Federal
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July 31, 2024
Treasury's New 'Killer B' Rules May Revive Controversies
Recent U.S. Treasury Department regulations centered on contentious 2011 guidance aimed at so-called Killer B transactions have revived long-standing questions about how much authority rule writers have to target what they perceive as corporate tax avoidance in these maneuvers.
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July 31, 2024
Cos. Insist Chevron Ruling Doesn't Change Deduction Claims
A medical device company and a food services firm that are each challenging Internal Revenue Service denials of dividend deduction claims told the U.S. Tax Court that the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Chevron deference doesn't change the validity of their arguments.
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July 31, 2024
Senate Dems Urge Passage Of House-Passed Tax Bill
Senate Democrats urged their Republican counterparts Wednesday to pass legislation that would extend the full tax break for research and development costs and expand the child tax credit for multiple years.
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July 31, 2024
Separate Easement Contribution Docs Critical, IRS Atty Says
Conservation easement donors must always keep separate documents from their donees that acknowledge the gifted property to qualify for a charitable tax deduction in the event the IRS requests such information during an audit, according to an agency counsel Wednesday.
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July 31, 2024
Wash. Cannabis Co. Sues Payroll Firm Over Back Taxes
A Puget Sound-area dispensary is suing Greenleaf HR LLC, a payroll provider specializing in the cannabis industry, and another firm, claiming they failed to pay the IRS on its behalf resulting in a nearly $172,500 tax bill, according to a lawsuit removed to Washington federal court.
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July 31, 2024
GOP Sens. Say Direct File Wrongly Expanding IRS' Power
The Internal Revenue Service "should not be focused on unilaterally expanding its own power" by making the free Direct File program permanent without the authorization of Congress, 19 Republican senators led by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said Wednesday.
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July 31, 2024
$1.1M Tax Refund Claim Needs More Time, Virgin Islands Says
A man living on the island of St. Thomas who sued the U.S. Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue for a $1.1 million tax refund is being audited, the agency told a Virgin Islands federal court, urging it not to move forward with the case.
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July 31, 2024
Americans Overseas Launch Residence Taxation Lobby Group
An advocacy group representing U.S. citizens living abroad announced it has officially registered as a lobbyist to continue to push Congress to pass residence-based taxation laws for the benefit of individuals comparable to those for corporations.
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July 31, 2024
Ex-Chicago Alderman Should Serve Full Supervision, Feds Say
A former Chicago alderman and attorney convicted of tax crimes should not be allowed an early reprieve from his court-ordered supervision because it has become his main form of punishment following his compassionate release from prison, the government has told an Illinois federal court.
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July 31, 2024
TaxAct Customers' Attys Want $5.8M Fee For $23M Deal
The attorneys for TaxAct Inc. customers who secured a $23 million deal to resolve claims that the company was secretly sharing confidential taxpayer information with Meta and Google asked a federal judge to award them more than $5.8 million in fees for their work.
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July 31, 2024
Senators Ask Treasury To Limit Biofuel Tax Credit Eligibility
The U.S. Treasury Department shouldn't grant biofuel production tax credits to companies that use foreign-sourced feedstocks, a coalition of Republican and Democratic senators said in a letter published Wednesday.
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July 31, 2024
Judge Won't Undo IRS' Pause On Worker Retention Credits
An Arizona federal judge rejected a tax advisory firm's request to lift the IRS' pause on processing claims for the pandemic-era employee retention credit, saying he wasn't eager to stop the agency from addressing the fraud it alleges has been widespread.
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July 30, 2024
Challenge To IRS Summons in $90M Easement Suit Tossed
A Mississippi federal judge dismissed a company's request to quash IRS summonses related to a $90 million conservation easement deduction, adopting the rulings of three sister jurisdictions that had dismissed the same challenge on grounds the summonses served a legitimate purpose.
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July 30, 2024
IRS Spinoff Guidance Raises Practical Concerns, NY Attys Say
Recent IRS guidance narrowing the corporate spinoff transactions that revenue officials will approve as tax-free ahead of time doesn't adequately consider the practical and commercial factors involved in these transactions, the New York State Bar Association's Tax Section said Tuesday.
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July 30, 2024
Israeli Man Seeks To Avoid Discovery In $3.6M FBAR Case
A federal court should not order the Israeli founder of a pet toy company to show cause for defying its discovery orders in the U.S. government's $3.6 million case over his failure to report foreign bank accounts because he is ending his defense, his attorneys said Tuesday.
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July 30, 2024
Kyocera Chides Gov't Attack On Jurisdiction In $7M Tax Case
The government's attempt to defeat a South Carolina federal court's jurisdiction is improper because it relies on a roughly $44 million assessment lodged months after electronics maker Kyocera filed an amended complaint for a $7 million federal tax refund, according to the company.
