or members of regulated financial groups can automatically get the consent of the Internal Revenue Service to change their accounting methods to the allowance charge-off method for debt instruments presumed worthless, the agency said in a revenue procedure Tuesday.
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July 02, 2024
NJ Couple Ordered To Pay $2.5M In FBAR Penalties
A New Jersey couple were ordered to pay $2.5 million in penalties and interest for failing to report their foreign bank accounts in Switzerland, according to court documents.
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July 02, 2024
8th Circ. Won't Revive IRS Fraud Docs FOIA Row
The Eighth Circuit affirmed a ruling that prevents public disclosure of the IRS' methods for verifying callers' identities, rejecting on Tuesday a retired Harvard professor's argument that the documents detailing the methods failed to qualify for an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act.
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July 02, 2024
Man Warned Against 'Tax Protester Rhetoric' In Failed Case
The U.S. Tax Court cautioned a New Jersey man Tuesday against using "tax protester rhetoric" in future disputes while rejecting his challenge to the IRS' determination that he failed to claim income and improperly claimed deductions, dismissing his arguments as frivolous.
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July 02, 2024
Eaton Needs To Cough Up Docs In IRS Probe, US Says
The U.S. government urged an Ohio federal judge to order power management multinational Eaton to produce records on certain European employees in response to an IRS investigation, arguing the company's contention the court lacks jurisdiction is "pure sophistry."
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July 02, 2024
Justices Revive Tax Tipster's Case, Citing Chevron Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court vacated and remanded on Tuesday a decision denying a whistleblower award to a tipster who reported an improper $60 million tax deduction to the IRS, saying the D.C. Circuit should reconsider its decision following the high court's ruling that overturned the Chevron doctrine.
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July 02, 2024
Top Federal Tax Cases Of 2024: Midyear Report
In the first half of the year, the U.S. Supreme Court torpedoed the Chevron doctrine of judicial deference to federal agencies and affirmed the denial of a tax refund to a business owner's estate related to a life insurance payout, while the U.S. Tax Court reversed itself regarding a rule for conservation easements. Here, Law360 reviews federal court decisions from the past six months that tax attorneys should know.
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July 01, 2024
High Court's 1-2 Punch Sets Up Long-Standing Regs For KO
By ending its term with a stinging combination against federal agencies, the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative bloc left behind a bruised bureaucracy and a regulatory system that's now vulnerable to a barrage of incoming attacks.
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July 01, 2024
IRS Faces Rulemaking Pressure Following Chevron's Demise
The Internal Revenue Service will likely face more pressure to develop tax regulations that are more firmly grounded in the law and tailored to ensure certainty for individuals, businesses and other organizations after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision to overturn the decades-old Chevron doctrine.
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July 01, 2024
Feds Push To Keep IRS Agents Out Of Hunter Biden Tax Case
Two Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers who Hunter Biden said wrongfully disclosed his confidential tax information should not be allowed to intervene in his suit against the U.S. government, the government told a D.C. federal court Monday.
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July 01, 2024
Pa. Man Gets 12 Years For $2M COVID-19 Funds Fraud
A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to approximately 12 years in prison following his convictions for bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and unlawful monetary transactions related to theft of federal COVID-19 pandemic relief funds, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
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July 01, 2024
Womble Bond Adds Int'l Tax Partner In Houston Office
Womble Bond Dickinson has added a partner to its corporate and securities group in Houston who will focus on tax law and cross-border transactions, the firm announced.
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July 01, 2024
Tax Court Again Rules Against Couple On Social Security Pay
A California couple should have included Social Security disability payments in their income on their federal tax return, the U.S. Tax Court said Monday, upholding an Internal Revenue Service determination against the couple in such a case for a second time.
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July 01, 2024
US-Taiwan Biz Groups Push For True Double-Tax Treaty
Top-ranking Senate members should push for the start of consultations on a bilateral tax treaty to avoid double taxation between the U.S. and Taiwan as opposed to measures already included in a stalled larger bill, two groups focused on business relations between the countries said.
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July 01, 2024
Nelson Mullins Adds 9-Attorney Tax Team In Houston
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP announced Monday that five partners and four other tax attorneys have joined its new Houston office from Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Aughtry, including a former Texas Supreme Court justice.
