Federal

  • January 08, 2025

    Pension Plan Official's Estate Excused From Danish Tax Suit

    A New York federal court approved Wednesday an agreement for Denmark's tax authority to settle its claims against the estate of a pension plan official whose plan allegedly defrauded the agency out of $9 million.

  • January 08, 2025

    Final Treasury Regs Grow Low-Income Bonus Energy Credits

    New hydropower, nuclear, solar, geothermal and other nonpolluting energy facilities developed in areas designated as low-income communities are eligible for bonus investment tax credits under final regulations the U.S. Treasury Department unveiled Wednesday.

  • January 08, 2025

    H&R Block To Pay $7M Fine In False Ad Settlement With FTC

    Tax preparation giant H&R Block will pay a $7 million fine to help customers harmed by what the Federal Trade Commission called its deceptive advertising practices and make it easier for customers to downgrade to cheaper products under a settlement with the agency announced Wednesday.

  • January 08, 2025

    IRS Updates Guidance For Taxes In Employment Disputes

    The Internal Revenue Service updated guidance Wednesday related to disputes over whether individuals are considered employees for employment tax purposes as well as clarified situations in which an employer can remit unpaid taxes at reduced rates in cases where the employer treated an employee as a nonemployee.

  • January 08, 2025

    Consultant Owes Taxes, Fraud Penalties, Tax Court Says

    A healthcare consultant digitally altered documents to claim unwarranted deductions, including one for a three-day hospital stay the medical facility said never happened, according to a U.S. Tax Court ruling Wednesday that sustained $53,000 in taxes and fraud penalties against her.

  • January 08, 2025

    Worker Tax Credit Processing Delays Called Serious Problem

    Continued delays in processing employee retention tax credit claims is the most serious problem facing the Internal Revenue Service, the national taxpayer advocate said Wednesday in her annual report to Congress, recommending that the agency lift its moratorium on processing new claims.

  • January 08, 2025

    US, Swiss To Give Retirement Plans Lower Dividend Tax Rates

    The Swiss and U.S. competent authorities agreed to provide lower tax rates on dividends for several types of retirement entities such as trusts that run pensions, qualified annuity plans and individual plans under the two countries' tax treaty, the Swiss government said Wednesday.

  • January 08, 2025

    5th Circ. Remands Tax Restitution Nonpayment Sentence

    The Fifth Circuit ordered a lower court to reconsider its decision to send a woman who evaded taxes back to prison, saying it should hear her new argument that only a civil punishment was allowed for her failure to pay restitution after she was released.

  • January 08, 2025

    Feds Want 2 Years In Prison For Atty In Payroll Tax Fraud

    A former Ohio attorney who managed his wife's dental practice should spend at least two years in prison for causing $750,000 in federal tax losses and failing to pay employment taxes, prosecutors urged Wednesday, saying he used the business as a personal piggy bank.

  • January 08, 2025

    IRS Delays Thursday Deadlines For Carter Day Of Mourning

    Any federal tax payments or returns due Thursday can now be paid or filed Friday due to the national day of mourning for President Jimmy Carter, the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.

  • January 07, 2025

    H&R Block Accused Of Negligence In Data Breach

    An H&R Block user who claims cybercriminals disseminated his personal information on the dark web, after a data breach at the tax preparation firm, accused the company in a proposed class action of failing to properly protect consumer data.

  • January 07, 2025

    Cos. Seek Pause Of Retention Credit Processing In Litigation

    Two companies that helped clients obtain pandemic-era employee retention tax credits asked Arizona federal district court Tuesday to pause the IRS' use of a system for automatically processing claims, saying harm caused by this process cannot be remedied after litigation.

  • January 07, 2025

    7th Circ. Upholds Tax Penalties For Life Insurance Scammer

    The Seventh Circuit upheld Tuesday nearly $400,000 in tax penalties against a man who served prison time for falsifying his returns as part of a scheme to poison his wife and collect on a $20 million life insurance policy.

  • January 07, 2025

    Treasury Finalizes Clean Electricity Tax Credit Regs

    The U.S. Treasury Department released final regulations Tuesday for a pair of new tax credits that reward various types of electricity generation from technologies that don't emit greenhouse gases, replacing recently expired incentives that benefited only renewable energy sources.

  • January 07, 2025

    Lowenstein Sandler Elects 5-Atty Partner Class For 2025

    Lowenstein Sandler LLP announced a class of five new partners for 2025 this week, drawing on attorneys working from New York and New Jersey and bringing expertise in tax law, environmental law, white collar defense and more.

  • January 07, 2025

    Baker McKenzie Adds Tax Partners In California And New York

    Baker McKenzie is fortifying its tax practice by hiring a partner in San Francisco with experience in planning tax positions and handling controversies for technology-driven companies and rehiring another in New York who is skilled at state taxes and journalism.

  • January 07, 2025

    BankUnited's $40M Tax Refund Bid Too Late, Judge Rules

    BankUnited is not owed a nearly $40 million tax refund stemming from losses it incurred when it took over a failed bank because it requested the refund too late, a Florida federal judge ruled Tuesday, agreeing with the U.S. government.

