Federal

  • July 29, 2024

    Co.'s $1.7M Penalty Bill Was Due To IRS Errors, Court Told

    The Internal Revenue Service didn't follow its own rules when processing a Texas company's employee retention credit claims and therefore shouldn't have found liability for over $1.7 million in penalties, interest and fees, the company told a federal court.

  • July 29, 2024

    'Survivor' Winner Says He's Vulnerable In $3M Tax Battle

    The winner of the first "Survivor" television season told a Rhode Island federal court Monday that the government was unfairly painting him as flouting nearly $3.3 million in federal tax liabilities stemming from his $1 million cash prize, saying he was "ill-equipped to battle prosecutors."

  • July 26, 2024

    Biz Groups Call Corp. Transparency Act Unconstitutional

    The U.S. government has failed to show how the Corporate Transparency Act meets narrow exceptions to the Fourth Amendment's search warrant requirements, a group of small businesses told a Michigan federal court Friday in contending that the statute is unconstitutional.  

  • July 26, 2024

    The Tax Angle: TCJA Prep, IRS Phone Problems

    From a look at Democrats' preparation to rewrite the 2017 GOP tax law to the Internal Revenue Service's continuing problems with providing customer service to tax professionals, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few of the week's developing tax stories.

  • July 26, 2024

    Bipartisan House Bill Would Extend Student Loan Tax Aid

    An allowance included in coronavirus aid legislation in 2020 to temporarily allow an employer to reimburse an employee for up to $5,250 in 2020 student loan payments would be made permanent under legislation introduced by a bipartisan team in the House of Representatives.

  • July 26, 2024

    Denmark Says Pension Plans Misread Law In $2B Fraud Case

    U.S. pension plans accused by Denmark's tax agency of participating in a $2.1 billion fraud scheme involving withholding tax refunds are misconstruing Danish law as it applies to the ownership of shares, the agency told a New York federal court.

  • July 26, 2024

    Two Admit Trying To Bribe IRS Official On China's Behalf

    Two people admitted to secretly acting on behalf of the Chinese government and bribing an undercover agent in connection with a scheme to revoke the tax-exempt status of U.S. participants in a spiritual practice banned in China, according to New York federal court filings.

  • July 26, 2024

    Uber Accused Of Illegally Charging Tax On Delivery Fees

    Uber illegally collects sales tax on food delivery fees in Florida, a customer claimed in a proposed class action removed to federal court, saying the company cannot charge the tax if customers have the option of picking up the order themselves.

  • July 26, 2024

    Taxation With Representation: Wachtell, Polsinelli, Kirkland

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, T-Mobile partners with KKR to acquire Metronet, Exclusive Networks gets a takeover offer, KKR buys Instructure Holdings Inc., and Bally's Corp. merges with The Queen Casino & Entertainment Inc.

  • July 26, 2024

    Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin

    The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included reporting requirements for brokers of digital assets such as cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens.

  • July 25, 2024

    Global Tax Revamp Continues To Progress, OECD Tells G20

    Implementation of the Pillar Two minimum tax portion of the OECD's international plan to address tax base erosion and profit shifting is well underway, while an agreement is close on the Pillar One taxing rights overhaul, the organization told the Group of 20 nations Thursday.

  • July 25, 2024

    Global Tax Police Unit Probes More Than 30 Cybercrime Cases

    The Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement, an intergovernmental tax enforcement group, is investigating more than 30 active cybercrime cases tied to financial and tax criminal activities all over the world, the group announced Thursday in its first report.

  • July 25, 2024

    Teacher Not Entitled To Business Deductions, Tax Court Says

    A teacher who told the U.S. Tax Court that she had self-published six books and was passionate about conducting missing persons research was denied business deductions for the activities Thursday after the court determined she wasn't primarily trying to turn a profit.

  • July 25, 2024

    Wyden Seeks Swiss Bank Info On Indicted Defense Contractor

    Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden asked Swiss bank UBS in a letter published Thursday for information about a former U.S. defense contractor who the Department of Justice says avoided taxes on more than $350 million in income.

  • July 25, 2024

    Senate Confirms First Tax Court Judge Since 2020

    The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed a U.S. Tax Court judge for the first time since 2020.

