Federal
-
January 10, 2025
Up Next At High Court: Porn ID Check & Retiree Discrimination
The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday for a full argument session, in which the justices will debate whether a Texas law requiring pornography websites to verify their visitors aren't minors violates the First Amendment and if retirees have the right to sue former employers for benefits discrimination.
-
January 10, 2025
Treasury Finalizes Rules For Disregarded Foreign Payments
The U.S. Treasury Department issued final regulations Friday that are designed to prevent companies from receiving foreign payments in a way that allows them to reduce their overseas taxes without a corresponding increase in U.S. taxable income.
-
January 10, 2025
Ga. Law Firm Latest To Fight Corporate Transparency Act
A federal law designed to combat money laundering violates the U.S. Constitution by forcing lawyers to disregard attorney-client privilege, a Georgia lawyer told a federal court, joining a chorus seeking legal action to stop the law.
-
January 10, 2025
Illinois Joins IRS Direct File Program For 2025
The Internal Revenue Service's free electronic tax filing program, Direct File, will be available in Illinois when tax season begins this month, the Illinois Department of Revenue and Gov. JB Pritzker announced Friday.
-
January 10, 2025
IRS Delays Tax Deadlines Because Of California Fires
Taxpayers in Los Angeles County will have until Oct. 15 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments as the area deals with ongoing California wildfires, the Internal Revenue Service announced Friday.
-
January 10, 2025
IRS Proposes Automatic Retirement Plan Enrollment Guidance
The Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Treasury Department proposed guidance Friday regarding rules establishing automatic enrollment requirements for certain retirement plans under changes made by the Secure 2.0 Act.
-
January 10, 2025
Tax Season To Start Jan. 27, IRS Says
The Internal Revenue Service will begin accepting and processing 2024 tax year returns on Jan. 27, the agency said Friday.
-
January 10, 2025
Treasury, IRS Plan Rules For Clean Transportation Fuel Credit
Treasury and the IRS released guidance Friday for producers of transportation fuel hoping to qualify for the newly available clean fuels production tax credit, saying they plan to release rules clarifying which entities qualify for the credit and how producers can determine allowable emissions levels.
-
January 10, 2025
IRS Proposes Rules For Roth Catch-Up Contributions
The Internal Revenue Service floated rules Friday for catch-up contributions made possible by the 2022 retirement law known as Secure 2.0, including the requirement that contributions made by certain participants be designated Roth contributions.
-
January 10, 2025
IRS Finalizes Regulations For Taxing Gifts From Expats
The Internal Revenue Service issued final regulations and guidance Friday for a 2008 tax on gifts and bequests made by current or former U.S. citizens living abroad to U.S. citizens or residents, including through foreign trusts.
-
January 10, 2025
IRS Finalizes Partnership Basis-Shifting Anti-Abuse Rules
The Internal Revenue Service released final rules Friday that target abusive tax avoidance by large partnerships using basis shifting, requiring partnerships to report certain transactions among related members, including transactions that result from tax-free distributions of partnership property.
-
January 10, 2025
IRS OKs New Test For Classifying Digital, Cloud Transactions
Transactions involving digital content and cloud computing will be classified using a new predominant character test, according to final rules issued Friday by the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
-
January 10, 2025
Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Davis Polk, Wachtell
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Constellation acquires Calpine, Cintas seeks a deal with UniFirst Corp., Stryker Corp. acquires Inari Medical Inc., and Paychex Inc. buys Paycor.
-
January 10, 2025
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included finalized rules aimed at simplifying how corporations determine taxable income or loss with respect to certain affiliates that conduct business in a foreign currency.
-
January 10, 2025
Treasury Floats Rules For Commercial Green Vehicle Credits
The U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service proposed rules Friday for obtaining tax credits for commercial green vehicles under provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, suggesting ways for determining the credit amount and identifying which vehicles are eligible.
-
January 10, 2025
Senate Finance Panel To Vet Treasury Nominee Thursday
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing Thursday to consider the nomination of Scott Bessent to serve as the new U.S. Treasury secretary under the incoming administration, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said Friday.
-
January 09, 2025
Suspended Atty Seeks To Avoid Prison Over Payroll Tax Fraud
A suspended Ohio attorney who managed his wife's dental practice and admitted causing a $750,000 tax loss by failing to pay over employment taxes asked a federal court Thursday to spare him a prison sentence, saying he is not the "greedy liar" depicted by federal prosecutors.
