Federal
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January 23, 2025
New Reg Hurts Taxpayer's Penalty Argument, US Tells 5th Cir.
Final regulations clarifying that an Internal Revenue Service supervisor can approve tax penalties at any time before the agency issues a deficiency notice undermines an appellant's arguments in a tax dispute, the U.S. government told the Fifth Circuit.
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January 23, 2025
Robocall Schemer's Estate Agrees To Pay $4.3M In Payroll Tax
Federal prosecutors and the estate of a telemarketing company owner asked a Michigan federal judge to approve a consent judgment ordering the estate to pay $4.3 million of the company's outstanding employment taxes.
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January 22, 2025
Madigan Used ComEd As 'Personal Piggy Bank,' Jurors Told
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his devoted surrogate Michael McClain conspired to enhance and preserve Madigan's power and line his pockets, both by steering business to the ex-speaker's law firm and rewarding his political allies with do-nothing jobs, prosecutors told an Illinois federal jury during closing arguments Wednesday.
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January 22, 2025
Seven Charged In $600 Million COVID Tax Credit Scheme
Seven people have been accused of trying to defraud the federal government of more than $600 million by filing more than 8,000 false tax returns in what the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday called "the nation's largest COVID-19 tax credit scheme."
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January 22, 2025
GOP, Dems From High-Tax States Push To Kill SALT Cap
Republican and Democratic lawmakers from high-tax states said Wednesday that raising or eliminating the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction would be essential to gaining their support for a bill to renew expiring Tax Cuts and Jobs Act tax breaks.
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January 22, 2025
Renewing TCJA Will Deepen Economic Divide, Oxfam Says
Renewing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would cost the U.S. more than $4.5 trillion in revenue that could be used to reduce economic inequality, nongovernmental organization Oxfam said in the release of its annual report on inequality.
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January 22, 2025
Sheriff's Fund Withdrawal Not Embezzlement, Tax Court Says
A former county sheriff did not embezzle money from an account used to buy food for prisoners when she invested the funds in a business that turned out to be a Ponzi scheme, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Wednesday in a dispute over whether she owed taxes on the money.
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January 22, 2025
GOP Again Floats Reciprocal Taxes In Affront To Global Deal
Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday renewed their proposal for reciprocal taxes against countries that participate in an international minimum tax agreement, following up on President Donald Trump's rejection of the global accord.
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January 22, 2025
Wyden Urges National Standard For Hemp Regulation
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., rallied on Wednesday for his bill that would beef up regulation of products with hemp-derived cannabinoids in order to protect consumers, particularly children.
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January 22, 2025
Foreclosed Property Owner's Claims Too Late, Tax Court Says
The U.S. Tax Court sustained more than $100,000 in tax liabilities Wednesday against the owner of foreclosed properties, saying she is not entitled to deductions for net operating losses and capital loss carry-forwards that she claimed late.
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January 22, 2025
Captive Insurance Co. Head Seeks Tax-Shelter Fine Refund
A tax attorney who heads a business that creates captive insurance companies said the IRS wrongly accused him of promoting an abusive tax shelter, telling an Ohio federal court the agency owes him a refund of penalties he handed over.
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January 21, 2025
Tax Court Slashes $33M Easement Deduction
The U.S. Tax Court reduced a partnership's claimed $33 million tax deduction for a donation of a Georgia conservation easement Tuesday, saying the easement was only worth $4.7 million, partly because the partnership overestimated its development potential in a rural area.
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January 21, 2025
IRS Office Can't Verify Low-Income Aid Meets Requirements
The Internal Revenue Service office in charge of a program that provides assistance to low-income people dealing with tax disputes can't access information that would allow it to make sure grant recipients meet requirements, potentially harming the program's effectiveness, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Tuesday.
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January 21, 2025
Expat Facing $6.9M In FBAR Penalties, Interest
An American woman living in Switzerland faces $6.9 million in penalties, interest and late fees because she did not report her accounts that were held at a Swiss bank, the U.S. government told a D.C. federal court.