  • July 25, 2024

    Clark Hill Adds Tax And Estate Atty From Plunk Smith In Texas

    A former Plunk Smith PLLC senior associate jumped to Clark Hill in Collin County, Texas, to serve as a member in the tax and estate planning practice, the firm announced Thursday.

  • July 25, 2024

    GOP Control Could Muddle Tax Picture For Multinationals

    Republican lawmakers and former President Donald Trump could create more confusion for multinationals with their tax and trade policies if they sweep the U.S. elections in November, because they are likely to pursue retaliatory measures in opposition to the OECD's global tax rewrite.

  • July 25, 2024

    IRS, Zaxby's Co-Founder To Settle $43M Easement Suit

    The Internal Revenue Service agreed to settle a $43 million valuation dispute over a conservation easement donated by the co-founder of the Zaxby's restaurant chain and his wife, prompting a Georgia federal court Thursday to cancel next month's anticipated jury trial.

  • July 25, 2024

    Vanguard Opposes Investors' Cert. Bid In Tax Liability Suit

    A group of investors accusing Vanguard of violating its fiduciary duties by triggering a sell-off of assets that left smaller investors with massive tax bills shouldn't be granted class certification, the asset manager told a Pennsylvania federal court.

  • July 25, 2024

    GOP House Bill Would End IRS Direct Filing Program

    Two House Republicans introduced legislation that would end the Internal Revenue Service's Direct File online filing system.

  • July 25, 2024

    IRS Adds Audit Updates To Individual Online Accounts

    The Internal Revenue Service has added features to individual online taxpayer accounts, including a way to get updates on audits, thanks to increased funding provided by the 2022 tax and climate law, the agency said Thursday.

  • July 24, 2024

    NC Man Gets Prison, $4.4M Fine For Stealing From Customers

    A North Carolina businessman who admitted to stealing customers' bank and credit account information and spending their funds at casinos has been ordered to serve almost three years in prison and to pay a penalty of more than $4.4 million, prosecutors announced this week.

  • July 24, 2024

    Atty Can't Deduct Car Racing Costs As Ads, US Tells 10th Circ.

    A personal injury lawyer who also races cars shouldn't be allowed to deduct about $300,000 for racing-related costs as ordinary business advertising expenses because they're unrelated to his law practice, the U.S. government told the Tenth Circuit on Wednesday.

  • July 24, 2024

    Senate Tees Up Votes On Two Tax Court Nominees

    The U.S. Senate set the stage Wednesday for the chamber to proceed with votes on two of President Joe Biden's picks for U.S. Tax Court seats.

  • July 24, 2024

    IRS' $15M Jeopardy Assessment OK'd In Offshore Tax Fight

    A Florida federal court has upheld a $15 million immediate tax assessment against a man who transferred his father's estate into trusts for himself and his mother and refused to pay what the IRS claimed was tax debt on his father's undisclosed offshore accounts.

Expert Analysis

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Tracking Implementation Of IRA Programs As Election Nears

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    As the Biden administration races to cement key regulations implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, a number of the law's programs and incentives are at risk of delay or repeal if Republicans retake control of Congress, the White House or both — so stakeholders should closely watch ongoing IRA implementation and guidance, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule

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    Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.

  • Takeaways From Justices' Redemption Insurance Decision

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Connelly v. U.S. examines how to determine the fair market value of shares in a closely held company for estate tax purposes, and clarifies how life insurance held by the company to enable redemption of a decedent’s shares affects that calculation, says Evelyn Haralampu at Burns & Levinson.

  • 6 Tips For Maximizing After-Tax Returns In Private M&A Deals

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    With potential tax legislation likely to spur a surge in private business sales, sellers can make the most of after-tax proceeds with strategies that include price allocation and qualified investment options, say Isaac Grossman and Daniel Studin at Morrison Cohen.

  • After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1

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    The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • What DOL Fiduciary Rule Means For Private Fund Managers

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    Attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss how the U.S. Department of Labor's recently released final fiduciary rule, which revises the agency's 1975 regulation, could potentially cause private fund managers' current marketing practices and communications to be considered fiduciary advice, and therefore subject them to strict prohibitions.

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