Federal
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June 28, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Vinson, Skadden
In this week's Taxation with Representation, Aareal Bank AG and Advent International sell a property management and maintenance software company, Webtoon Entertainment Inc. and Tamboran Resources Corp. price initial public offerings, SM Energy Company acquires oil and gas assets, and Nokia sells Alcatel Submarine Networks to the French state.
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June 28, 2024
Estate Owes $4.9M For Son-Of-Boss Scheme, US Says
An estate owes $4.9 million in tax liabilities for a couple's scheme to artificially cancel out their capital gains, the federal government said in a complaint in Michigan federal court, arguing that the Son-of-Boss scheme constitutes fraud and its proceeds aren't entitled to bankruptcy protection.
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June 28, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included an extension of the penalty relief for entities that fail to make estimated quarterly payments of the corporate alternative minimum tax.
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June 28, 2024
Supreme Court Strikes Down Chevron Deference
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned a decades-old precedent that instructed judges about when they could defer to federal agencies' interpretations of law in rulemaking, depriving courts of a commonly used analytic tool and leaving lots of questions about what comes next.
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June 27, 2024
Biden, Trump Spar Over Fate Of 2017 Tax Cuts In 1st Debate
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump debated the GOP's 2017 tax policy overhaul Thursday night, with Trump praising its economic benefits and Biden criticizing the tax cuts for favoring the wealthy and increasing federal deficits.
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June 27, 2024
IRS To Offer Combined Filing For Energy Investment Credits
The Internal Revenue Service will let clean energy project owners that are claiming investment tax credits for more than 200 facilities file the claims with a single form, an agency official said Thursday.
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June 27, 2024
Corp. Tax Cuts Worsen Racial, Income Inequality, Report Says
In the first year of a corporate tax break, white U.S. households receive 88% of the benefits while Black and Hispanic households each receive just 1%, according to a study published Thursday by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and an advocacy organization.
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June 27, 2024
TurboTax Maker Wipes Out 2 Of 3 Software Patents At PTAB
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board delivered a mixed bag of decisions in patent challenges brought by Intuit against a small software outfit that claims to have invented the idea of "co-browsing."
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June 27, 2024
High Response To IRS Transfer Pricing Letters, Official Says
Most taxpayers that received letters from the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to a compliance campaign warning them of a transfer pricing issue have responded, an IRS official said Thursday.
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June 27, 2024
Congress Shouldn't Rush OECD Tax Package, Group Says
Congress should avoid "rubber-stamping" the two pillars of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's plan to fight tax base erosion and profit shifting and instead gather more information on its impact on the U.S., a conservative advocacy group said Thursday.
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June 27, 2024
IRS Criminal Chief Says COVID Fraud Work To Hold Steady
IRS Criminal Investigation agents expect to spend as much time this year on coronavirus assistance policy-related fraud as last year, the division chief said at a conference Thursday.
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June 27, 2024
IRS Tells 10th Circ. To Deny Liberty Global's $110M Refund Bid
The U.S. government urged the Tenth Circuit on Thursday to reject telecommunication giant Liberty Global's push for a $110 million tax refund, arguing a lower court correctly deduced that the company's business restructurings were carried out solely to avoid tax.
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June 27, 2024
$2.1B Danish Tax Fraud Suspect Won't Testify, Court Says
A New York federal court denied dueling requests from U.S. pension plan investors accused of participating in a $2.1 billion Danish tax fraud scheme and from Denmark's tax agency to bring in the man that both sides say masterminded the scheme, or to bring in one of his employees.
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June 27, 2024
Ex-Skadden Tax Head And M&A Pro Joins Freshfields In NY
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has added the former head of the tax practice at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP as a partner this week, who brings to the role experience in deals like 21st Century Fox's $71 billion acquisition by Disney and the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint.
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June 27, 2024
TIGTA Points To Areas Of Improvement For Direct File
A phase of the Direct File pilot program that allowed eligible IRS employees to get the first crack at the online tax filing service had issues with accuracy of its tax returns and lacked a Spanish translation, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Thursday.
