Federal
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July 15, 2024
Widow To Pull $1.7M From Swiss Bank To Pay FBAR Penalties
A logger's widow agreed to pull about $1.7 million from her Swiss bank account to pay down penalties that her late husband's estate owes the IRS for his failure to report offshore accounts, according to a filing Monday in a Colorado federal court.
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July 15, 2024
AICPA Suggests Revising Foreign Trust Loan Anti-Abuse Rule
The U.S. Treasury Department should scrap or revise significantly an anti-abuse rule for nonresident aliens who receive loans from foreign trusts, which was included in proposed regulations on how to report foreign trust transactions, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants said in a letter published Monday.
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July 15, 2024
IBM Taps Jones Day To Take NY Royalty Tax Fight To Justices
IBM asked the U.S. Supreme Court for more time to submit a petition for review of a New York high court decision that upheld tax on royalties received from foreign affiliates, saying it recently retained Jones Day to handle the case.
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July 15, 2024
Akerman Brings On Chamberlain Hrdlicka Tax Pros In Atlanta
Akerman LLP announced Monday that it picked up a pair of new partners for its tax practice group in Atlanta who were previously with Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Aughtry.
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July 15, 2024
TIGTA Says IRS Can Improve Digital Currency Enforcement
While the IRS has carried out some enforcement actions related to virtual currency noncompliance and has launched a program focused on identifying taxpayers who leave digital assets off their returns, the agency has lots of room for improvement, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Monday.
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July 15, 2024
Truck Co. Qualifies For $500M Tax Safe Harbor, 6th Circ. Told
A Tennessee company asked the Sixth Circuit to shield it from more than $500 million in excise tax liabilities, saying a lower court correctly found that its refurbished trucks qualify for the safe harbor from the heavy-truck excise tax.
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July 15, 2024
Rising Star: Davis Polk's Dominic Foulkes
Dominic Foulkes of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP has advised companies on several multibillion-dollar transactions, including a technology-maker's $4.9 billion initial public offering, the largest in the United States in the last three years, earning him a spot among the tax law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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July 12, 2024
Rising Star: Quinn Emanuel's Emily Au
Emily Au of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has been the lead attorney on several high-profile cases, including a key case across the U.K. construction industry in terms of HMRC's Value-Added Tax policy, earning her a spot among the tax law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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July 12, 2024
Law360 Names 2024's Top Attorneys Under 40
Law360 is pleased to announce the Rising Stars of 2024, our list of 158 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.
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July 12, 2024
Chevron's End Doesn't Bear On 3M's Case, IRS Tells 8th Circ.
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent overturning of Chevron deference doesn't warrant a reversal of a U.S. Tax Court ruling in 3M Co.'s transfer pricing case, the Internal Revenue Service told the Eighth Circuit on Friday.
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July 12, 2024
Payments To Ex-Wife Should Be Deductible, 11th Circ. Told
A Georgia man told the Eleventh Circuit on Friday that his payments to his ex-wife as part of a marital settlement should qualify as alimony and therefore be deductible from his federal income taxes, asking the court to reverse a U.S. Tax Court decision.
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July 12, 2024
Mo. Says IRS 'Stonewalling' On Worker Credit Freeze Records
The Internal Revenue Service violated public records law in failing to release documents related to its decision to stop processing new employee retention credit claims, the state of Missouri said Friday in a complaint that accuses the agency of "stonewalling."
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July 12, 2024
11th Circ. Urged To Grant Deductions In Ruined Records Case
The U.S. Tax Court should have been more generous in granting tax deductions to a Florida couple whose records were destroyed by a hurricane, the couple told the Eleventh Circuit on Friday, saying the lost records were out of their control.
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July 12, 2024
European Tax Policy To Watch In The Second Half Of 2024
Observers of European Union tax policy expect the EU to devote more attention to problems with existing tax legislation in the coming months as the introduction of major policy proposals takes a pause. Specialists also will be watching for progress on EU tax laws that remain stuck, and the bloc is likely to fill roles including tax commissioner. Here, Law360 examines key tax issues to watch for the remaining six months of the year.
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July 12, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Ropes & Gray, Cravath, Latham
In this Week's Taxation with Representation, Paramount Global merges with Skydance Media, Devon Energy acquires Grayson Mill Energy's Williston Basin oil and gas business, Ryan acquires Altus Group Ltd.'s property tax business, and Bain Capital buys Envestnet Inc.
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July 12, 2024
Former City Treasurer Gets 30 Months In $1M Embezzlement
A former city treasurer in Alaska was sentenced to two and a half years in prison after having admitted to tax evasion and fraud in connection with a $1 million embezzlement scheme, according to Alaska federal court documents.
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July 12, 2024
7 Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Committees To Meet In August
Seven of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel's committees will hold public meetings in August focused on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service, the agency announced Friday.
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July 12, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included the reporting and recording obligations associated with the stock buyback excise tax.
