International
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August 22, 2024
Ryanair Threatens Service Cuts Over German Tax Increase
Irish discount airline Ryanair said it will cut 10% of its German capacity next summer if the country doesn't reverse a recent 24% increase in its aviation tax, calling on Germany to ultimately abolish the tax altogether.
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August 22, 2024
Over 3M UK Pensioners To Be Dragged Into Higher Tax Rates
Government data shows 3.1 million U.K. pensioners will be dragged into paying higher taxes in the next four years due to the freeze on income thresholds, financial firm Quilter PLC said Thursday.
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August 21, 2024
Ariz. Man Should Pay Full $2.7M FBAR Bill, Gov't Says
An Arizona man who failed to report his foreign bank accounts in Switzerland owes approximately $2.7 million in recalculated penalties and interest to the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. told an Arizona federal court.
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August 21, 2024
UK Tax Collection Rises 5% To £829B
HM Revenue & Customs said Wednesday that the U.K. raised over £829 billion ($1.09 trillion) in taxes in fiscal year 2023-2024, up over 5% from the previous year.
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August 21, 2024
9th Circ. Upholds FBAR Penalty, Imposes Contested Interest
A woman who operates a New Zealand winery must pay $238,000 in penalties and an extra $105,000 in interest and fees for failing to report her New Zealand financial accounts to the U.S. government, the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday.
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August 21, 2024
3 Questions Raised By Harris' Support For 28% Corp. Tax Rate
Vice President Kamala Harris has proposed increasing the corporate tax rate to 28% to boost revenue if she's elected president, but the proposed hike raises questions about changes to the corporate tax base, the future of the OECD's global tax deal and the potential impact on workers.
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August 21, 2024
Pros Tell IRS To Ease Off Foreign Gift Reporting Penalties
The Internal Revenue Service should take a more lenient approach when considering penalty abatements for certain individuals who fail to report large foreign gifts under proposed disclosure regulations, practitioners told the agency Wednesday.
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August 21, 2024
New Zealand Seeks Feedback On Future Of Tax System
New Zealand's revenue agency is looking for feedback on plans for a potential broad restructuring of the country's tax system in order to address coming financial pressures, including possibly altering its income and consumption tax regimes, it said Wednesday.
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August 21, 2024
Swiss Council Approves Tax Treaty With Jordan
Switzerland's Federal Council approved a treaty Wednesday to avoid double taxation with Jordan that it says largely follows the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's model convention for such agreements.
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August 21, 2024
Swiss Extend Tax Exemptions For 'Too Big To Fail' Instruments
Switzerland's Federal Council decided Wednesday to extend temporary withholding tax exemptions on interest for what it calls too-big-to-fail instruments for banks, such as bail-in or write-off bonds.
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August 21, 2024
Germany Opens Consultation On Min. Tax Reporting Changes
Germany's Federal Ministry of Finance is seeking feedback on a proposal to incorporate updated guidance from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development regarding reporting requirements associated with the global corporate minimum tax.
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August 21, 2024
VAT Fraudster Loses Bid To Escape Repaying £1.4M
A man involved in a £40 million ($52 million) criminal tax fraud scheme has lost a bid to avoid repaying £1.4 million as a London court ruled on Wednesday that he had failed to prove he no longer had hidden assets.
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August 20, 2024
UN Dives Into Murky Waters Of Taxing Digital Services
The United Nations has its sights set on cross-border services in the digital economy as its framework convention on tax takes shape, but it remains unclear how countries will define that broad and hotly contested topic as they work toward a treaty.
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August 20, 2024
Temple Law Prof, Kostelanetz Atty To Lead ABA Tax Section
A longtime professor at the Temple University Beasley School of Law and a seasoned tax controversy partner at Kostelanetz LLP will together helm the American Bar Association Section of Taxation for the 2025-2026 term, the firm announced Tuesday.
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August 20, 2024
IRS Tax-Exempt Compliance Unit Work Too Slow, TIGTA Says
A decision to expand the scope of checks made by the Internal Revenue Service's Tax-Exempt Compliance Unit resulted in cases taking three times as long to close and a decrease in taxpayers reached by more than half, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Tuesday.
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August 20, 2024
Allen Matkins Tax Group Leader Jumps To Covington In LA
Covington & Burling LLP has added to its Los Angeles office a partner with more than 20 years of experience who most recently led Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP's tax group, describing the new hire as "one of the country's leading authorities on partnership tax."
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August 20, 2024
Trade Group Urges Consistency In Pillar 2 Reporting Standard
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development should focus on making sure there is a standardized approach to acquiring the cross-jurisdiction information required for Pillar Two global minimum tax returns while also minimizing the compliance burden, the National Foreign Trade Council said Tuesday.
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August 20, 2024
A Deep Dive Into Law360 Pulse's 2024 Women In Law Report
The legal industry continues to see incremental gains for female lawyers in private practice in the U.S., according to a Law360 Pulse analysis, with women now representing 40.6% of all attorneys and 51% of all associates.
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August 20, 2024
These Firms Have The Most Women In Equity Partnerships
The legal industry still has a long way to go before it can achieve gender parity at its upper levels. But these law firms are performing better than others in breaking the proverbial glass ceiling that prevents women from attaining leadership roles.
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August 20, 2024
Aussie Capital Gains Tax Edit May Hit Green Energy, Pros Say
An Australian proposal to generally broaden the scope of the country's foreign resident capital gains tax regime could end up restricting foreign investment in the renewable energy sector, a group representing accounting professionals in the country said Tuesday.
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August 20, 2024
IRS Proposes Update To Qualified Domestic Trust Regs
The Internal Revenue Service proposed regulations Tuesday that would update federal estate tax rules for estates of decedents passing property to or for the benefit of a noncitizen spouse in a domestic trust in cases where the executor has made an election to be a qualified domestic trust.
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August 20, 2024
EU Tweaks Anti-Subsidy Duties On Chinese EVs
The European Commission said Tuesday that it is adjusting the anti-subsidy duties that it will charge Chinese exporters of electric vehicles, a move that it had provisionally announced at the beginning of July.
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August 19, 2024
Eaton Ordered To Give Int'l Employee Records To IRS
Eaton Corp. must disclose employment records for some European workers in its transfer pricing dispute with the U.S. government because public interest in curtailing tax avoidance outweighs the interest in protecting the workers' privacy, an Ohio federal judge ruled Monday.
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August 19, 2024
Danish Gov't Wants Evidence Excluded In $2B Tax Fraud Case
A New York federal court should exclude some evidence presented by U.S. pension plans accused in what the Danish tax agency is calling a $2.1 billion tax fraud scheme, the agency said.
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August 19, 2024
Chile Senate Panel OKs Bank Secrecy, Whistleblower Plans
Chile's Senate Finance Committee approved changes to a larger tax compliance bill's proposals for lifting the country's bank secrecy laws in certain situations and for creating an anonymous whistleblower process for reporting tax crimes.
Expert Analysis
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Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice
The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
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Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.
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After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1
The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.
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Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers
BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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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.