Federal
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February 11, 2025
House Panelists Push For IRS Funding, Tech Upgrade
The Internal Revenue Service is still underfunded and needs to prioritize using any additional funding it receives to boost its taxpayer services and technology modernization, panelists told a House Ways and Means subcommittee Tuesday.
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February 11, 2025
Tax Court Orders Penalties For $90M In Disallowed Deductions
A group of four North Carolina partnerships that were denied a total of $90 million in tax deductions for donations of conservation easements must pay valuation and accuracy-related penalties under a U.S. Tax Court ruling Tuesday.
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February 11, 2025
FBAR Default Vacated To Give Widow Another Chance
A New York federal court agreed with a magistrate's recommendation to vacate a default judgment against a widow, giving her another chance to defend her husband's estate against the government's $275,000 claim that he failed to report his Indian bank account.
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February 11, 2025
Holland & Knight Adds Ballard Spahr Litigator In Philly
A former U.S. attorney with expertise on anti-money laundering and complex tax matters recently moved his litigation practice to Holland & Knight after nine years with Ballard Spahr LLP.
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February 11, 2025
EU Leaders Poised For 'Proportionate' Response To US Tariffs
European Union officials criticized President Donald Trump's decision to impose an across-the-board 25% tariff on all imported steel and aluminum, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday signaling "firm and proportionate countermeasures."
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February 11, 2025
Commerce Powers Key In Battle Over Corp. Transparency Law
The question of whether Congress exceeded its powers to regulate commerce by enacting the Corporate Transparency Act is likely to feature in a potential U.S. Supreme Court resolution to around a dozen challenges to the law that are percolating through the courts.
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February 11, 2025
Partaking In $1.3B Easement Fraud Lands CPA 2 Years
A Florida accountant who illegally sold tax deductions to his clients in the form of conservation easements and conspired with others convicted in a $1.3 billion fraud scheme was sentenced to two years in prison by a New Jersey federal judge.
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February 07, 2025
DOGE Access To Treasury Payment System Blocked By Judge
A Manhattan federal judge blocked the access of Elon Musk and staffers of his temporary Department of Government Efficiency to U.S. Department of the Treasury payment systems Saturday and ordered them to destroy data already obtained, after state attorneys general sued, calling that access "dangerous" and unlawful.
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February 10, 2025
Pension Execs Found Liable In $2B Danish Tax Fraud Case
A New York federal jury found Monday by "clear and convincing evidence" that Denmark's tax agency reasonably relied on the false statements made on pension plan applications that were part of a $2.1 billion tax fraud scheme by pension plan executives.
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February 10, 2025
5th Circ. Urged To Reject Crypto Exec's Privacy Law Claim
The IRS complied with a financial privacy law to summon third-party bank records belonging to a cryptocurrency executive under investigation, the U.S. government told the Fifth Circuit on Monday in the businessman's appeal to overturn a lower court decision that rejected his bid to quash the summonses.
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February 10, 2025
Trump Sets Across-The-Board 25% Tariff On Steel And Aluminum
President Donald Trump teed up a 25% tariff on all imported steel and aluminum Monday evening, continuing a trend of sweeping, aggressive trade actions that have defined his first three weeks in office.
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February 10, 2025
Tax-Crime Suspect's Bond Revoked After Additional Charges
A man accused of promoting abusive tax shelters was ordered to prison Monday by a Colorado federal judge who said she believed he may have committed additional crimes in connection with a multimillion-dollar fraudulent investment fund while awaiting trial.
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February 10, 2025
Trump Buyout Plan Still On Hold As Unions Cite 'Confusion'
A Boston federal judge on Monday extended his hold on President Donald Trump's federal worker buyout program as he weighs a request from unions to block the so-called Fork Directive, which promises months of pay to government employees who resign their posts.
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February 10, 2025
Tax Court Judge Protections Challenged In 11th Circ.
The federal government oversimplified a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to argue against granting a request to review job protections for U.S. Tax Court judges, the owners of an electronic parts company told the Eleventh Circuit in seeking the reversal of a tax penalty.
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February 10, 2025
Goldstein Rearrested After Feds Say He Hid Millions In Crypto
U.S. Supreme Court lawyer and SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein was arrested again Monday following his earlier release on criminal tax evasion charges, after prosecutors alleged that he secretly made millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency transactions in recent days and was a serious risk to flee.
