Federal
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September 05, 2024
Liberty Global Urges 10th Circ. To Grant $248M Tax Credit
The U.S. Tax Court improperly applied an Internal Revenue Code provision to some of the $2.8 billion gain from Liberty Global's sale of a Japanese entity, the telecommunications company said in urging the Tenth Circuit to overturn the resulting rejection of a $248 million tax credit.
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September 05, 2024
Holland & Knight Appoints Former Perkins Coie Tax Partner
Holland & Knight LLP appointed a partner to its Portland, Oregon, office who previously served as a partner in energy tax law for Perkins Coie LLP, the firm announced.
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September 05, 2024
$70M Bill Came Too Late, Tax Court Says In Tossing IRS Claim
Partners in a subscription business don't owe around $70 million in taxes as the IRS claimed because the agency notified them too late and couldn't extend the deadline by proving the partners had filed fraudulent returns, the U.S. Tax Court said in rulings Thursday.
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September 05, 2024
Sen. Finance Panel To Hold Hearing On Tax Policy, Avoidance
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing Sept. 12 covering the 2025 tax policy debate and tax avoidance strategies, it announced Thursday.
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September 05, 2024
CPAs Seek Guidance On Business Interest Expense Deduction
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants requested Thursday that the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Treasury Department issue guidance clarifying that new limits on business interest expenses included in the 2017 federal tax overhaul apply after an election to capitalize interest expenses.
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September 05, 2024
Two Sentenced To Prison In $111M Tax Fraud Scheme
Two members of a crime ring who admitted to participating in a $111 million tax fraud scheme involving stealing the identities of accountants and taxpayers were sentenced to prison, according to Texas federal court documents.
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September 05, 2024
IRS Seeks Input On Treasury Retirement Match Contributions
The Internal Revenue Service said Thursday it is looking for comments regarding two portions of the Secure 2.0 Act of 2022 related to matching contributions paid by the U.S. Treasury Department to certain retirement savings vehicles for eligible people who make qualified contributions.
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September 05, 2024
Hunter Biden Pleads Guilty To Tax Charges In Surprise Move
Hunter Biden entered a surprise guilty plea to nine criminal tax charges in California federal court on Thursday, bringing a dramatic conclusion to the case following a dizzying series of events on what was set to be the first day of his trial.
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September 04, 2024
Judge Chides IRS, Preparers Over $167M Refund For ID Fees
A D.C. federal judge has declined to approve the IRS' roughly $167 million refund proposal for a putative class of tax-return preparers for charging them excessive fees for special identification numbers, saying the agency failed to address problems the preparers raised with its calculations.
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September 04, 2024
IRS' Economic Substance Authority Has Limits, Tax Court Told
The U.S. Tax Court and other federal courts have the authority to conduct an initial analysis of a transaction in cases where the Internal Revenue Service is challenging the economic substance of the transaction, a manufacturers advocacy group said Wednesday in an amicus brief.
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September 04, 2024
Harris Floats Capital Gains Tax Hike To 28% For High Earners
The tax on long-term capital gains would increase to 28% from 20% for taxpayers who earn $1 million or more under a proposal unveiled Wednesday by Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris ahead of a campaign rally in New Hampshire.
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September 04, 2024
Woman Owes Taxes On Share Of Sold Biz, Tax Court Says
A woman whose ex-husband told a bankruptcy court that he was the sole owner of a business they had started together was actually a 50% shareholder when it was sold and is liable for capital gains, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Wednesday.
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September 04, 2024
Tax Court OKs $465K Gambling Losses Deduction Amount
An Indiana woman adequately proved she had more than $465,000 in substantiated gambling losses over six years, the U.S. Tax Court said Wednesday, though she failed to substantiate her claimed business losses.
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September 04, 2024
Warren Urges IRS To Look At Possible REIT Tax Break Abuse
The Internal Revenue Service should increase its scrutiny of real estate investment trusts to determine whether companies are benefiting from REIT tax benefits while flouting rules, including those that limit the level of a REIT's ownership in a company, Sen. Elizabeth Warren told the agency's commissioner.
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September 04, 2024
Maryland Joining IRS Direct File Next Year
Maryland will join the IRS' free electronic tax filing program known as Direct File in 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service announced Wednesday.
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September 04, 2024
Ex-Mass. Pol 'A Little Sloppy' But Not Criminal, Jurors Told
Former Massachusetts state Sen. Dean A. Tran denied charges Wednesday that he stole pandemic unemployment assistance and cheated on his taxes, with his attorney telling a jury that Tran simply made a series of paperwork "mistakes."
