Federal
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July 22, 2024
Werfel Wants IRS to Help Eligible EITC Nonclaimaints
The Internal Revenue Service needs to do more to help people who are eligible for the earned income tax credit but don't claim it, Daniel Werfel, the agency's commissioner, said Monday.
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July 22, 2024
IRS Delays Tax Deadlines For Texans Affected By Hurricane
Certain Texas taxpayers affected by Hurricane Beryl, which hit the state this month, will have until a delayed deadline of Feb. 3 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments, the Internal Revenue Service said Monday.
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July 22, 2024
Kyocera Failed To Back R&D Credits With Records, US Says
Multinational electronics maker Kyocera AVX Components Corp. failed to back up its claim to research tax credits with the required paperwork, the U.S. government told a South Carolina federal court in asking it to stop part of the company's nearly $9 million refund suit from going to trial.
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July 19, 2024
House Panel To Weigh EV Credit Restrictions, IRS' Use Of AI
The House Rules Committee will consider amendments Monday to a fiscal 2025 funding bill that would give the IRS $10.1 billion, sorting through divergent priorities of lawmakers from integrating artificial intelligence into agency operations to restricting tax credits for electric vehicles and helping seniors file tax returns.
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July 19, 2024
Partnership Protests IRS' Reasons For $84M Deduction Denial
The Internal Revenue Service wrongly denied a partnership's charitable contribution deduction of nearly $84 million for a donated conservation easement for reasons including the partnership failing to demonstrate it made the contribution, the partnership's representative told the U.S. Tax Court.
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July 19, 2024
Cox Owner's Estate Claims IRS Miscalculated $46M Tax Bill
The estate of an owner of the Cox Enterprises media empire challenged a $46 million tax bill from the Internal Revenue Service, telling the U.S. Tax Court that the agency erroneously calculated the tax by inflating the value of the company's stock by about $20 per share.
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July 19, 2024
Attorney Denied Separate Trial In $2.1B Danish Tax Fraud
An attorney facing trial alongside his clients for alleged ties to a $2.1 billion Danish tax fraud has been denied a separate hearing by a New York federal court, which remained unconvinced that his co-workers' advice to the clients could rebound on him prejudicially in a joint trial.
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July 19, 2024
Taxation With Representation: A&O Shearman, Gibson Dunn
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. buys Stelco Holdings Inc., KBR acquires LinQuest Corp., Blue Owl Capital Inc. purchases Atalaya Capital Management LP, and Amphenol Corp. buys two mobile networks units from CommScope.
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July 19, 2024
Chippewa Lawyer Not Exempt From Taxes, 8th Circ. Says
The Eighth Circuit said Friday that an attorney who belongs to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe is not exempt from federal taxes on his self-employment income, saying no treaty or statute specifically allows Native Americans to skirt the tax.
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July 19, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included the finalized rules that curb the conservation easement tax deduction claimed by certain partnerships.
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July 18, 2024
Hunter Biden Wants Charges Tossed After Trump Docs Ruling
Hunter Biden on Thursday asked federal judges in Delaware and California to throw out his conviction on felony gun charges and to toss other charges of tax evasion, citing a Florida federal judge's order disqualifying the special prosecutor in Donald Trump's classified documents case.
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July 18, 2024
Treasury Starting To Address Amount B, Official Says
The U.S. Department of the Treasury is just starting to decide how to handle a transfer pricing regime under a prong of the OECD-led global tax overhaul, a Treasury official said Thursday.
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July 18, 2024
Bank Exec's Tax Tip Case Wrongly Axed, Estate Tells DC Circ.
The estate of a Dutch bank executive asked the D.C. Circuit to overturn a U.S. Tax Court decision denying him a whistleblower award for reporting on tax avoidance schemes, saying the lower court improperly relied on proposed regulations from the Internal Revenue Service.
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July 18, 2024
New IRS Easement Settlements Put Tax Pros In A Pickle
The IRS' new settlement program for partnerships that participated in conservation easements that haven't yet ended up in court comes with terms far sweeter than past offers, making it difficult for practitioners to advise clients to take the deal or wait for a better one.
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July 18, 2024
Tax Pros Say Gov'ts Stretching 'Realistic Alternative' Analysis
Tax authorities including the Internal Revenue Service are overstepping in their use of "realistic alternative" arguments, substituting their own judgment for that of businesses, transfer pricing specialists said Thursday.