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February 10, 2025
Skadden Adds Designer Of Tax Cut Act's Int'l Provisions In DC
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP announced Monday it has hired a tax attorney who helped create some international provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and who joins the firm as House Republicans signal they'll vote to renew some measures of that bill that are set to expire.
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February 10, 2025
Pillsbury Recruits Former Mayer Brown Tax Pro In NY
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP said it has recruited a former Mayer Brown LLP tax expert to serve as a partner in Pillsbury's New York office.
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February 07, 2025
Feds Defend Corporate Transparency Act In 5th And 4th Circuits
The U.S. government defended the Corporate Transparency Act in the Fifth and Fourth Circuits on Friday, urging the former to reverse a Texas federal judge's nationwide injunction on the law and the latter to affirm a Virginia federal judge's rejection of a bid to block the law's enforcement.
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February 07, 2025
Wyden Demands Clarification On DOGE's Treasury Access
Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden questioned Friday whether U.S. Treasury Department lawyers were misleading and evasive when they said members of Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization were granted only "read-only" access to the department's payment systems.
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February 07, 2025
Ex-Mass. State Sen. Gets 18 Months For Pandemic, Tax Fraud
A former Massachusetts state senator was sentenced to 18 months in prison Friday after being convicted of fraudulently collecting pandemic unemployment benefits and failing to report consulting income he was also earning at the time on his tax returns.
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February 07, 2025
Customs Broker Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud, Tax Evasion
A customs broker pled guilty Friday in California federal court to evading $1.5 million in taxes and overcharging clients about $5.4 million in import duty fees as part of a plea agreement he reached with the U.S. Department of Justice.
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February 07, 2025
Ex-NFL Star Romanowski's Bankruptcy Converted To Ch. 7
Former NFL player Bill Romanowski and wife Julie had their Chapter 11 bankruptcy case converted to a Chapter 7 on Friday, after a California judge called a filing from the couple seeking the case's dismissal full of "hyperbole" and said a trustee is needed to examine the pair's assets and liabilities.
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February 07, 2025
GOP Sens. File Bill To Make Pot Co. Tax Penalty Permanent
Republican U.S. senators have filed a bill that would bar cannabis companies from taking business deductions even if cannabis is taken off of Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act.
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February 07, 2025
4th Circ. Says LeClairRyan Founder May Duck Tax Liability
Defunct law firm LeClairRyan PLLC's operating agreement did not bar founder Gary LeClair from jumping ship in time to potentially dodge massive tax bills tied to the firm's collapse, the Fourth Circuit ruled Friday.
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February 07, 2025
Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Latham, Skadden
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Triumph Group goes private via Berkshire Partners and Warburg Pincus affiliates, alternative asset manager TPG buys Altus Power, Globus Medical buys Nevro Corp., and Honeywell separates its automation and aerospace technology businesses, resulting in the formation of three distinct companies.
Expert Analysis
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Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process
Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.
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Whistleblowers Must Note 5 Key Differences Of DOJ Program
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recently unveiled whistleblower awards program diverges in key ways from similar programs at other agencies, and individuals must weigh these differences and look first to programs with stronger, proven protections before blowing the whistle, say Stephen Kohn and Geoff Schweller at Kohn Kohn.
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What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires
Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.
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Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support
A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.
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Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where
During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.
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Brownfield Questions Surround IRS Tax Credit Bonus
Though the IRS has published guidance regarding the Inflation Reduction Act's 10% adder for tax credits generated by renewable energy projects constructed on brownfield sites, considerable guesswork remains as potential implications seem contrary to IRS intentions, say Megan Caldwell and Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.
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Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing
Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address
A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.
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It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union
As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.
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Why DOJ's Whistleblower Program May Have Limited Impact
The U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower pilot program aims to incentivize individuals to report corporate misconduct, but the program's effectiveness may be undercut by its differences from other federal agencies’ whistleblower programs and its interplay with other DOJ policies, say attorneys at Milbank.
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How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act
In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.
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Trump's Best Hush Money Appeal Options Still Likely To Fail
The two strongest potential arguments former President Donald Trump could raise in appealing his New York hush money conviction seem promising at first, but precedent strongly suggests they will still ultimately fail — though, of course, Trump's unique position could lead to surprising results, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.
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Tips For Tax Equity-Tax Credit Transfers That Pass IRS Muster
Although the Internal Revenue Service has increased its scrutiny of complex partnership structures, which must demonstrate their economic substance and business purpose, recent cases and IRS guidance together provide a reliable road map for creating legitimate tax equity structures, say Ian Boccaccio and Michael Messina at Ryan Tax.