Federal
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October 15, 2024
IRS Issues Benefit Overpayments Guidance Under Secure 2.0
The Internal Revenue Service published guidance Tuesday related to certain inadvertent benefit overpayments as they relate to changes made in the Secure 2.0 Act of 2022, including the treatment of certain overpayments as eligible rollover distributions.
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October 15, 2024
Justices Told Split On Shedding Tax Debts Can't Be Ignored
The U.S. Supreme Court should review a Ninth Circuit decision that found late-filed returns prevented a taxpayer from discharging his federal tax debt in bankruptcy, the taxpayer argued, saying both sides in the case have agreed the circuits are split on the issue.
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October 15, 2024
Israel-US Citizen Owes $1.1M In FBAR Penalties, US Says
A dual Israeli-American citizen who owns a Chicago pub faces more than $1 million in penalties for failing to report bank accounts that he maintained in Israel, the U.S. government told an Illinois federal court.
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October 15, 2024
New ABA Tax Chair Wants To Revamp Practice's Dry Image
The new chair of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation told Law360 she wants to boost the section's recent efforts to revamp the tax practice's image as a boring, numbers-intensive profession with limited opportunities to improve society and inspire more students to enter tax law. Here, she shares her background and goals for the tax section.
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October 15, 2024
Alvarez & Marsal Tax Brings On Restructuring Leader
Alvarez & Marsal's tax affiliate added a restructuring professional from investment bank Houlihan Lokey to serve as its head of global restructuring tax services.
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October 15, 2024
V&E Adds Energy Tax Pro From Bracewell In Houston
Vinson & Elkins LLP has bolstered its energy transition and tax practices with a partner in Houston who came aboard from Bracewell LLP and whose background includes substantial in-house experience advising on renewable projects.
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October 15, 2024
Law Firms Diverge As Anti-ESG Pushback Continues
A continuing onslaught of legislation and litigation opposing corporate environmental, social and governance actions has created a fork in the road for law firms, with some choosing to scale back efforts and others pushing ahead with their internal ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
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October 15, 2024
The 2024 Law360 Pulse Social Impact Leaders
Check out our Social Impact Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their engagement with social responsibility and commitment to pro bono service.
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October 15, 2024
Gov't Resists DC Circ. Redo In Ayahuasca Church Tax Case
An Iowa church that used a psychedelic in its rites was correctly denied tax-exempt status on grounds that it was organized for illegal aims, the federal government told the D.C. Circuit in urging it to reject the church's request for a rehearing.
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October 11, 2024
Julie Chrisley Appeals Ga. Judge's Resentencing Ruling
Former real estate mogul and reality television star Julie Chrisley, who was convicted of running a yearslong bank fraud scheme with her husband, Todd, is appealing a federal judge's decision to resentence her to the same seven-year prison term she first received nearly two years ago.
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October 11, 2024
Philly Pizzeria Owner Accused Of Dodging Taxes
A Pennsylvania pizzeria owner evaded taxes for multiple years by paying himself and employees in cash and lied about it to his accountant, the U.S. Department of Justice said in announcing charges against him.
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October 11, 2024
Tribal Wildfire Victims Can File Returns Late, IRS Says
Members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona who were affected by a wildfire in July may put off filing certain tax returns until Feb. 5, the Internal Revenue Service said Friday.
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October 11, 2024
Tax-Exempt Orgs Get More Time To Make Payment Election
Certain tax-exempt organizations making an elective payment election have an extra six months to file their business income tax return to declare such an election, the Internal Revenue Service said Friday.
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October 11, 2024
IRS Delays Fla. Deadlines, Grants Other Relief After Milton
Following Hurricane Milton, the Internal Revenue Service has granted all taxpayers in Florida until May 1 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments, the agency said Friday, while also granting dyed diesel penalty relief.
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October 11, 2024
Disputes May Loom Over Dividend Deductions For CFCs
U.S. multinational corporations are concerned that rulemakers' interpretation of a law allowing tax-free repatriation of certain overseas earnings could lead to controversy after the Internal Revenue Service published a memo indicating the break is unavailable for controlled foreign corporations.
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October 11, 2024
Bank Info Fair Game In Crypto Exec's Appeal, Gov't Says
A cryptocurrency executive charged in a 2020 bitcoin fraud investigation can't stop the IRS from using the financial information it gathered through summonses while he appeals the demands in the Fifth Circuit, the U.S. government told a Texas federal court.
