Federal
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August 30, 2024
Partnership Asks 11th Circ. To Restore $9M Easement Break
A partnership asked the Eleventh Circuit to reinstate its nearly $9 million deduction for donating a conservation easement in Georgia, saying the U.S. Tax Court erroneously limited the deduction to its cost basis by claiming partners who contributed the property had held it as inventory.
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August 30, 2024
IRS Corrects Proposed Rules To Address Pillar 2 Losses
The Internal Revenue Service issued corrections Friday to proposed rules that outline when foreign taxes under the Pillar Two international minimum tax agreement could trigger long-standing U.S. rules that aim to prevent companies from what is known as double-dipping the same economic loss.
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August 30, 2024
Dow Seeks To Add 7 Chemicals To IRC Taxable Substances
The Internal Revenue Service said Friday that it is looking for public comments on proposals by Dow Chemical to add seven chemicals to the Internal Revenue Code's list of taxable substances.
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August 30, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Paul Weiss, Squire
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Oneok reaches two agreements with energy infrastructure companies worth a total $5.9 billion, McKesson inks a $2.49 billion deal for a cancer center, and First Busey and CrossFirst Bankshares agree to a $917 million merger.
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August 30, 2024
Rule Aims To Widen Low-Income Green Electricity Tax Credits
Geothermal, hydropower, nuclear fusion and nuclear fission projects would be among the types of electricity facilities that could be eligible for clean electricity low-income community bonus credit amounts starting in 2025, the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Treasury Department said in proposed rules released Friday.
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August 29, 2024
9th Circ. Says IRS Properly Rejected Payment Compromise
A man who owed $50 million in taxes and offered to settle part of his debt was correctly denied a compromise, the Ninth Circuit affirmed Thursday, rejecting his argument that his offer should have been deemed accepted because the agency missed the two-year deadline for rejecting it.
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August 29, 2024
Tax Court Rejects Bid To Change Ruling Post-Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent overturning of the Chevron standard of judicial deference to agencies when interpreting statutes does not justify reconsidering a Cayman Islands partnership's tax liability, the U.S. Tax Court ruled.
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August 29, 2024
4th Circ. Won't Revive Whistleblower's Credit Suisse Tax Suit
The Fourth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a former Credit Suisse employee's whistleblower case that alleged the Swiss bank continued to help clients evade taxes after it made a related plea deal with the U.S., saying a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision on the False Claims Act could not save the case.
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August 29, 2024
Convicted Drexel Prof Says Records Would've Swayed Jury
A Drexel University accounting professor convicted on charges of tax evasion and filing false tax returns after the government accused him of failing to report $3.3 million in income from a Trenton pharmacy has asked a New Jersey federal judge for a new trial.
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August 29, 2024
IRS Lacking In Limiting Below-$400K Audits, TIGTA Says
The IRS has made only partial progress toward complying with a U.S. Treasury Department directive to develop methodology to ensure the agency doesn't increase the audit rate for businesses and households with annual incomes below $400,000, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported Thursday.
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August 29, 2024
GAO Suggests IRS Improve Retirement Account Oversight
The Internal Revenue Service needs to beef up its oversight of conflicts of interest between fiduciaries and individual retirement account investors, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report.
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August 29, 2024
Applications Open For $6B In Advanced Energy Tax Credits
Full applications are now open for manufacturers seeking a share of a second-round $6 billion tax-credit allocation for their development projects that support the clean energy industry, the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Energy said Thursday.
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August 29, 2024
Colo. Group Asks US Justices To Revive Ballot Law Dispute
A Colorado organization asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower-court decision upholding a state law requiring financial impacts be included in the titles of some tax-related ballot initiatives.
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August 29, 2024
Couple Tells 5th Circ. Tax Overpayments Enable Refund Suit
A couple claiming they paid their tax bill should not be allowed to sue the Internal Revenue Service for a refund in a federal district court, the government told the Fifth Circuit on Thursday, saying the agency thinks the couple still owes about $480,000.
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August 29, 2024
Day Pitney Lands Former Reuters Tax Counsel In Conn.
Day Pitney LLP continued its recent growth in its tax practice in Connecticut with the addition of an experienced tax attorney from Thomson Reuters.
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August 29, 2024
IRS Expands Accounting Change Waiver Eligibility
The Internal Revenue Service adjusted a previous notice Thursday to modify certain procedures for obtaining automatic consent of the agency commissioner to change methods of accounting for expenditures paid or incurred in taxable years beginning after 2021.
