Federal
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June 11, 2024
House Panel Chair Seeks To End Media Org's Tax Exemption
The House's top tax writer wants the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax-exempt status of a nonprofit Mideast-focused news outlet, telling Commissioner Daniel Werfel that the organization is aiding Hamas.
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June 11, 2024
Lawmakers Urge Biden To Back Brazil's Int'l Wealth Tax Plan
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic lawmakers asked the Biden administration Tuesday to support the global minimum tax on billionaires being proposed by Brazil, which is encouraging the Group of 20 nations to endorse the initiative at its meetings next month.
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June 11, 2024
Kostelanetz Partners Talk Benefits Of Atlanta Tax Firm Tie-Up
Kostelanetz LLP partners Bryan Skarlatos and Todd Welty discuss the firm’s recent combination with Atlanta boutique Welty PC.
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June 11, 2024
Charity Founder Charged With Embezzling $2.5M, Evading Tax
The founder of a New York City charity embezzled $2.5 million in donations meant for low-income families and then failed to report the earnings to the Internal Revenue Service or pay tax on them, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday in New York federal court.
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June 11, 2024
IRS Schedules 3 Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Meetings For July
Three Taxpayer Advocacy Panel committees will hold public meetings in July focused on improving customer service at the Internal Revenue Service, the agency announced Tuesday.
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June 10, 2024
Ex-LA Chinatown Bank CFO Gets 3 Years For Embezzlement
The former chief financial officer of a bank based in Los Angeles' Chinatown has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to bank fraud for embezzling more than $700,000 from his employer.
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June 10, 2024
Exec Wants IRS To Destroy Or Yield Docs In Summons Fight
The IRS should be forced to destroy or return bank records it obtained from a cryptocurrency executive charged in a 2020 bitcoin fraud investigation because the agency failed to notify him and his company of the summonses for the records, they told a Texas federal court Monday.
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June 10, 2024
Tax Court Rejects 'Shoebox' Method To Support Biz Expenses
The U.S. Tax Court rejected Monday the tax deductions that three California residents had claimed on their businesses' returns, saying their "shoebox" method of bundling receipts as evidence failed to substantiate their business expenses.
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June 10, 2024
Big Tech Urges US Reprisal Over Canada's Impending DST
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative should open formal dispute proceedings with the Canadian government in response to a 3% digital services tax that is expected to soon pass in the Canadian Senate, business groups with members in the U.S. tech industry said Monday.
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June 10, 2024
IRS Needs Plan To Reduce Office Space, TIGTA Says
While the Internal Revenue Service has successfully decreased its unneeded office space by 8% since 2018, it needs a long-term space reduction plan with annual targets to efficiently continue to reduce its footprint, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a report released Monday.
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June 10, 2024
Judge Unseals Some Testimony Of Trump Tax Info Leaker
A federal magistrate judge on Monday ordered the unsealing of some testimony from a former IRS contractor about how he illegally gained access to former President Donald Trump's tax returns in a billionaire's case suing the agency over the breach.
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June 10, 2024
10th Circ. Affirms Couple Can't Ax $833K Income Tax Payment
A couple's wide-ranging arguments that the Internal Revenue Service should not have been allowed to assess that they owe over $833,000 in unpaid income taxes and penalties failed to sway the Tenth Circuit on Monday, as the court affirmed a ruling against them.
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June 10, 2024
Treasury Dept. Beats IRS Agent's Religious Bias Suit
The U.S. Department of the Treasury defeated an Internal Revenue Service agent's suit claiming he was disciplined for a three-day celebration of Easter mandated by his Christian faith, with a Florida federal judge finding the reprimand was based on performance rather than religion.
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June 07, 2024
LIHTC Developer Asks 11th Circ. To Undo Investor Takeover
A developer told the Eleventh Circuit on Friday it is a victim of a scheme by investors using a lower court ruling to complete a takeover of two Tampa, Florida, senior housing complexes developed with federal low-income housing tax credits.
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June 07, 2024
Trust Can Deduct Property Income As Gift, IRS Says
A trust can deduct gross income set aside as a charitable contribution stemming from the distribution of real property from the corporation that is the trust's sole shareholder, the IRS said in a private letter ruling released Friday.
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June 07, 2024
IRS Delays Deadlines In W.Va., Ky. Counties Hit By Tornadoes
Certain West Virginia and Kentucky taxpayers impacted by tornadoes and other major weather events that hit the area April 2 now have until Nov. 1 to file various individual and business tax returns and make payments, the Internal Revenue Service said Friday.
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June 07, 2024
No Loss On Terminated Rate Agreements, Chief Counsel Says
A company that executed forward-rate agreements cannot claim a loss in connection with the termination of the agreements because its adjusted basis in the agreements was zero, according to a memo released Friday by the IRS Office of Chief Counsel.
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June 07, 2024
IRS Updates EV Battery Reporting Guide For Tax Credits
The Internal Revenue Service provided updated guidance Friday for automakers planning to provide a report on meeting the battery sourcing requirements that can qualify their new electric vehicle models for the consumer tax credit of up to $7,500.