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October 11, 2024
5 Mos. Jail Enough For Swiss Tax Expert In $60M IRS Scam
A Manhattan federal judge on Friday allowed a former financial executive from Switzerland to avoid additional time behind bars for his role in building a complex tax fraud scheme that helped wealthy Americans hide $60 million from the IRS.
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October 11, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Latham, Kirkland
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Rio Tinto agrees to acquire Arcadium Lithium for roughly $6.7 billion, Ares Management Corp. and GCP International reach a $3.7 billion deal, and Butterfly Equity announces plans to buy The Duckhorn Portfolio for $2 billion.
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October 11, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included proposed rules for the new 15% corporate alternative minimum tax on corporations with reported profits of $1 billion or more.
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October 10, 2024
IRS Announces 9 Tax Court Sessions Added To Calendar
The Internal Revenue Service announced nine U.S. Tax Court sessions in February and March and named calendar administrators for the sessions.
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October 10, 2024
Estimated Tax Gap For 2022 Falls To $696B, IRS Says
The projected federal gross tax gap between taxes owed and taxes paid for the 2022 tax year was $696 billion, a $12 billion decrease from 2021, according to a report published Thursday by the Internal Revenue Service.
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October 10, 2024
Partnership Challenges Denial Of $42M Easement Deduction
The Internal Revenue Service failed to justify rejecting a Florida partnership's charitable contribution deduction for donating a $42 million conservation easement to a land conservancy, the partnership told the U.S. Tax Court.
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October 10, 2024
IRS Says It's Stepping Up Worker Credit Claims Processing
The Internal Revenue Service said Thursday it's accelerating processing of claims for pandemic-era worker credits after a moratorium triggered by what the agency has said was widespread fraud.
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October 10, 2024
Dems Weigh Extending 2017 Cuts To Maintain $400K Tax Vow
Despite criticizing the 2017 Republican tax overhaul as a deficit-busting boon to the wealthy, congressional Democrats may feel pressure to support extending some of the law's individual and small-business provisions or risk breaking their pledge not to raise taxes on those earning $400,000 or less.
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October 10, 2024
Pfizer Lone Holdout In Senate Pharma Tax Probe, Wyden Says
Pfizer Inc. is the only company to withhold a country-by-country breakdown of its tax planning in the Senate Finance Committee's probe into how Republicans' 2017 tax package reduced the pharmaceutical industry's U.S. liabilities, according to a letter Chairman Ron Wyden released Thursday.
Expert Analysis
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A Look At How De Minimis Import Rules May Soon Change
The planned implementation of executive actions focused on the de minimis rule as it applies to shipments means companies should use this interval to evaluate the potential applicability and impact of Section 301, Section 201 or Section 232 duties on their products, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Ruling On Foreign Dividend Break Offers 2 Tax Court Insights
In Varian v. Commissioner, the U.S. Tax Court allowed a taxpayer's deduction for dividends from foreign subsidiaries, providing clarity on how the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision may affect challenges to Treasury regulations, and revealing a potential disallowance of foreign tax credits, say attorneys at Davis Polk.
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Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners
Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics
Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.
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It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.
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Avoid Getting Burned By Agencies' Solar Financing Spotlight
Recently coordinated reports and advisories from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission maximize the spotlight on the consumer solar financing market and highlight pitfalls for lenders to avoid in this burgeoning field, says Mercedes Tunstall at Cadwalader.
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Tax Traps In Acquisitions Of Financially Distressed Targets
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Parties to the acquisition of an insolvent or bankrupt company face myriad tax considerations, including limitations on using the distressed company's tax benefits, cancellation of indebtedness income, tax lien issues and potential tax reorganizations.
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Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls
Despite the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's continued release of guidance for complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, its interpretation remains in flux, making it important for companies to understand potentially problematic areas of ambiguity in the practical application of the law, say attorneys at Sidley.
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How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations
Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.
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Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles
Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.
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Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.
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5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond
As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.
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Pros, Cons Of Disclosing Improper Employee Retention Credit
Employers considering the Internal Revenue Service’s second voluntary disclosure program, which allows companies to avoid penalties for erroneously claiming employee retention credits for the 2021 tax year by repaying the credits and naming the tax advisers who encouraged these abusive practices, should carefully weigh the program’s benefits against its potential drawbacks, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.