Federal
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September 12, 2024
Convicted Fraudster Seeks To Challenge $21M Restitution
A Florida man convicted of defrauding hospitals in a payroll fraud scheme urged the Eleventh Circuit Thursday to allow him to challenge a $21 million restitution award while still in prison, saying he wasn't allowed to challenge inaccurate information during sentencing.
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September 12, 2024
Wilson Sonsini Hires Tax Pro From Slaughter and May
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC has recruited a tax specialist from Slaughter and May to its office in London to boost its strengths representing U.K. and European technology and life sciences companies that are expanding in the U.S. and globally.
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September 12, 2024
Ex-Mass. State Sen. Tran Convicted Of Pandemic Aid Fraud
Former Massachusetts State Sen. Dean Tran was convicted Wednesday of fraudulently collecting pandemic unemployment benefits after he was voted out of office and of cheating on his taxes.
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September 12, 2024
House OKs Tightening Restrictions On Tax Credit For EVs
The U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a bill Thursday that would place further restrictions on qualifications for a tax credit for new electric vehicles amid concerns that current limits don't do enough to keep the benefits from flowing to foreign adversaries, including China.
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September 12, 2024
IRS Lacked Way To Track CAMT Comments, TIGTA Finds
The IRS Office of Chief Counsel did not always track comments it received in response to guidance issued on the corporate alternative minimum tax and did not have detailed procedures in place for the pre-rulemaking guidance process, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported Thursday.
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September 12, 2024
Treasury Floats Long-Awaited Rules For Corp. Minimum Tax
Treasury and the IRS released eagerly awaited rules Thursday on the new 15% corporate alternative minimum tax on corporations with reported profits of $1 billion or more, taking a step toward implementing a key provision of President Joe Biden's signature 2022 tax and climate law.
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September 11, 2024
Philly Loan Biz Brothers Admit To $100M Investment Scam
The two brothers helming Philadelphia's Par Funding cash advance company admitted to reaping $100 million through an investment fraud scheme that could land them each over a decade in prison, Philadelphia's top federal prosecutor announced.
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September 11, 2024
Tax Court Affirms Sushi Restaurant Owner's Labor Deductions
The U.S. Tax Court ruled Wednesday that the owner of an Alabama sushi restaurant was entitled to deduct nearly $292,000 in contract labor expenses for 2015 and 2016.
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September 11, 2024
House Tax Panel OKs Repeal Of $600 Reporting Threshold
The House Ways and Means Committee advanced several bills Wednesday, including one that would repeal a law requiring peer-to-peer payment platforms such as Venmo and PayPal to report aggregate payments of $600 or more.
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September 11, 2024
Mass. Jury Weighs Raft Of Fraud Charges Against Ex-Pol
A Boston federal jury resumed deliberations Wednesday in a criminal case alleging a former Massachusetts state senator lied on his taxes and an application for pandemic unemployment aid, after the ex-politico testified in his own defense.
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September 11, 2024
Bipartisan House Bill Would Make Short Rail Credit Permanent
A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would permanently extend a tax credit for regional and short-line railroads that expired at the end of 2017, according to an announcement Wednesday.
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September 11, 2024
Worker Credit Moratorium Effectively Killed Claims, Court Told
An Internal Revenue Service moratorium on processing tax credits for retaining employees during the coronavirus pandemic has effectively disallowed the granting of credits to deserving businesses, a Texas Montessori school told a federal court as it pursued a refund of nearly $200,000 in credits.
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September 11, 2024
McCarter & English Recruits EY Tax Pro In New Jersey
McCarter & English LLP has bulked up its tax and employee benefits team in New Jersey with a longtime Ernst & Young expert at a time when the Garden State's business community is bracing for regulations on a series of corporate tax reforms.
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September 11, 2024
Missouri Man Gets 3 Years In Prison For Fraud, Tax Crimes
A Missouri man was sentenced to three years in prison for attempting to raid bank accounts and fetching roughly $3 million in corporate tax refunds for a bogus company, Connecticut's top federal prosecutor announced.
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September 11, 2024
Latham Hires Senior Tax Pro From Travers Smith In London
Latham & Watkins LLP said on Wednesday that it has recruited a former head of tax at Travers Smith LLP for its office in London, a blow for the U.K. law firm, which has been hit by the departure of a series of partners.
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September 10, 2024
Wealthiest 0.01% Had 34% Average Tax Rate, JCT Says
The income group constituting the top 0.01% wealthiest individuals had an average federal tax rate of 34% in 2019, the Joint Committee on Taxation said in a report on high-income and high-wealth taxpayers.