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June 07, 2024
6th Circ. Finds Ethical Lapses Justify Bar On Firm's Outreach
The Sixth Circuit said Thursday a Michigan federal judge shouldn't have faulted a law firm for attacking a proposed tax foreclosure class-action settlement in solicitation letters, but nevertheless upheld the judge's order barring contact with certain class members because of the firm's actual ethical lapses.
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June 07, 2024
Subsidiary Won't Lose Status Before Dissolving, IRS Says
A court-ordered liquidation of an insurance company won't cause it to lose its status as a corporation before it completes its final dissolution, the Internal Revenue Service said in a private letter ruling released Friday.
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June 07, 2024
Dentons Adds Pair Of Husch Blackwell Tax Attys
Two South Carolina tax attorneys have joined Dentons' corporate, tax and private client practice as partners after moving from Husch Blackwell LLP, the firm announced on Thursday.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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How Cos. Can Prep For Alcohol Beverage Excise Tax Changes
The Craft Beverage Modernization Act will soon undergo a transition in administration to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and importers or producers should address any issues that may arise under the act, such as foreign producers not being familiar with the mechanics of the TTB, say Louis Terminello and Bradley Berkman at Greenspoon Marder.
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New R&E Capitalization A Costly Change For Companies
Unless modified by legislation in the coming weeks, radical new capitalization rules for research and experimentation costs mean companies should brace for the loss of a major tax break starting with their 2022 tax returns, says Nancy Dollar at Hanson Bridgett.
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Congress Is Right To Advance Comprehensive Retirement Bill
As 2022 comes to a close, Congress' move to include the Secure 2.0 Act, a comprehensive retirement bill, in its omnibus spending package will bring retirees and those nearing retirement more peace of mind regarding their 401(k)s, IRAs and pensions, while reducing red tape for employers, says Andy Banducci at the ERISA Industry Committee.
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10 Pre-Deal Considerations In Cross-Border M&A Transactions
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Sergio Galvis and Benjamin Kent at Sullivan & Cromwell discuss steps that can be taken to preemptively address important issues that acquirers of foreign businesses encounter in cross-border M&A transactions, including tax planning and political risk.
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Clean Hydrogen Developers Should Track Incentives, Risks
Clean hydrogen project developers and investors should be aware of new funding opportunities from the U.S. Department of Energy and tax benefits under the Inflation Reduction Act, but must also guard against risks associated with new and evolving technologies, say Pamela Wu and Kirstin Gibbs at Morgan Lewis.
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IRS Starts Clock On Energy Projects' Labor Rule Exemption
A U.S. Department of the Treasury notice published this week started the 60-day clock for clean energy projects seeking to be grandfathered from having to meet new labor requirements to qualify for enhanced tax credits, and uncertainty about how the provisions will apply should be incentive for some investors to begin construction soon, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Foreign Tax Credit Proposal Is Some Help, But More Is Needed
New foreign tax credit regulations proposed by the U.S. Treasury Department provided some measure of relief on cost recovery and royalty withholding, two of the most troublesome aspects of the 2021 final foreign tax credit regulations, but the final regulations are still harmful to many taxpayers, making litigation inevitable, say attorneys at Fenwick.
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Anticipating The New Congress' Private Sector Investigations
With Republicans claiming a new majority in the House of Representatives in the upcoming Congress, corporates and individuals should expect a sea change in Congress' investigative priorities and areas of focus — and private sector entities can take prudential steps in the near term to best prepare for and mitigate risk, say attorneys at Latham.
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Tax Equity Requires Reinstating The Home Office Deduction
Congress should restore the home office deduction for W-2 workers in the interest of tax equity because permanently remote workers now bear the cost of creating quiet, dedicated work spaces, a pandemic-related shift unforeseen when the deduction was eliminated by 2017's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, say James Mahon and Samantha Lesser at Becker.
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Keys To IRA Tax Breaks For US Green Energy, EV Production
The Inflation Reduction Act includes three powerful tax incentives for domestic production of renewable energy projects and electric vehicles — but there are key questions that investors and manufacturers must ask when evaluating whether they can take advantage of these incentives, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Crypto Case Failed To Clarify Taxation Of Staking Rewards
A Tennessee federal court's recent dismissal of Jarrett v. U.S. — after the IRS issued a refund for taxes paid on cryptocurrency and mooted a greater question about the tax treatment of staking rewards — leaves the crypto industry in need of guidance on the IRS’ position, say attorneys at Cadwalader.
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How The IRS May Define 'Clean Hydrogen'
The Internal Revenue Service is still taking comments on how to define "clean hydrogen" for purposes of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, but developers can look to the IRA's legislative history — as well as the European Union's struggle to define "green hydrogen" — as guideposts, says Ben Reiter at Nixon Peabody.
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What To Expect From The Post-Midterms Lame-Duck Session
Depending on the results of the midterm elections, the upcoming lame-duck session may be the last chance for Congress to enact meaningful legislation for the next several years, so organizations must push through legislative priorities now, lest they are forced to restart their efforts in a much different environment next year, says James Brandell at Dykema.