Expert Analysis
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Get Ready For IRS Criminal Crackdown On Crypto
Recent developments at the IRS, from a new operating plan to the announcement of a centralized data center, signal that the agency is ramping up criminal enforcement against those using digital assets to evade tax liabilities — and given its high conviction rate, companies and individuals must prioritize compliance, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.
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NFT Tax Guidance Shows IRS Interest In Crypto Enforcement
The IRS' first ever guidance addressing the federal income tax treatment of NFTs indicates the agency could take a potentially aggressive stance in enforcing U.S. tax laws in the NFT and crypto spaces, which could have a significant impact on the self-directed IRA market, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.
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Substantiation Is Key When Gifting Crypto To Charity
A recent Internal Revenue Service memorandum makes clear that the agency will require substantiation when gifting cryptocurrency to charity, even for relatively small amounts, so donors need to be aware of the important differences between crypto and typical cash donations, says Sheryl Morrison at Lathrop GPM.
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Senate Credit Suisse Report Puts Attention On Banks, Trusts
The Senate Finance Committee's recent finding that Credit Suisse violated a plea agreement struck over its role in enabling offshore tax evasion has important ramifications for banks and trusts, including how they onboard, document and report on transactions relevant to U.S. reporting requirements, say Will Barry and Ian Herbert at Miller & Chevalier.
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Seeking IRS Accountability For Faulty Microcaptive Notice
Like the taxpayers in Standard Insurances v. U.S. seeking to expand earlier wins in microcaptive insurance cases that limit IRS use of improperly obtained information, others should consider ways to hold the agency accountable and provide incentive for it to follow the law going forward, says Joshua Smeltzer at Gray Reed.
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Biden Admin. Proposals Both Encourage And Thwart EV Adoption
While the Biden administration has been aggressively focused on promoting electric vehicles from the start, its recently issued guidance on EV tax credits and its restrictive new auto emissions proposal create a sense of implementation whiplash that may frustrate manufacturers and consumers, says Levi McAllister at Morgan Lewis.
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Heed PCAOB's Warning On Proof-Of-Reserves Reports
While directed at investors, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's recent advisory on proof-of-reserves reports is a timely and stark warning to crypto entities, as well as their customers and accounting firms, to tread carefully in their reliance on these reports as proof of financial stability, say Patrick Bryan and Deborah Meshulam at DLA Piper.
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Cos. Should Heed IRS Warnings About Employee Tax Credit
The IRS has recently been cautioning employers claiming the pandemic-related employee retention credit to carefully review all the eligibility requirements and be wary of relying on third-party advisers regarding their qualification for the credit, say Eric Pearson and Timothy Voigtman at Foley & Lardner.
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Renewable Energy M&A Is Still Strong, Despite Challenges
The recent history of renewable energy has included ongoing supply chain issues, legislative challenges and rising interest rates — but mergers and acquisitions in the sector are expected to remain robust this year, fueled by growing demand and Inflation Reduction Act incentives, say consultants at FTI Consulting.
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Issues And Opportunities In Hydrogen Fuel Cell Development
A variety of tax incentives, funding opportunities and state programs have the potential to provide value across the hydrogen fuel cell business chain and alleviate existing hurdles, establishing a stronger business case for the continued development of hydrogen infrastructure, says Pamela Wu at Morgan Lewis.
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IRS Green Energy Tax Credit Notice Provides Needed Clarity
Recent IRS guidance clarifying how the government will determine energy community locations for purposes of bonus clean energy tax credits should help resolve risk allocation disagreements among financing parties and parties to merger and acquisition transactions, say Casey August and Paul Gordon at Morgan Lewis.
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SVB Collapse Highlights Ch. 11 Issues With Bank Holding Cos.
Amid recent banking turmoil, including Silicon Valley Bank's collapse and subsequent Chapter 11 filing of its parent company, distressed debt investors and board members must understand the distinct rules in bank holding company bankruptcies, including Bankruptcy Code provisions granting significant advantages to federal regulatory agencies like the FDIC, say attorneys at Skadden.
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9th Circ. Ruling Legitimizes Classwide Injury In Predominance
The Ninth Circuit's recent ruling that vacated class certification in Van v. LLR makes clear that the question of injury is highly relevant to the predominance analysis, and underscores the importance of making a persuasive argument that injury is individualized within the class, say attorneys at Skadden.