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September 10, 2024
Werfel Asked To Clarify How To Treat R&D Costs In M&A
Accounting firm RSM US LLP, in a letter released Tuesday, asked Internal Revenue Commissioner Daniel Werfel to clarify how to treat research and development costs when a taxpayer disposes of an entire business in a mergers and acquisitions transaction.
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September 10, 2024
House Panel To Consider Axing $600 Payment Reporting Law
The House Ways and Means Committee is set to consider legislation Wednesday that would repeal a law requiring peer-to-peer payment platforms such as Venmo and PayPal to report aggregate payments of $600 or more, among other bills.
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September 10, 2024
FCC Chair Vows High Court Fight Over Universal Service
Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel told educators the agency will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a recent Fifth Circuit decision against the Universal Service Fund, the federal program that subsidizes telecom service to low-income and hard-to-reach areas.
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September 10, 2024
Trailer Co. Seeks Refund Of $4M In Highway Excise Taxes
The Internal Revenue Service erroneously assessed federal highway excise taxes on a South Dakota trailer manufacturer even though the agency had already determined that the trailers were exempt from the tax, the company told a federal court as it sought a tax refund of some $4 million.
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September 10, 2024
IRS Extends Tax Deadlines For NY, Conn. Storm Victims
Victims of severe storms and flooding in New York and Connecticut will have more time to file some tax returns and make estimated payments, the Internal Revenue Service announced Tuesday.
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September 09, 2024
IRS Urges 11th Circ. To Affirm Denial Of $18M In Deductions
A Florida real estate developer was correctly denied $18 million in tax deductions on loans his companies made for residential projects that became worthless, the U.S. government told the Eleventh Circuit on Monday, saying the money went to insiders and didn't qualify as real debt entitled to the write-offs.
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September 09, 2024
Tax Panels Face Personnel Changes Ahead Of TCJA Debate
The House and Senate tax-writing committees are both set to lose veteran lawmakers in the next Congress, changing the dynamic on the panels as they gear up for a major fight next year over the fate of the expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
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September 09, 2024
Russia Says DC Circ. Ruling Erodes $5B Award To Yukos
A recent D.C. Circuit ruling that Spain must comply with $395 million in arbitration awards awarded to Yukos Oil's financing arm undermines the company's $5 billion claim against Russia because the country, unlike Spain, never ratified the international treaty on which the court relied, Russia has told a D.C. federal court.
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September 09, 2024
Owner Of Mass., NH Eateries Cops To $2M Tax Fraud
The owner of three restaurants in Massachusetts and New Hampshire has pled guilty to failing to pay approximately $2 million in employment and state and local meals taxes over a six-year period, the U.S. attorney's office in Massachusetts announced Monday.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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What Tax-Exempt Orgs. Need From Energy Credit Guidance
Guidance clarifying the Inflation Reduction Act’s credit regime, expected from the U.S. Department of the Treasury this summer, should help tax-exempt organizations determine the benefits of clean energy projects and integrate alternative energy investments into their activities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Unconventional Profits Interest Structures Find New Support
A recent U.S. Tax Court ruling should provide comfort that less-than-plain-vanilla profits interest structures, created to achieve complicated economic arrangements, can succeed in generating more optimal tax outcomes, provided the terms are properly drafted, says Daren Shaver at Hanson Bridgett.
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Roadblocks For Cannabis Employers Setting Up 401(k) Plans
Though the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act generally allow cannabis businesses to establish 401(k) plans for their employees, companies must still pick their way through uncertainties around tax deductions and recruiting reliable vendors, say attorneys at Shipman & Goodwin.
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How Foreign Info Return Penalty Case May Benefit Taxpayers
The U.S. Tax Court's recent decision that the Internal Revenue Service cannot penalize taxpayers for failing to file foreign corporation information returns may give similarly situated taxpayers an opportunity to also avoid penalties, provided they protect their rights before the decision is overturned or mooted by legislation, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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What's Unique — And What's Not — In Trump Protective Order
A Manhattan judge's recent protective order limiting former President Donald Trump's access to evidence included restrictions uniquely tailored to the defendant, which should remind defense attorneys that it's always a good idea to fight these seemingly standard orders, says Julia Jayne at Jayne Law.
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The Nuts And Bolts Of IRS Domestic Content Tax Credit
Recent IRS guidance provides specifics on how renewable energy projects can qualify for bonus tax credits by meeting U.S. domestic content rules, but also creates a qualification framework that will be complicated for project developers to navigate, say Scott Cockerham and Wolfram Pohl at Orrick.