Federal
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June 07, 2024
IRS Scrutinizing Hospitals' Tax Exemptions, Official Says
The Internal Revenue Service's Tax-Exempt & Government Entities Division has started auditing tax-exempt hospitals to ensure they're complying with exemption requirements, an agency official said Friday.
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June 07, 2024
Halliburton Wrongly Denied $11.3M Deduction, Court Told
The Internal Revenue Service is arbitrarily and wrongfully refusing to refund Halliburton over $11.3 million in tax deductions taken for a payment to a foreign government to secure the safety of the company's employees, Halliburton told a federal court.
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June 07, 2024
Fed. Circ. Panel Doubts Bid To Nix Actavis' $12M Deduction
A Federal Circuit panel seemed skeptical of the government's bid to overturn a decision allowing drugmaker Actavis to deduct $12 million it spent fending off lawsuits as it secured approval to sell generics, raising the question during oral arguments Friday whether the company was being uniquely targeted.
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June 07, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Vinson, Latham, Ropes & Gray
In this Week's Taxation with Representation, Waste Management buys Stericycle, Becton Dickinson pays $4.2 billion for Edwards Lifesciences' critical care products unit, Aquiline Capital Partners raises over $3.4 billion in fund capital, and Bain Capital buys PowerSchool Holdings.
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June 07, 2024
IRS Lists Shuttered Coal Areas For Energy Bonus Credits
The Internal Revenue Service on Friday issued updated lists of areas, including closed coal mines and factories, where developers can qualify for additional tax credits for building their clean energy projects.
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June 07, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service issued its weekly bulletin Friday, which included proposed foreign trust transaction reporting requirements.
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June 06, 2024
Medtronic Urges 8th Circ. To Back Its Transfer Pricing Method
Medical device maker Medtronic reiterated Thursday its bid for the Eighth Circuit to revive its method for pricing intangible property that was licensed to a Puerto Rican affiliate, arguing the government's concessions show why the company's approach is more reliable.
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June 06, 2024
9th Circ. Denies Trust Refund Of Money Forfeited To IRS
A trust lost its ownership claims to property when an Idaho federal court determined the property had been transferred to the trust fraudulently, the Ninth Circuit said Thursday, affirming a decision to deny a $225,000 tax refund.
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June 06, 2024
Estate Entitled To Deduct Payouts To Stepkids, 11th Circ. Told
The U.S. Tax Court wrongly denied deductions to a former attorney's $81 million estate for million-dollar payouts it made to his stepchildren after they sued, the estate told the Eleventh Circuit, saying the payments satisfied legitimate claims against the estate and were therefore deductible.
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June 06, 2024
Tax Court Upholds Rejection Of Man's Biz Deductions
A Floridian failed to adequately back up certain business loss deduction claims made on his tax return, the U.S. Tax Court said Thursday, backing the IRS' rejection of the claims and imposition of an accuracy-related penalty.
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June 06, 2024
'Brothel' Manager Violated Bail After $5.7M Sting, Feds Say
A manager and bookkeeper facing federal charges connected to a COVID-19 grant and tax fraud scheme at a Connecticut strip club violated his bail conditions by showing up at the facility and "hanging out" with a potential witness, federal probation authorities have alleged.
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June 06, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Revive Org's Push To Restore Nonprofit Status
The U.S. Tax Court's dismissal of an attempt to reinstate nonprofit status for a California organization that said its officers fell victim to a Ponzi scheme did not breach the group's constitutional rights, the Ninth Circuit said.
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June 06, 2024
Ex-IRS Worker Indicted In $2M Exxon Credit Theft Scheme
A former Internal Revenue Service employee used his account management job at the agency to steal more than $2 million worth of tax credits from Exxon Mobil and pocket the money, according to a Utah federal grand jury indictment.
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June 06, 2024
Fox Rothschild Brings On Tax Pro From Atlanta Boutique
Fox Rothschild LLP has added an attorney in Atlanta from tax law boutique Wiggam Law to strengthen the firm's taxation and wealth planning department.
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June 06, 2024
IRS Needs Strategy For 2.6M Tax Doc Backlog, TIGTA Says
Not only does the Internal Revenue Service have a document backlog exceeding 2.6 million source documents that need to be associated with a specific form, but it also has been making significant mistakes in reporting closures, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a report released Thursday.
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June 06, 2024
Justices Affirm Taxing Of Estate On Insurance Payout
The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed on Thursday a decision denying a tax refund to the estate of an owner of a building materials company that used a payout from his $3.5 million life insurance policy to purchase his shares in the business.
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June 05, 2024
CohnReznick Scores Quick Exit In Tax Scheme Suit
A New York federal judge agreed to toss a housing partnership's suit accusing accounting firm CohnReznick LLP of professional negligence and fraud, finding that the district court doesn't have jurisdiction over the dispute.
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June 05, 2024
IRS Must Better Log AI Use In Tax Gap Estimates, GAO Says
The Internal Revenue Service needs to complete documentation on its use of artificial intelligence models as part of a plan to improve its tax gap estimates, the Government Accountability Office said Wednesday.
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June 05, 2024
Californian Failed To Report Missing Income, Tax Court Says
A California woman's contention that she should not be accountable for a deficiency in her 2021 tax filing due to what she said was an error by her accountant doesn't stand up under scrutiny, the U.S. Tax Court said Wednesday.