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July 18, 2024
Tax Court Affirms IRS Whistleblower Award Computation
The Internal Revenue Service's Whistleblower Office did not abuse its discretion when it set an award at 22% of collected proceeds even though other awards tied to related claims were set at 30%, the U.S. Tax Court said Thursday.
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July 18, 2024
Ex-Venable Trusts And Estates Partner Joins Stradling In LA
Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth PC announced that it launched a trusts and estates practice with the hiring of an experienced Los Angeles-based partner from Venable LLP.
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July 18, 2024
Most Top US Cos. To Report Tax Under Aussie Bill, Study Says
Australia's Senate is expected to consider adoption next month of the world's most extensive public country-by-country reporting rules, which would require 51% of large U.S. multinational corporations to disclose tax arrangements retroactively from July 1, according to a study published Thursday.
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July 18, 2024
Final IRS Rules Require Beneficiaries To Take Distributions
Beneficiaries of retirement account owners who died after starting to take distributions must continue taking the distributions annually, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday in final regulations on required minimum distributions that rejected feedback saying the requirement was overly complex.
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July 18, 2024
Rising Star: Latham's Eric Kamerman
Eric Kamerman of Latham & Watkins LLP in recent years handled the tax aspects of several multibillion-dollar acquisitions of powerhouses in British soccer and American fashion, earning him recognition as one of the tax attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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July 18, 2024
IRS Issues Corp. Bond Monthly Yield Curve For July
The Internal Revenue Service published Thursday the corporate bond monthly yield curve for July for use in calculations for defined benefit plans, as well as corresponding segment rates and other related provisions.
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July 18, 2024
Man Can't Annul Agreement To Pay $2M In Taxes, Court Told
A federal district court should force a Florida man to pay the over $2 million in taxes, interest and penalties he owes despite his change of heart about an agreement regarding his deficient filings, the government said.
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July 18, 2024
Top International Tax Cases To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2024
Tax attorneys will be tracking several high-stakes cases in the second half of 2024 that could define the bounds of the IRS' ability to craft regulations or lodge direct challenges aimed at what it sees as the tax avoidance maneuvers of multinational corporations. Here, Law360 looks at key international tax cases to follow during the rest of the year.
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July 17, 2024
Much Of Pillar 1 Treaty Agreed On, OECD Official Says
Agreement has been reached on the bulk of a multilateral pact to implement new taxing rights that are part of a revamp of the international tax system and on expansions to a part of the taxing rights plan, an OECD official said Wednesday.
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July 17, 2024
Tax Court OKs Added Penalty Over Nixed $20.7M Deduction
The U.S. Tax Court found Wednesday that a Georgia partnership should be assessed a negligence penalty alongside a previously assessed accuracy penalty tied to a disallowed $20.7 million charitable contribution deduction, agreeing with an argument by the IRS.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Enforcement Of International Tax Reporting Is Heating Up
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s February decision in Bittner v. U.S. changed how penalties for failure to report offshore accounts are calculated, recent developments suggest the government is preparing to step up enforcement and vigorously pursue the collection of resulting penalties, say Daniel Silva and Agustin Ceballos at Buchalter.
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How Gov't Agencies Will Fare In The Event Of A Shutdown
With a federal shutdown potentially set to begin at the end of this month, it may be useful to consider the approximate timelines that agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and IRS have announced for curtailing operations, and potential strategies for mitigating challenges that may arise while agency functions are limited, say attorneys at Cleary.
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IRS Notice Clarifies R&E Amortization, But Questions Remain
The IRS and Treasury Department’s recent notice clarifying the treatment of specified research and experimental expenditures under Section 174 provides taxpayers and practitioners with substantive guidance, but it misses the mark in delineating which expenditures are amortizable, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Preparing Your Legal Department For Pillar 2 Compliance
Multinational entities should familiarize themselves with Pillar Two of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s BEPs 2.0 project and prepare their internal legal tracking systems for related reporting requirements that may go into effect as early as January, says Daniel Robyn at Ernst & Young.
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What Large Language Models Mean For Document Review
Courts often subject parties using technology assisted review to greater scrutiny than parties conducting linear, manual document review, so parties using large language models for document review should expect even more attention, along with a corresponding need for quality control and validation, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Participating In Living History Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My role as a baron in a living history group, and my work as volunteer corporate counsel for a book series fan association, has provided me several opportunities to practice in unexpected areas of law — opening doors to experiences that have nurtured invaluable personal and professional skills, says Matthew Parker at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.