-
January 09, 2025
JCT Details TCJA Tax Provisions Scheduled To Expire
A report released Thursday by the Joint Committee on Taxation provided details on the numerous tax provisions implemented under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act scheduled to expire at the end of 2025.
-
January 09, 2025
Warren Presses IRS Pick On Employee Tax Credit Involvement
Sen. Elizabeth Warren pressed President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for internal revenue commissioner Thursday for more information about his promotion of the employee retention tax credit, a pandemic relief measure associated with rampant fraud.
-
January 09, 2025
EisnerAmper Adds Tax Pro As Partner In Dallas
International business adviser EisnerAmper LLC announced it appointed a certified public accountant from Citrin Cooperman Advisors LLC to serve as a tax partner in the firm's private client services group based in Dallas.
-
January 09, 2025
Delaware Law Firms Kick Off New Year With Atty Promotions
As the new year gets underway, numerous Delaware law firms recently announced attorney promotions, including Bayard PA, Morris James LLP, Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP and Gordon Fournaris & Mammarella PA.
-
January 09, 2025
IRS Gets First Dibs On $1M BP Oil Spill Payout, 11th Circ. Says
The IRS gets first priority to a $1 million settlement BP paid to a staffing company that racked up $23 million in federal tax debt and went bankrupt following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed, denying an insurer's claim to the money.
-
January 08, 2025
Ex-FBI Informant Who Smeared Bidens Gets 6 Years
A former FBI informant who falsely told agents that a Ukrainian energy company had paid off President Joe Biden and his son Hunter was sentenced Wednesday in California federal court to six years in prison.
-
January 08, 2025
Pension Plan Official's Estate Excused From Danish Tax Suit
A New York federal court approved Wednesday an agreement for Denmark's tax authority to settle its claims against the estate of a pension plan official whose plan allegedly defrauded the agency out of $9 million.
-
January 08, 2025
Final Treasury Regs Grow Low-Income Bonus Energy Credits
New hydropower, nuclear, solar, geothermal and other nonpolluting energy facilities developed in areas designated as low-income communities are eligible for bonus investment tax credits under final regulations the U.S. Treasury Department unveiled Wednesday.
Expert Analysis
-
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
-
Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
-
What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.
-
How FinCEN Proposal Expands RE Transaction Obligations
Against a regulatory backdrop foreshadowing anti-money laundering efforts in the real estate sector, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's proposed rule significantly expands reporting requirements for certain nonfinanced residential real estate transfers and necessitates careful review, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
-
What To Know About Employee Retention Credit Disclosures
Employers that filed potentially erroneous employee retention credit claims should take certain steps to determine whether the IRS’ voluntary disclosure program is a good fit and, if so, prepare a strong application before the window closes on March 22, say attorneys at Dentons.
-
Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.
-
Unpacking FinCEN's Proposed Real Estate Transaction Rule
Phil Jelsma and Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner take a close look at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recently proposed rulemaking — which mandates new disclosures for professionals involved in all-cash real estate deals — and discuss best next steps for the broad range of businesses that could be affected.
-
Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
-
The Corporate Transparency Act Isn't Dead Yet
After an Alabama federal court's ruling last week rendering the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional, changes to the law may ultimately be required, but ongoing compliance is still the best course of action for most, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.
-
How New EU Tax And Transfer Pricing Rules May Affect M&A
Companies involved in mergers and acquisitions may need to adjust fiscal due diligence procedures to ensure they consider potential far-reaching effects of newly implemented transfer pricing measures, such as newly implemented global minimum tax and European Union anti-tax avoidance directives and proposals, says Patrick Tijhuis at BDO.
-
Employers, Prep For Shorter Stock Awards Settlement Cycle
Companies that provide equity compensation in the form of publicly traded stock will soon have one less day to complete such transactions under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nasdaq rules — so employers should implement expedited equity compensation stock settlement and payroll tax deposit procedures now, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
-
Demystifying IRS' Claims Of $851B Return On Investment
The IRS' recently released analysis, estimating a $851 billion return on the government’s $80 billion investment in the agency, represents a huge increase over its 2022 estimate and that of the Congressional Budget Office and may be best viewed as a best-case scenario, says Joyce Beebe at the Baker Institute.
-
How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.