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August 29, 2024
Churches Attack Nonprofit Politics Ban As Unconstitutional
Churches and Christian advocacy groups asked a Texas federal court to declare unconstitutional a provision in the Internal Revenue Code that prevents tax-exempt nonprofits from endorsing political candidates, saying the IRS discriminates against conservative religious groups and churches in applying the law.
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August 29, 2024
IRS Corrects Partnership Conservation Easement Limit Rules
The Internal Revenue Service issued corrections Thursday to finalized rules that curb the conservation easement tax deduction claimed by certain partnerships under the Secure 2.0 Act.
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August 28, 2024
Hunter Biden's Addiction Expert Knocked Out Of Tax Trial
A California federal judge on Tuesday barred Hunter Biden's expected addiction expert from testifying in his upcoming trial on tax charges, saying the expert's opinions hadn't been clearly linked to the specifics of Biden's own struggle.
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August 28, 2024
IRS Declines Watchdog's Ask For Attys In Talks With Big Cos.
The IRS declined a recommendation by its internal watchdog to require the agency's counsel to attend talks held with large multinational corporations by its appellate division, which agents say thwarts their ability to correctly enforce the economic substance doctrine, according to a report.
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August 28, 2024
Pa. Atty Admits To Dodging Taxes On Mass Tort Deal Fees
A Pennsylvania attorney pled guilty Wednesday to failing to pay taxes for approximately $1.2 million in income she received over three years, depriving the government of up to half a million dollars in revenue, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
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August 28, 2024
Feds Looks To Toss Ex-Citizens' Renunciation Fee Challenge
The federal government asked a D.C. federal judge to throw out a lawsuit brought by former U.S. citizens who want their $2,350 citizenship renunciation fee refunded, arguing during a Wednesday hearing that the United States is immune from the litigation and the plaintiffs can't relitigate claims that they already lost.
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August 28, 2024
3 Items Tax Pros Want To See In Student Loan Matching Regs
Practitioners and experts are hoping the IRS will flesh out a recently released notice on student loan matching contributions to retirement plans with details including how to fix errors and whether plans may need to be changed depending on how they provide matches. Here, Law360 explores three issues practitioners and observers want the agency to address.
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August 28, 2024
Mo. Partnership Challenges Nix Of $79M Easement Deduction
The Internal Revenue Service offered no explanation for its claims that a Missouri partnership's conservation easement donation was overvalued and didn't serve a conservation purpose, the partnership told the U.S. Tax Court in challenging the rejection of a $79 million tax deduction.
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August 28, 2024
5th Circ. Upholds Tax Preparer's Sentence, Delays Restitution
The Fifth Circuit upheld a Texas federal jury's conviction that resulted in a prison sentence for a tax preparation service owner for assisting in filing false tax returns, but it determined that the nearly $72,000 in restitution that she owes should be delayed until after her sentence ends.
Expert Analysis
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Why DOJ's Whistleblower Program May Have Limited Impact
The U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower pilot program aims to incentivize individuals to report corporate misconduct, but the program's effectiveness may be undercut by its differences from other federal agencies’ whistleblower programs and its interplay with other DOJ policies, say attorneys at Milbank.
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How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act
In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.
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Trump's Best Hush Money Appeal Options Still Likely To Fail
The two strongest potential arguments former President Donald Trump could raise in appealing his New York hush money conviction seem promising at first, but precedent strongly suggests they will still ultimately fail — though, of course, Trump's unique position could lead to surprising results, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.
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Tips For Tax Equity-Tax Credit Transfers That Pass IRS Muster
Although the Internal Revenue Service has increased its scrutiny of complex partnership structures, which must demonstrate their economic substance and business purpose, recent cases and IRS guidance together provide a reliable road map for creating legitimate tax equity structures, say Ian Boccaccio and Michael Messina at Ryan Tax.
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Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?
A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.
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3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture
Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents
Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.
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A Guide To Long-Term, Part-Time Employee Determinations
With final regulations under the Secure Act requiring 401(k) retirement benefits for long-term, part-time employees expected soon, Amy Sheridan and David Guadagnoli at Sullivan & Worcester look at how the proposed rules would shift the risk-reward calculus on excluding categories of employees, and what plan sponsors would need to consider when designing retirement plans.
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After Chevron: Delegation Of Authority And Tax Regulators
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service will face higher standards following Loper Bright’s finding that courts should determine whether agency rules meet the best possible interpretation of the tax code, as well as the scope of the authority delegated by Congress, says Edward Froelich at McDermott.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.
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How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market
Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.
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Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.