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July 11, 2024
3 Defenses The IRS Can Fall Back On After Chevron's Demise
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to eliminate federal agencies' ability to rely on the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine to defend their interpretations of ambiguous laws will likely trigger more litigation against the IRS. But that doesn't mean the agency is completely defenseless against such suits. Here, Law360 explores three defense options for the IRS following Chevron's demise.
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July 11, 2024
House GOP Urges USTR To Probe Canada Digital Services Tax
The U.S. trade representative should immediately launch an investigation into Canada's recently enacted digital services tax and determine if trade actions are necessary to protect American interests, U.S. House Ways and Means Republicans said in a letter Thursday.
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July 11, 2024
Tax Court Denies Real Estate Loss Deduction To Builder
The U.S. Tax Court said Thursday that it didn't believe a man who claimed to work an extra 48 hours a week beyond his regular full-time job to build a short-term rental property, denying him a $22,000 rental real estate loss deduction reserved for real estate professionals.
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July 11, 2024
ABA Attys Seek To Avoid Reporting Foreign Trust Loans
The American Bar Association's tax, real estate and trust attorneys are seeking to prevent the U.S. Treasury Department from tightening reporting requirements for the exemption of loans from foreign trusts, which are often used by wealthy families and in succession planning, according to a consultation response.
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July 11, 2024
Railroad Benefits Are Taxable, Tax Court Says
A retired railroad worker and his wife must include benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board in their taxable income, having failed to prove that the benefits are nontaxable due to their disabilities, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Thursday.
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July 11, 2024
Ex-Leaders Ask Biden For Int'l Coordination On Billionaire Tax
President Joe Biden should get behind Brazil's proposal for the Group of 20 nations to coordinate a minimum tax on billionaires, nearly 20 former presidents and prime ministers from countries such as Canada, France and South Korea said in an open letter.
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July 11, 2024
IRS Proposes 'Basket Contracts' As Listed Transactions
The Internal Revenue Service proposed rules Thursday that would flag so-called basket option contracts as potentially abusive listed transactions, imposing additional reporting requirements under the threat of penalty for individuals and businesses involved in such arrangements.
Expert Analysis
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How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season
Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Giving The Gov't Drug Patent March-In Authority Is Bad Policy
The Biden administration's recent proposal to allow government seizure of certain taxpayer-funded drug patents is a terrible idea that would negate the benefits of government-funded research, to the detriment of patients and the wider economy, says Wayne Winegarden at Pacific Research Institute.
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How Clients May Use AI To Monitor Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly enable clients to monitor and evaluate their counsel’s activities, so attorneys must clearly define the terms of engagement and likewise take advantage of the efficiencies offered by AI, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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The Pop Culture Docket: Judge D'Emic On Moby Grape
The 1968 Moby Grape song "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" tells the tale of a fictional defendant treated with scorn by the judge, illustrating how much the legal system has evolved in the past 50 years, largely due to problem-solving courts and the principles of procedural justice, says Kings County Supreme Court Administrative Judge Matthew D'Emic.
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How 'As Such' Changes LPs' Self-Employment Tax Exposure
In light of the U.S. Tax Court’s recent Soroban Capital Partners decision hinging on "as such" to define the statutory limited partners exemption, state law limited partnerships should consider partners' roles and responsibilities before determining whether they are obligated to pay self-employment income tax, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Breaking Down High Court's New Code Of Conduct
The U.S. Supreme Court recently adopted its first-ever code of conduct, and counsel will need to work closely with clients in navigating its provisions, from gift-giving to recusal bids, say Phillip Gordon and Mateo Forero at Holtzman Vogel.
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IRA Monetization Energizes Clean Power Tax Credit Market
Recent large sales of clean energy production tax credits reflect an environment in which the Inflation Reduction Act's provisions for monetizing such credits via direct transfer — bypassing slow, costly tax equity transactions — offer opportunities for both developers and investors, says Andrew Eastman at Husch Blackwell.
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Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave
To truly foster equity in the legal profession and to promote attorney retention, workplaces need to better support all parents, regardless of gender — starting by offering equal and robust parental leave to both birthing and non-birthing parents, says Ali Spindler at Irwin Fritchie.
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Unpacking Long-Awaited Clean Energy Tax Credit Guidance
Recently proposed Internal Revenue Service regulations provide welcome confirmatory guidance on the application of investment tax credits as reworked by 2022's Inflation Reduction Act, prevailing wage and apprenticeship rules that are largely consistent with market expectations, and broader eligibility criteria that should please the wind power industry in particular, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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An Informed Guide To Mastering Retirement Plan Forfeitures
When considering how to allocate departing retirement plan participants’ forfeitures, sponsors should consider recently filed lawsuits that allege Employee Retirement Income Security Act violations for using such funds to offset employer contributions, as well as proposed IRS guidance concerning how and when they must be used, says Eric Gregory at Dickinson Wright.
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The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms
In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.
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IRS Proposal May Help Clarify Donor-Advised Fund Excise Tax
Recently proposed regulations provide important clarifications of the Internal Revenue Code's excise tax on donor-advised fund distributions by providing detailed definitions of key terms and addressing some of the open issues related to their operation and administration, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.