International
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August 19, 2024
Treasury Floats Timing Shift For Foreign Currency Accounting
The U.S. Treasury Department proposed regulations Monday that would adjust the timing for when companies could opt to use the so-called mark-to-market accounting method for gains or losses that arise from foreign currency transactions.
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August 19, 2024
Swedish Advisory Body Considering Pillar 2 Updates
A Swedish advisory council is considering a proposal that would add administrative and other clarifications to the country's implementation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's global minimum tax on large multinational corporations.
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August 16, 2024
Kyocera Says It Doesn't Need Records For R&D Credits
Multinational electronics maker Kyocera said Friday that it wasn't required to keep any specific paperwork to back up its claim to research tax credits, contrary to the U.S. government's claims, according to a filing in South Carolina federal court.
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August 16, 2024
UK Dependency Considering Global Minimum Tax Bills
Jersey is considering draft legislation that would implement the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's 15% minimum tax on multinational entities making over €750 million ($828 million) annually, in line with a declaration from it and other U.K. crown dependencies to do so starting next year.
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August 16, 2024
Democratic Gov't Control Could Bolster US' Pillar 2 Plans
Vice President Kamala Harris and congressional Democrats would likely double down on plans to align the U.S. tax code with the global minimum tax designed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development if they win total control of the federal government in the November elections.
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August 16, 2024
UN Votes For Global Services As First Priority Under Tax Pact
The United Nations voted Friday to make taxation of cross-border services the most prioritized topic for a legally binding agreement to be finalized by late 2027 alongside the organization's framework convention on international tax cooperation.
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August 16, 2024
IRS To Let Private Cos. Into Real-Time Biz Audit Program
The Internal Revenue Service is opening its compliance assurance process real-time audit program to privately held C corporations, including foreign-owned ones, for 2025, the agency announced.
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August 16, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Cleary, Kirkland, Skadden
In this week's Taxation with Representation, Mars Inc. sets a 2024 record with its $36 billion acquisition of Kellanova, Carlyle inks a $3.8 billion purchase with Baxter International Inc., and Performance Food Group Co. agrees to a $2.1 billion cash deal with Cheney Bros. Inc.
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August 15, 2024
Doctor Wants Contempt Fine Dropped In Foreign Asset Case
A doctor who incurred $1.1 million in liabilities for failing to report his foreign bank accounts is asking a Michigan federal court to waive his $20,000 civil contempt fine because the court restricted his only financial assets to paying the liabilities.
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August 15, 2024
Tax Pros Navigate Chaos, Rewards In Climate Law's 2nd Year
Energy tax attorneys have been knee-deep in project finance deals for the past year since the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 triggered a flurry of clean energy investments, but the work, they say, has been fulfilling as part of broader efforts to save the environment.
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August 15, 2024
Taxes Could Be Key To Cutting Crypto Emissions, IMF Says
The growing environmental impact of crypto-asset mining and related data centers could be mitigated with tax measures aimed directly at such facilities, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.
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August 15, 2024
Germany Seeks Input On Tightened Transfer Pricing Rules
Germany is poised to make multinational corporations responsible for showing the economic necessity of intra-group, cross-border debt relationships when they deduct expenses for financing with borrowed capital, according to a consultation by the federal government.
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August 15, 2024
Finland To Have EU's 2nd-Highest VAT Rate Starting Sept. 1
Finland's general value-added tax rate will jump to 25.5% from 24% starting Sept. 1, the country's tax agency said Thursday, putting it behind only Hungary for the highest VAT rate in the European Union.
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August 15, 2024
Aussie Senate Economics Committee OKs 15% Min. Tax Bill
The Australian Senate's Economics Legislation Committee said it supports the passage of a three-bill package that would implement the OECD's 15% global corporate minimum tax on large multinational entities, sending it to the entire Senate for approval.
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August 15, 2024
UK Plastic Packaging Tax Revenue Dipped By 6%
The U.K. collected £268 million ($344 million) from its tax on certain plastic packaging manufactured in or imported into the country in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, down 6% from the £285 million the year prior, HM Revenue & Customs said Thursday.
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August 14, 2024
PwC Owes $11M For Tax Errors, Real Estate Group Says
PwC should pay £8.9 million ($11.4 million) in damages to a real estate group for miscalculating its tax liabilities and mispricing its properties, which prompted several additional assessments and penalties, according to a claim in a London court.
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August 14, 2024
Baker McKenzie Adds Tax Expert To Monterrey Office
Baker McKenzie has added a partner from Turanzas Bravo & Ambrosi to its Monterrey, Mexico, office who brings more than 15 years of experience practicing international trade law with a focus on taxation and customs-related litigation.
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August 14, 2024
Kenya Tax Court Finds Chinese Firm Dodged $7.8M VAT
A Kenyan tax court affirmed an assessment that found a China-based firm used a series of shell companies to dodge over 1 billion Kenyan shillings ($7.8 million) in value-added tax payments, the Kenya Revenue Authority said Wednesday.
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August 14, 2024
Swiss Seeking Input On Delays Of Crypto-Asset Info Exchange
Switzerland's executive body, the Federal Council, is looking for public input on when it should begin automatically exchanging financial information regarding crypto-assets with countries with which it already has set up general automatic exchange of information agreements, its finance ministry said.
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August 14, 2024
EU General Court Jurisdiction Expanded To VAT Cases
The General Court of the European Union will be able to make preliminary rulings in cases involving the EU's common system of value-added taxes starting Oct. 1, following an expansion of the court's jurisdiction.
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August 14, 2024
Pros Lament Lack Of Ownership Clarity In New EU Law
The lack of a clear beneficial ownership definition in new European Union legislation designed to speed up the repayment of withholding taxes represents a missed opportunity — and could cause confusion for investors about whether they are in fact eligible for a refund, tax professionals say.
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August 14, 2024
Other Price Rises Offset German Tampon VAT Cut, Study Says
Germany's reduction in the value-added tax on female sanitary products, such as tampons, has led to higher prices on panty liners, a Munich-based think tank said in a news release Wednesday.
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August 13, 2024
Walz Backed Tax Hikes Funding Plans For Children, Families
As Minnesota's governor, Democrat Tim Walz, now the presumed vice presidential nominee of his party, separated himself from most other governors by signing into law numerous tax increases funding progressive priorities such as a paid family leave plan and the nation's largest child tax credit.
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August 13, 2024
Treasury's Loss Rules Take Broad Approach To Min. Tax Deal
The U.S. Treasury Department recently dashed the hopes of multinational corporations seeking regulations that would have carved out an international minimum tax agreement from interacting with long-standing domestic rules aimed at preventing companies from using the same economic loss twice.
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August 13, 2024
Firm Asks Court To Reconsider $1.5M Freeze In Tax Dispute
A Baltimore law firm that sued the IRS for freezing $1.5 million in its operating account to satisfy a client's tax debts told a Maryland federal court it was "dead wrong" in denying the firm's request to release the money without going to trial.
Expert Analysis
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Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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New Crypto Reporting Will Require Rigorous Recordkeeping
The release of a form for reporting digital asset transactions is a pivotal moment in the Internal Revenue Service's efforts to track cryptocurrency activities that increases oversight by requiring brokers to report investor sales and exchanges, say Shaina Kamen and Max Angel at Holland & Knight.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs
The Internal Revenue Services' finalized Treasury Regulations addressing whether real estate investment trusts qualify as domestically controlled adopt the basic structure of previous proposals, but certain new and modified rules may mitigate the regulations' impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert
As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.