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June 27, 2024
New FATCA Deal Requires US Banks To Share Info With Swiss
The United States and Switzerland signed a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act agreement that will require U.S. banks to share financial account information on a bilateral basis, Switzerland's Federal Department of Finance announced Thursday.
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June 27, 2024
IRS Delays Tax Deadlines In Miss. After April Storms
Certain Mississippi taxpayers affected by storms, tornadoes and flooding that hit the state starting April 8 now have until Nov. 1 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday.
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June 26, 2024
Repatriation Tax Ruling May Sway State Wealth Tax Debates
The U.S. Supreme Court's upholding of the federal repatriation tax could indirectly affect state tax policy discussions, including by influencing consideration of wealth taxes and encouraging states to keep potential due process issues in mind when enacting tax legislation.
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June 26, 2024
Tax Court Says Couple Wrongly Claimed Unsigned Checks
A Minnesota eye doctor and his wife overstated their income on their joint tax return, as they declared pay that they never actually received from their corporation in the form of unsigned checks, the U.S. Tax Court said in an opinion released Wednesday.
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June 26, 2024
IRS To Make Syndicated Easement Settlement Offers
The Internal Revenue Service will send settlement offers next month to some taxpayers who participated in syndicated conservation easement deals that the agency is auditing, it announced Wednesday.
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June 26, 2024
Advice Panel Calls For Regulating Noncredentialed Preparers
Congress should authorize the Internal Revenue Service to regulate noncredentialed tax preparers to protect taxpayers and the tax system from erroneous returns, the agency's Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee said in its annual report to lawmakers Wednesday.
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June 26, 2024
9th Circ. Revives $491K Refund Error Recovery Suit
The Ninth Circuit resurrected Wednesday an IRS suit that seeks to recover more than $491,000 from a taxpayer to whom the agency erroneously mailed a refund, reversing a lower court decision that dismissed the case for falling outside the two-year statute of limitations.
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June 26, 2024
5th Circ. Affirms Block On ARPA Tax Rule For Texas, La., Miss.
A Texas federal judge properly ruled that the federal government could not enforce a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act that prohibits states from using pandemic aid to offset tax cuts, the Fifth Circuit said.
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June 26, 2024
Man Denied Tax Breaks For Kids Who Didn't Live With Him
A Minnesotan does not qualify for tax exemptions or credits related to his three children because they did not live with him for at least half of the relevant tax year, the U.S. Tax Court said in an opinion released Wednesday.
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June 26, 2024
Device Maker To Fork Over $3.5M In Tax Dodge Suit
A man who manufactured a purported health device will pay the IRS nearly $3.5 million under an agreement endorsed by a Florida federal court after the agency claimed he hadn't filed a tax return since 1999.
Expert Analysis
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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How Cannabis Rescheduling May Alter Paraphernalia Imports
The Biden administration's recent proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana use raises questions about how U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement policies may shift when it comes to enforcing a separate federal ban on marijuana accessory imports, says R. Kevin Williams at Clark Hill.
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NCAA Settlement May End The NIL Model As We Know It
The recent House v. NCAA settlement in California federal court, in which the NCAA agreed to allow schools to directly pay March Madness television revenue to their athletes, may send outside name, image and likeness collectives in-house, says Mike Ingersoll at Womble Bond.
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Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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BF Borgers Clients Should Review Compliance, Liability
After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently announced enforcement proceedings against audit firm BF Borgers for fabricating audit documentation for hundreds of public companies, those companies will need to follow special procedures for disclosure and reporting — and may need to prepare for litigation from the plaintiffs bar, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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What Updated PLR Procedure May Mean For Stock Spin-Offs
A recently published Internal Revenue Service revenue procedure departs from commonly understood interpretations of the spinoff rules by imposing more stringent standards on companies seeking private letter rulings regarding tax-free stock spinoff and split-off transactions, and may presage regulatory changes that would have the force of law, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Proposed Cannabis Reschedule Sidesteps State Law Effects
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent proposal to move cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act provides certain benefits, but its failure to address how the rescheduling would interact with existing state cannabis laws disappointed industry participants hoping for clarity on this crucial question, says Ian Stewart at Wilson Elser.