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September 04, 2024
Chippewa Lawyer Asks 8th Circ. To Reconsider Tax Exemption
An attorney who contends that Congress never expressly allowed the federal government to tax Native Americans asked the Eighth Circuit to reconsider denying him a tax exemption on his self-employment income, saying the ruling conflicts with recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
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September 04, 2024
IRS Reopens Comment Period For Tax Payment Regs
The Internal Revenue Service announced Wednesday that it had reopened the comment period for proposed regulations that would allow taxpayers to make payments using credit and debit cards directly with the agency instead of through a third party.
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September 04, 2024
IRS Announces 4 Tax Court Sessions Added To Calendar
The Internal Revenue Service announced four U.S. Tax Court sessions in December and named calendar administrators for the sessions in a notice released Wednesday.
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September 03, 2024
11th Circ. Trims $12.6M FBAR Fine In 8th Amendment Split
Some of the $12.6 million in penalties the IRS on imposed a man for willfully failing to report foreign bank accounts were in violation of the Eighth Amendment's bar on excessive fines, the Eleventh Circuit ruled, creating an apparent circuit split.
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September 03, 2024
5th Circ. Rejects 4 Arguments Against $6K Tax Bill
The U.S. Tax Court correctly determined a man owed over $5,000 in tax deficiencies as well as more than $1,000 in penalties plus interest, the Fifth Circuit ruled Tuesday, finding none of the taxpayer's four arguments persuasive.
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September 03, 2024
IRS Should Be Bound By $2M Bankruptcy Deal, Justices Told
An Alabama real estate developer who sought bankruptcy protection and agreed to settle his tax debts for $2 million asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision allowing the IRS to demand additional taxes from him, saying the agency shouldn't be allowed to back out of the deal.
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September 03, 2024
Ex-Defense Contractor Arrested In $350M Tax Evasion Case
A former defense contractor who, with his wife, is facing a 30-count indictment alleging they were involved in a decades-long scheme to defraud the U.S. government and avoid taxes on more than $350 million in income was arrested Tuesday.
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September 03, 2024
9th Circ. Rejects Tax Lien Pro Rata Share In Bankruptcy Sale
The bankruptcy court is not authorized to use the pro rata method to allocate proceeds between the IRS and an estate with a tax lien for unpaid taxes and penalties, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday, saying there is nothing in bankruptcy law that explicitly allows this approach.
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September 03, 2024
Debtor's Late-Filing Case Should Be Reviewed, Justices Told
Tax experts urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit decision that found late-filed returns prevented a taxpayer from discharging his federal tax debt in bankruptcy, saying the case reflects a decades-long debate that has split the circuits three ways.
Expert Analysis
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Lessons From Country Singer's Personal Service Saga
Recent reports that country singer Luke Combs won a judgment against a Florida woman who didn’t receive notice of the counterfeit suit against her should serve as a reminder for attorneys on best practices for effectuating service by electronic means, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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7 E-Discovery Predictions For 2024 And Beyond
The legal and technical issues of e-discovery now affect virtually every lawsuit, and in the year to come, practitioners can expect practices and policies to evolve in a number of ways, from the expanded use of relevancy redactions to mandated information security provisions in protective orders, say attorneys at Littler.
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5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024
Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
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Tech CEO Tax Ruling A Warning For Forward Contracts
In McKelvey v. Commissioner, the U.S. Tax Court decided that deceased Monster.com founder Andrew McKelvey terminated his underlying obligations when he extended variable prepaid forward contracts, demonstrating why startup founders, early employees and investors should think carefully before amending derivative agreements, say Daren Shaver and Trent Tanzi at Hanson Bridgett.
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4 Legal Ethics Considerations For The New Year
As attorneys and clients reset for a new year, now is a good time to take a step back and review some core ethical issues that attorneys should keep front of mind in 2024, including approaching generative artificial intelligence with caution and care, and avoiding pitfalls in outside counsel guidelines, say attorneys at HWG.
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What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like
As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News
Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.
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Unpacking The Proposed Production Tax Credit Regulations
Recently proposed tax regulations for claiming the U.S. clean-energy manufacturers' production credit under Internal Revenue Code Section 45X are less stringent than many had feared but fail to define a fundamental eligibility requirement, say Casey August and Jared Sanders at Morgan Lewis.
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10 Considerations For Litigating A New York Tax Case
While some of New York’s recently adopted corporate tax regulations are likely to face legal challenges, aggrieved taxpayers should answer certain questions before deciding to embark on the tax litigation process, say Cyavash Ahmadi and Jeffrey Friedman at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Charting The Course For Digital Assets In 2024
Although 2023 was a tough year for the digital asset industry, upcoming court decisions, legislation and regulatory action will bring clarity, allowing the industry to expand and evolve, and the government will decide what innovation it will allow without challenge, says Joshua Smeltzer at Gray Reed.
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Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends
Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.
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Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities
Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.
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How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season
Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.