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January 21, 2025
Union Calls For Block To Trump's Federal Workers Order
President Donald Trump must halt efforts to enforce his executive order easing the process to fire certain federal employees, the National Treasury Employees Union argued in a lawsuit, claiming thousands of workers could be at risk of termination "for any reason including political agenda."
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January 21, 2025
Co. Seeks IRS Refund In $2.7M Captive Insurance Case
A Delaware federal court should refund tax penalties a company paid on a $2.7 bill from the IRS for activities related to captive insurance companies and promoting abusive tax shelters, the company argued Tuesday, saying the government provided no proof it did anything wrong.
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January 21, 2025
Tribal Tax Status Regs Leave Energy Credit Access Up In Air
While recently proposed regulations would provide long-awaited clarity that enterprises wholly owned by Native American tribes are exempt from federal taxes, the rules leave glaring questions open about whether tribes can access clean energy tax credits through business structures like joint ventures.
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January 21, 2025
Senate Finance Committee Approves Trump's Treasury Pick
The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday approved Scott Bessent, President Donald Trump's nominee for treasury secretary, sending his nomination to the full Senate for a vote.
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January 21, 2025
Trump Order Places IRS Under Indefinite Hiring Freeze
President Donald Trump said a hiring freeze that he ordered at federal government agencies will be harsher at the Internal Revenue Service, with the agency requiring an extra layer of review, with no specified end date, before hiring can restart.
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January 17, 2025
Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year
Law360 would like to congratulate the winners of its Practice Groups of the Year awards for 2024, which honor the attorney teams behind litigation wins and significant transaction work that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year.
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January 17, 2025
Law360 Names Firms Of The Year
Eight law firms have earned spots as Law360's Firms of the Year, with 54 Practice Group of the Year awards among them, steering some of the largest deals of 2024 and securing high-profile litigation wins, including at the U.S. Supreme Court.
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January 17, 2025
Par Funding's Fraud Caused $288M In Losses, Pa. Judge Says
Par Funding caused $288 million in losses stemming from a scheme to defraud investors who poured money into its cash advance business, a Pennsylvania federal judge said Friday, days after holding an evidentiary hearing where the government and the defendants sparred over dueling loss amounts.
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January 17, 2025
Feds Say Pa. Investment Adviser Stole $20M From Clients
A Pennsylvania investment adviser's alleged misappropriation of more than $20 million worth of client funds has landed him criminal charges and civil enforcement action from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
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January 17, 2025
US Guidance On Amount B Carries Potential For Disputes
Recent IRS guidance on a simplified and streamlined transfer pricing method for certain cross-border transactions, known as Amount B, suggests rulemakers want feedback on how it would work if it were made mandatory, but that approach could lead to controversy without global cooperation.
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January 17, 2025
Bill Aims To Extend Biogas Investment Credit Through 2025
A bill in the U.S. House of Representatives would extend the clean energy investment tax credit available for certain biogas facilities' equipment through the end of 2025 instead of at the end of 2024, the bill's sponsors said Friday.
Expert Analysis
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Weisselberg's Perjury At Trial Spotlights Atty Ethics Issues
Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg’s recent guilty plea for perjury in the New York attorney general's civil fraud trial should serve as a reminder to attorneys of their ethical duties when they know a client has lied or plans to lie in court, and the potential penalties for not fulfilling those obligations, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.
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Why Supreme Court Should Allow Repatriation Tax To Stand
If the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't reject the taxpayers' misguided claims in Moore v. U.S. that the mandatory repatriation tax is unconstitutional, it could wreak havoc on our system of taxation and result in a catastrophic loss of revenue for the government, say Christina Mason and Theresa Balducci at Herrick Feinstein.
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.
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Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law
A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.
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Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea
A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.
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4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best
As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.
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How IRA Unlocks Green Energy Investments For Tribes
An Inflation Reduction Act provision going into effect May 10 represents a critical juncture for Native American tribes, offering promising economic opportunity in green energy investment, but requiring a proactive and informed approach when taking advantage of newly available tax incentives, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.
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Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.
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What To Know About IRS' New Jet Use Audit Campaign
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced plans to open several dozen audits scrutinizing executive use of company jets, so companies should be prepared to show the business reasons for travel, and how items like imputed income and deduction disallowance were calculated, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
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Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.