  • January 06, 2025

    Trump Selects Long Island Judge For EDNY's Top Prosecutor

    President-elect Donald Trump, who was born in Queens, has picked a Long Island state court judge to serve as the next U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, according to an announcement made Monday on Truth Social.

  • January 06, 2025

    New Rules Won't Lift Political Clouds Over Hydrogen Projects

    The Biden administration's new rules to make hydrogen production tax credits more accessible for project developers and investors may not move the needle much for the industry given President-elect Donald Trump's vow to at least partially repeal the statute that created the credits.

  • January 06, 2025

    House Speaker Sets April Target For Tax Law Extension Vote

    The House of Representatives will send a reconciliation bill to the Senate by the end of April that will include major Republican priorities, including the renewal of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions scheduled to expire at the end of the year, House Speaker Mike Johnson said.

  • January 06, 2025

    Judge Allows Sale Of Shared Dental Practice To Satisfy Taxes

    The federal government can foreclose on a jointly owned dental practice to satisfy the roughly $500,000 tax debt of one of its partners, a New Jersey federal court ruled Monday, rejecting the request of a partner dentist who urged the court to spare his share.

  • January 06, 2025

    Convicted Atty Who 'Lost Everything' Fights To Keep License

    A Philadelphia-based personal injury attorney who was convicted for not paying income tax on more than $8 million in revenue he earned and for failing to pay almost $60,000 in payroll taxes argued Monday he should not permanently lose his ability to practice law in New Jersey.

  • January 06, 2025

    Tax Whistleblower Urges High Court To Review $690M Claim

    A whistleblower is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review his claim for up to $690 million as his share of the $2.3 billion recovered through Internal Revenue Service investigations that he said resulted from his cooperation.

  • January 06, 2025

    Proskauer Adds New Funds Partners In NY, DC

    Proskauer Rose LLP announced Monday it has rung in the new year by adding two new partners to its private funds group, with the addition of a tax expert from Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP in New York and a regulatory specialist from the SEC in Washington, D.C.

  • January 06, 2025

    US Wants More Time To Counter Altria's $106M Tax Refund Bid

    Tobacco giant Altria's complaint seeking a $106 million tax refund related to its interests in beverage company Anheuser-Busch requires more research to counter in the event a Virginia federal court decides it can move forward, the U.S. government said in requesting time for potential discovery.

Expert Analysis

  • What New Calif. Strike Force Means For White Collar Crimes

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    The recently announced Central District of California strike force targeting complex corporate and securities fraud — following the Northern District of California's model — combines experienced prosecutorial leadership and partnerships with federal agencies like the IRS and FBI, and could result in an uptick in the number of cases and speed of proceedings, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout

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    While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift

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    As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.

  • As Promised, IRS Is Coming For Crypto Tax Evaders

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    The IRS is fulfilling its promise to crack down on those who have neglected to pay taxes on cryptocurrency earnings, as demonstrated by recently imposed prison sentences, enforcement initiatives and meetings with international counterparts — suggesting a few key takeaways for taxpayer compliance, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • 5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money

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    As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.

  • The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52

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    Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.

  • Parsing Treasury's Proposed Clean Hydrogen Tax Credit Rules

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    Regulations recently proposed by the IRS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury concerning two types of tax credits for clean hydrogen production facilities should resolve many of the most pressing questions around qualification for the credits — albeit in a relatively stringent manner, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Employee Experience Strategy Can Boost Law Firm Success

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    Amid continuing business uncertainty, law firms should consider adopting a holistic employee experience strategy — prioritizing consistency, targeting signature moments and leveraging measurement tools — to maximize productivity and profitability, says Haley Revel at Calibrate Consulting.

  • 6 Practice Pointers For Pro Bono Immigration Practice

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    An attorney taking on their first pro bono immigration matter may find the law and procedures beguiling, but understanding key deadlines, the significance of individual immigration judges' rules and specialized aspects of the practice can help avoid common missteps, says Steven Malm at Haynes Boone.

  • Lessons From Country Singer's Personal Service Saga

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    Recent reports that country singer Luke Combs won a judgment against a Florida woman who didn’t receive notice of the counterfeit suit against her should serve as a reminder for attorneys on best practices for effectuating service by electronic means, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • 7 E-Discovery Predictions For 2024 And Beyond

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    The legal and technical issues of e-discovery now affect virtually every lawsuit, and in the year to come, practitioners can expect practices and policies to evolve in a number of ways, from the expanded use of relevancy redactions to mandated information security provisions in protective orders, say attorneys at Littler.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024

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    Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • Tech CEO Tax Ruling A Warning For Forward Contracts

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    In McKelvey v. Commissioner, the U.S. Tax Court decided that deceased Monster.com founder Andrew McKelvey terminated his underlying obligations when he extended variable prepaid forward contracts, demonstrating why startup founders, early employees and investors should think carefully before amending derivative agreements, say Daren Shaver and Trent Tanzi at Hanson Bridgett.

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