Federal
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August 02, 2024
IRS Wrongly Attacking Installment Method Deals, Court Told
The Internal Revenue Service mischaracterized installment sales as potentially abusive tax shelters in last year's rule proposing additional reporting requirements for such deals, an Idaho capital assets dealer told a federal district court.
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August 02, 2024
St. Louis Attys Can't Get Acquittal In $4M Tax Avoidance Case
Two Missouri-based attorneys, a father and daughter duo found guilty of participating in a $4 million tax avoidance scheme, will not be granted a new trial or an acquittal, despite their assertions that a number of errors tainted their trial, a North Carolina federal judge ruled Friday.
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August 02, 2024
Ex-Loeb Tax Atty Latest Addition To Kilpatrick's NY Team
A former Loeb & Loeb LLP attorney is bringing his experience in U.S. federal tax matters and real estate transactions to Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, the firm announced Thursday.
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August 02, 2024
Sister-In-Law Ordered To Testify In Hunter Biden Tax Case
A California federal judge ordered Hunter Biden's sister-in-law, with whom he was romantically involved, and her sister to testify at his upcoming criminal trial in which he is accused of scheming to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes.
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August 02, 2024
Calls To Taxpayer Advocates Go To Voicemail, TIGTA Says
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration called all 76 local Taxpayer Advocate Service phone lines to test their availability and only had calls answered twice, it said Friday, calling on the service to improve its monitoring of the lines.
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August 02, 2024
Treasury Faces Complicated Path For Amount B Pricing Rules
The U.S. Treasury Department signaled it is considering how to enact the OECD's routine pricing plan known as Amount B, but U.S. tax attorneys expect a complicated compliance exercise if rulemakers establish the new transfer pricing approach.
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August 02, 2024
Coca-Cola Poised To Appeal $2.7B Tax Bill With 11th Circ.
The U.S. Tax Court signed off Friday on Coca-Cola's $2.7 billion tax bill, setting the stage for the beverage giant to appeal the liabilities and related rulings in its long-running dispute over the IRS' reallocation of the company's foreign income.
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August 02, 2024
IRS Tells Tax Court AbbVie's $1.6B Break Fee Is A Capital Loss
The Internal Revenue Service correctly reclassified AbbVie's $1.6 billion break fee to an Irish biotechnology company as a capital loss, the agency told the U.S. Tax Court, arguing that the failed merger is tantamount to disposing of property.
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August 02, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Sullivan, Dechert, Kirkland
In this week's Taxation With Representation, BNP Parabis SA acquires an investment management subsidiary for €5.1 billion, Cleveland accounting firm CBIZ merges with competitor Marcum for $2.3 billion, and Arcosa Inc. inks a deal with a family-owned construction materials business for $1.2 billion.
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August 02, 2024
Liberty Global's $110M Tax Refund Kosher, 10th Circ. Told
The IRS is trying to block Liberty Global's bid for a $110 million tax refund by improperly using a legal doctrine requiring transactions to have economic substance, the telecommunications giant told the Tenth Circuit, arguing it was allowed to make tax-driven choices in the transactions at issue.
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August 02, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, includes finalized regulations that govern the quarterly reporting of a new excise tax that pharmaceutical companies, suppliers and importers must pay when they do not negotiate with Medicare over drug prices.
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August 01, 2024
Feds Want Full Sentence Kept In Fla. Illegal Employment Case
The U.S. urged a Florida federal court on Thursday to uphold the three-year prison sentence of a labor staffing company operator convicted in a conspiracy to hire migrants not authorized to work in the U.S., saying he's ineligible for a reduction because of his admitted role in the scheme.
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August 01, 2024
Divided Tax Court Says Treaty Bars Collections Hearing
A divided U.S. Tax Court ruled Thursday that it lacked authority to review an Internal Revenue Service decision preventing a woman from challenging a federal tax lien the agency issued on behalf of the Canadian government to secure her tax debt to that country.
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August 01, 2024
TIGTA Says IRS Cybersecurity Program Still Not Fully Effective
The Internal Revenue Service's cybersecurity program continues to not meet federal standards, potentially leaving taxpayer data vulnerable to inappropriate and undetected use, modification or disclosure, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Thursday.
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August 01, 2024
Coca-Cola, IRS Enter $2.7B Tax Bill In Transfer Pricing Dispute
Coca-Cola and the IRS submitted tax liability calculations totaling $2.73 billion to the U.S. Tax Court, reflecting the latest step in the company's long-running transfer pricing dispute over the agency's reallocation of the company's foreign affiliate income.
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August 01, 2024
Calif. Couple Ordered To Pay $1.5M Tax Bill
A California couple must pay more than $1.5 million for three years' worth of unpaid tax liabilities, plus interest and any other additions, a federal district court ruled Thursday.
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August 01, 2024
Direct File Will Be Available In New Mexico, IRS Announces
New Mexico will participate in the Internal Revenue Service's free electronic tax return filing program known as Direct File in the 2025 tax filing season, the agency and the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Thursday.
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August 01, 2024
Airbnb's $1.3B Bill From IRS Overvalues IP, Tax Court Told
Airbnb is challenging a $1.3 billion tax bill tied to income the IRS allocated from overseas, telling the U.S. Tax Court the agency overvalued intellectual property the home-rental giant licensed to its Irish affiliate before going public.
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August 01, 2024
Senate GOP Blocks House-Passed Tax Break Bill
Republicans on Thursday blocked the Senate from considering a bipartisan tax bill negotiated by the chairmen of the House and Senate's tax-writing committees that would extend the full tax break for research and development costs and expand the child tax credit for multiple years.