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June 05, 2024
Some Payments After Train Derailed Aren't Taxable, IRS Says
Certain payments from Norfolk Southern Corp. to victims of its freight train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, are considered disaster relief payments and are therefore not taxable, the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.
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June 05, 2024
House Panel Tees Up $2B In IRS Cuts For Full Committee Vote
A House Appropriations subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday that would reduce Internal Revenue Service funding for fiscal 2025 by over $2 billion and prohibit money from going to the agency's free online tax-filing program without congressional approval.
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June 05, 2024
Win May Embolden IRS Use Of Economic Substance Doctrine
The IRS' successful wielding of the economic substance doctrine to characterize multinational telecommunications corporation Liberty Global's sophisticated set of intercompany deals as an abusive tax shelter could encourage the agency to apply similar analysis to even the most basic tax transactions.
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June 05, 2024
IRS Presses Justices To Weigh In On Tax Challenge Deadline
The IRS urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a Third Circuit decision finding the U.S. Tax Court's 90-day deadline for challenging tax bills is not set in stone, arguing the couple defending the ruling are wrongly relying on a 2022 high court decision.
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June 05, 2024
Billionaire's 'Naive' Stock-Trading Pilot Asks For No Prison
A private pilot for U.K. billionaire Joe Lewis is asking for no prison time after pleading guilty to insider trading on stock tips provided by his boss, arguing that he has otherwise lived a law-abiding life and is less culpable than many white-collar defendants who've come through the Manhattan federal court.
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June 05, 2024
Taxpayer Advocacy Committee Meeting Moved Up
The Internal Revenue Service moved up an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel's Notices and Correspondence Project Committee to June 18, it said Wednesday.
Expert Analysis
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Unlocking Value In Carve-Out M&A Transactions
Some of the largest mergers and acquisitions in 2023 were carve-out transactions, and despite their unique intricacies and challenges, these transactions offer both buyers and sellers the opportunity to generate outsized returns in an otherwise vigorously competitive landscape, when carefully planned and diligently executed, say Kevin Crews and Rami Totari at Kirkland.
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Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence
Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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1st Tax Easement Convictions Will Likely Embolden DOJ, IRS
After recent convictions in the first criminal tax fraud trial over allegedly abusive syndicated conservation easements, the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice will likely pursue other promoters for similar alleged conspiracies — though one acquittal may help attorneys better evaluate their clients' exposure, say Bill Curtis and Lauren DeSantis-Then at Polsinelli.
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Tips For Litigating Against Pro Se Parties In Complex Disputes
Litigating against self-represented parties in complex cases can pose unique challenges for attorneys, but for the most part, it requires the same skills that are useful in other cases — from documenting everything to understanding one’s ethical duties, says Bryan Ketroser at Alto Litigation.
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Anticipating Intensified Partnership Enforcement From IRS
The Internal Revenue Service's decadeslong difficulties with partnership audits led to the recent announcement of a clear, well-funded, focused initiative, and businesses operating in the partnership form will feel the impact, with definite changes ahead, says Sharon Katz-Pearlman at Greenberg Traurig.
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Pro Bono Work Is Powerful Self-Help For Attorneys
Oct. 22-28 is Pro Bono Week, serving as a useful reminder that offering free legal help to the public can help attorneys expand their legal toolbox, forge community relationships and create human connections, despite the challenges of this kind of work, says Orlando Lopez at Culhane Meadows.
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The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Espinosa On 'Lincoln Lawyer'
The murder trials in Netflix’s “The Lincoln Lawyer” illustrate the stark contrast between the ethical high ground that fosters and maintains the criminal justice system's integrity, and the ethical abyss that can undermine it, with an important reminder for all legal practitioners, say Judge Adam Espinosa and Andrew Howard at the Colorado 2nd Judicial District Court.
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Newman Suspension Shows Need For Judicial Reform
The recent suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman following her alleged refusal to participate in a disability inquiry reveals the need for judicial misconduct reforms to ensure that judges step down when they can no longer serve effectively, says Aliza Shatzman at The Legal Accountability Project.
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How And Why Your Firm Should Implement Fixed-Fee Billing
Amid rising burnout in the legal industry and client efforts to curtail spending, pivoting to a fixed-fee billing model may improve client-attorney relationships and offer lawyers financial, logistical and stress relief — while still maintaining profit margins, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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How Law Firms Can Use Account-Based Marketing Strategies
Amid several evolving legal industry trends, account-based marketing can help law firms uncover additional revenue-generating opportunities with existing clients, with key considerations ranging from data analytics to relationship building, say Jennifer Ramsey at stage LLC and consultant Gina Sponzilli.
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While Risks Exist, AI Could Transform IRS Enforcement
The Internal Revenue Service's recently announced use of artificial intelligence could revolutionize the agency's enforcement efforts, and transparency about its use and a forum for challenging AI findings could help mitigate fears that the technology will increase bias, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.
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Strategic Succession Planning At Law Firms Is Crucial
Senior partners' reluctance to retire, the rise of the nonequity partner tier and generational differences in expectations are all contributing to an increasing number of departures from BigLaw, making it imperative for firms to encourage retirement among senior ranks and provide clearer leadership pathways to junior attorneys, says Laura Leopard at Leopard Solutions.
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Maximizing Law Firm Profitability In Uncertain Times
As threats of an economic downturn loom, firms can boost profits by embracing the power of bottom-line management and creating an ecosystem where strategic financial oversight and robust timekeeping practices meet evolved client relations, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Strategic Consulting.