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July 30, 2024
Ropes & Gray Adds Partner To Int'l Tax Practice
Ropes & Gray LLP recently added a tax adviser with a wealth of experience navigating transactions, funds and investments for clients as a partner in its New York office, the firm said.
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July 30, 2024
Gold Broker Tells 6th Circ. He's Not Subject To $3M In Tax
A self-employed gold and silver broker told the Sixth Circuit he was "not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States" while he was living in Tennessee and therefore his roughly $3 million in tax liabilities that arose from his failure to file returns for years should be reversed.
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July 30, 2024
Local Leaders Ask Senate To Extend New Markets Credit
Congress should consider making the new markets tax credit permanent and extending opportunity zones as a way to help local governments, local leaders told the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday.
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July 30, 2024
Chubb Says US-Swiss Treaty Could Boost Total Tax Over 50%
Chubb and its shareholders would be significantly harmed by the terms of a proposed new bilateral tax treaty between the U.S. and Switzerland because it would be denied tax relief despite having been domiciled in Switzerland for over 15 years, the global insurer said in a letter released Tuesday.
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July 30, 2024
Husch Blackwell Hires UB Greensfelder Partner In St. Louis
Several years after Husch Blackwell LLP's newest partner, Garrett Reuter Jr., graduated from law school, he joined Greensfelder Hemker & Gale PC to work alongside his late father. Now, he's bringing clients he grew up watching his father work with, to a new platform.
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July 30, 2024
IRS' Property Seizure OK In $2M Tax Suit, 11th Circ. Told
The Eleventh Circuit should uphold an order allowing the Internal Revenue Service to seize the property of a former attorney who owes $2 million in taxes, the U.S. government said, arguing that he has delayed payment for 30 years on the liabilities.
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July 30, 2024
Pa. Joining IRS' Free E-File Program In 2025
The IRS will make its Direct File free online tax filing program available to Pennsylvania taxpayers for the 2025 filing season, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday, making it the third state to join the program after a dozen states participated in a pilot version this year.
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July 30, 2024
Gov't Seeks $10M In Taxes From Trucking Co. Owners
A Georgia federal court should find that trucking company owners, one of whom bribed military officials, owe about $10 million in taxes and allow the government to foreclose on liens against their property, the U.S. government said, saying the facts in the case are undisputed.
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July 30, 2024
IRS Issues Final Rules For Substitute Mortality Tables
The Internal Revenue Service published final regulations Tuesday updating the requirements that a plan sponsor of a single-employer defined benefit plan must meet to obtain agency approval to use mortality tables specific to the plan in calculating present value for minimum funding purposes.
Expert Analysis
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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New Crypto Reporting Will Require Rigorous Recordkeeping
The release of a form for reporting digital asset transactions is a pivotal moment in the Internal Revenue Service's efforts to track cryptocurrency activities that increases oversight by requiring brokers to report investor sales and exchanges, say Shaina Kamen and Max Angel at Holland & Knight.
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Geothermal Energy Has Growing Potential In The US
Bipartisan support for the geothermal industry shows that geothermal energy can be an elegant solution toward global decarbonization efforts because of its small footprint, low supply chain risk, and potential to draw on the skills of existing highly specialized oil and gas workers and renewable specialists, say attorneys at Weil.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Trump Hush Money Case Offers Master Class In Trial Strategy
The New York criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump typifies some of the greatest challenges that lawyers face in crafting persuasive presentations, providing lessons on how to handle bad facts, craft a simple story that withstands attack, and cross-examine with that story in mind, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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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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State-Regulated Cannabis Can Thrive Without Section 280E
Marijauna's reclassification as a Schedule III-controlled substance comes at a critical juncture, as removing marijuana from being subjected to Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code is the only path forward for the state-regulated cannabis industry to survive and thrive, say Andrew Kline at Perkins Coie and Sammy Markland at FTI Consulting.
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Asset Manager Exemption Shifts May Prove Too Burdensome
The U.S. Department of Labor’s recent change to a prohibited transaction exemption used by retirement plan asset managers introduces a host of new costs, burdens and risks to investment firms, from registration requirements to new transition periods, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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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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Should NIL Collectives Be Allowed Tax-Favored Status?
Arguments are being made for and against allowing organizations to provide charitable contribution tax deductions for donations used to compensate student-athletes, a practice with impacts on competition for student-athletes and overall tax fairness, but ultimately it is a question for Congress, say Andres Castillo and Barry Gogel at the University of Maryland School of Law.
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Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty
Taxpayers considering protective refund claims pending resolution of major questions in tax cases like Moore v. U.S., which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, should understand how doing so may also leave them vulnerable to an excessive refund claim penalty under Internal Revenue Code Section 6676, say attorneys at McDermott.