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August 01, 2024
Court Won't Stop FTC Judges In H&R Block False Ad Fight
The Federal Trade Commission can proceed with its hearing against H&R Block accusing the tax preparation firm of false advertising, a Missouri federal judge ruled Thursday, rejecting the company's argument that the agency's administrative law judges lack constitutional authority to preside.
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August 01, 2024
Senate Panel OKs Maintaining IRS Funding At $12.3B
The Internal Revenue Service would receive $12.3 billion for the third straight year under legislation sent Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee to the full chamber for consideration.
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August 01, 2024
3rd Circ. Affirms Nix Of Discovery Ask On GM In Brazil Case
A Delaware federal court didn't abuse its discretion by declining to begin discovery on General Motors to aid ongoing litigation in Brazil for a group that is entitled to receive dozens of car dealerships' tax credits from the early 1990s, the Third Circuit found.
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August 01, 2024
IRS Not Required To Disclose Summonses, 5th Circ. Affirms
The Internal Revenue Service was not required to tell a Texas man with unpaid tax liabilities that it had demanded his financial information from third parties, the Fifth Circuit ruled, upholding a lower court's decision to toss his suit.
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August 01, 2024
Chiropractor Evaded $2.4M In Taxes, Fed. Indictment Says
An Alabama chiropractor evaded $2.4 million in self-reported taxes, filed false tax returns and obstructed the Internal Revenue Service, according to a federal indictment.
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July 31, 2024
Treasury's New 'Killer B' Rules May Revive Controversies
Recent U.S. Treasury Department regulations centered on contentious 2011 guidance aimed at so-called Killer B transactions have revived long-standing questions about how much authority rule writers have to target what they perceive as corporate tax avoidance in these maneuvers.
Expert Analysis
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Flawed Analysis Supports Common Law Tax Deficiency Ruling
The Colorado federal district court’s recent decision in Liberty Global, holding that the U.S. Department of Justice may assert a common law tax claim without the notice of tax deficiency required by the Internal Revenue Code, relies on a contorted reading of the statute and irrelevant case law, say Loren Opper and Christie Galinski at Miller Canfield.
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Review Of Repatriation Tax Sets Justices On Slippery Slope
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to review the constitutionality of the repatriation tax in Moore v. U.S. has implications for many tax rules involving unrealized amounts and could leave the court on the brink of invalidating large swaths of the Internal Revenue Code, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
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IRS Guidance Powers Up Energy Tax Credit Transfers
Recent IRS guidance on the monetization of energy tax credits provides sufficient clarity for parties to start negotiating transfer agreements, but it is unclear when the registration process required for credits to change hands will be up and running, say attorneys at Shearman.
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Using Agreements To Cover Gaps In Hydrogen Storage Regs
The Inflation Reduction Act's incentives for energy storage have spurred investment in hydrogen storage and production, but given the lack of comprehensive regulations surrounding the sector, developers should carefully craft project and financing agreements to mitigate uncertainties, say Omar Samji and Sarah George at Weil, and attorney Manushi Desai.
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Secure 2.0 Takeaways From DOL's 2024 Budget Proposal
The U.S. Department of Labor’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal provides insight into the most pressing Secure 2.0 implementation issues, including establishment of a search database for finding lost retirement savings and developing guidance on the execution of newly authorized emergency savings accounts, say attorneys at Maynard Nexsen.
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Avoiding Negative Tax Consequences In Loan Modifications
Borrowers who may be caught in the dramatic uptick in nonperforming commercial real estate loans should consider strategies to avoid income and capital gains tax that may be triggered by loan modifications, says Aman Badyal at Glaser Weil.
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Benefits And Beyond: Fixing Employee Contribution Failures
Employers must address employee contribution failures promptly in order to avoid losing significant tax benefits of 401(k) or 403(b) plans, but the exact correction procedures vary depending on whether contributions were less than or greater than intended, say attorneys at Seyfarth Shaw.
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Now Is The Time For State And Local Sales Tax Simplification
In the five years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, state and local governments increasingly rely on sales tax, but simple changes are needed to make compliance more manageable for taxpayers, wherever located, without unduly burdening interstate commerce, says Charles Maniace at Sovos.
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Recent Bills Show Congress' Growing Maturity On Cannabis
Though two recently introduced cannabis reform bills, the Prepare Act and the Small Business Tax Equity Act, are unlikely to pass in this Congress, they demonstrate a new level of focus and sophistication on the part of lawmakers as it relates to cannabis at the federal level, says Irina Dashevsky at Greenspoon Marder.
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What To Make Of IRS' New Advance Pricing Guidance
Recent guidance on the IRS' goals for its advance pricing agreement system provides helpful insight into review and decision-making procedures for advance pricing agreement requests, but it also raises questions about the IRS' objectives, say Richard Slowinski and Stefanie Kavanagh at Alston & Bird.
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Compliance Obligations Still Murky For Superfund Excise Tax
Comments on the IRS' reinstatement of the Superfund chemicals excise tax show that, given taxpayers' lack of institutional knowledge and the government's previous failure to finalize clarifying guidance, further regulatory action is needed to help taxpayers understand their obligations, say Nicole Elliott and Mary Kate Nicholson at Holland & Knight.
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The Reciprocal Tax Bill Is A Warning Shot At Pillar 2
A bill recently introduced in the House of Representatives to reciprocally tax countries deemed to have imposed discriminatory taxes on U.S. citizens and businesses takes aim at countries implementing the global minimum tax treaty known as Pillar Two, with which the U.S. has not complied, says Alan Cole at the Tax Foundation.
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3 Developments That May Usher In A Nuclear Energy Revival
A recent advancement in nuclear energy technology, targeted provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act and a new G7 agreement on nuclear fuel supply chains may give nuclear power a seat at the table as a viable, zero-carbon energy source, say attorneys at Vinson & Elkins.