Federal
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August 15, 2024
IRS Reopens Improper Retention Credit Disclosure Program
Businesses that think they improperly received COVID-era employee retention credits have another chance to apply for a voluntary disclosure program that could reduce their penalty and allow them to avoid future audits, penalties and interest, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday.
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August 15, 2024
Ga. Man Accused Of Trying To Steal $1.9M In COVID Funds
A Georgia man was indicted in a scheme to steal $1.9 million in pandemic relief money and accused of wire fraud, submitting fraudulent federal tax returns and stealing dozens of Social Security numbers, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
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August 15, 2024
IRS Corrects Regs For Digital Asset Brokers, Energy Credits
The Internal Revenue Service issued corrections to three sets of final regulations Thursday, including those related to digital asset brokers and two clean energy tax credit provisions.
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August 14, 2024
Disbarred Atty Admits To Tax Evasion Over Mass Tort Fees
A disbarred attorney pled guilty to a single count of tax evasion Wednesday in Pennsylvania federal court stemming from allegations he didn't pay taxes on more than $100 million in legal fees he earned from representing 4,300 plaintiffs in a mass tort case, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
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August 14, 2024
Tax Court Judge Again Deems CPA's Refund Claim Frivolous
A U.S. Tax Court judge rejected a certified public accountant's calculation that the IRS owed him a nearly $30,000 tax refund, repeating her opinion that the CPA was making frivolous arguments in claiming he owed no taxes on his income.
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August 14, 2024
Medical Device Maker Pleads Guilty To $2.4M Tax Evasion
A man who made millions of dollars on medical devices and sold one purporting to eradicate viruses by using sound waves pled guilty to evading $2.4 million in taxes in a trust scheme involving his girlfriend, according to Florida federal court documents.
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August 14, 2024
DC Tax Relief Can Aid Office Projects, But It's No 'Silver Bullet'
While tax relief programs may help a handful of office conversion projects in Washington, D.C., and make financial sense, much more needs to happen to bring the city's struggling downtown back to life again, real estate experts say.
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August 13, 2024
Hunter Biden Says Corruption Claims Don't Belong In Tax Trial
Hunter Biden has urged a California federal judge to bar a jury weighing his tax charges from hearing any allegations of corruption regarding foreign sources of income for fear it would "insinuate extraneous, politically charged matters" into the trial.
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August 13, 2024
Gov't Seeks To Use Liens To Nab Decades-Old $2.8M Tax Debt
A businessman and his trust face the prospect of losing a New York property as the Internal Revenue Service asked a federal court to set aside conveyances to him of property with IRS tax liens and collect on a $2.8 million tax debt.
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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
Partnerships' Easement Fight Ends As Gov't Drops IRS Notice
An Alabama federal judge dismissed a complaint by dozens of partnerships claiming they shouldn't have to comply with an IRS notice regarding conservation easement transactions, following an Eleventh Circuit ruling upholding the notice as invalid and the government's agreement not to enforce it.
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August 13, 2024
IRS Delays Tax Deadlines In Vermont After Hurricane Debby
Taxpayers in Vermont will be given until Feb. 3 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments after the state was hit by Hurricane Debby, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.
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August 13, 2024
Tax Court Nixes Loss Deduction, But Owners Owe No Penalty
The Internal Revenue Service was right to determine a business created to provide guidance to real estate owners and investors couldn't claim loss deductions because its business had not actually started, the Tax Court said Tuesday, but the owners are not liable for an accuracy-related penalty.
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August 13, 2024
IRS Wrongly Denied Tomato Cos. Deductions, 9th Circ. Told
Two companies that supply 40% of the United States' tomato paste and diced tomatoes told the Ninth Circuit that the U.S. Tax Court erred in keeping the companies from deducting the costs of restoring their production facilities before the actual restoration occurs.
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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.
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August 13, 2024
Tax Court Design Violates US Law, Widow Tells 11th Circ.
The widow of a grocery store butcher fighting a tax liability upheld by the U.S. Tax Court has told the Eleventh Circuit that the decision should be sent back for reconsideration, arguing that a provision restricting the president's power to remove Tax Court judges is unconstitutional.
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August 13, 2024
IRS Announces Sept. Meeting On Advisory Council Report
The Internal Revenue Service's Advisory Council will hold a public meeting on Sept. 5 to discuss a future report from the council, the agency announced Tuesday.
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August 12, 2024
Accused Accounting Prof Is No Tax Expert, NJ Jury Told
New Jersey federal jurors were urged Monday to keep one word at the front of their minds as they listen to the government present its case against an accounting professor accused of failing to report $3.3 million in income from a pharmacy he co-owned with his wife: willful.
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August 12, 2024
Tax Court Tosses Deficiency Challenge Over Validity
The U.S. Tax Court cannot rule on a man's challenge to an Internal Revenue Service deficiency notice because the agency failed to show it correctly mailed the notice, rendering it invalid, and the case must be dismissed, the court said Monday.
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August 12, 2024
UN Eyes Two Early Changes For Tax Pact In Latest Draft
Diplomats would draft two legally binding protocols under the United Nations framework convention on international tax cooperation while creating the convention itself under the latest draft guidance for negotiators after they select from a shortlist of possible topics, including the digital economy and wealth taxation.
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August 12, 2024
IRS Lacks Broad Plan To Replace Old IT Systems, TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service lacks an agency-wide program to identify and then update, replace or retire legacy information technology systems, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported Monday.
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August 12, 2024
Past Tax Ideas Offer Insight Into A Harris-Walz Presidency
An analysis of tax proposals previously put forth by Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats' presumptive nominees for president and vice president, indicates they could pursue a tax agenda geared toward providing tax relief to middle- and lower-income Americans.
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August 12, 2024
FedEx Misreads Chevron Ruling In $85M Tax Dispute, US Says
FedEx wrongly believes the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the Chevron doctrine precludes the U.S. Treasury Department from promulgating regulations to stop tax cheats and prevent FedEx from claiming $84.6 million in tax credits, the U.S. government told a Tennessee federal court.
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August 12, 2024
Judge OKs IRS To Review Bank Docs Of Exec In Bitcoin Probe
The Internal Revenue Service can review the sequestered bank records of a cryptocurrency executive charged in a 2020 bitcoin fraud investigation, a Texas federal judge ruled, finding the agency had properly notified the executive and his company of summonses it had issued to their banks.
Expert Analysis
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Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Preserving Payment Rights
Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions that together illustrate the importance of keeping accurate records and adhering to contractual procedures to avoid inadvertently waiving contractual rights to cost reimbursements or nonroutine payments.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step
From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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After Jarkesy, IRS Must Course-Correct On Captive Insurance
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision has profound implications for other agencies, including the IRS, which must stop ignoring due process and curtailing congressional intent in its policing of captive insurance arrangements, says Peter Dawson at the 831(b) Institute.
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Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity
The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.
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Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
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Reading Between The Lines Of Justices' Moore Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Moore v. U.S. decision, that the Internal Revenue Code Section 965 did not violate the 16th Amendment, was narrowly tailored to minimally disrupt existing tax regimes, but the justices' various opinions leave the door open to future tax challenges and provide clues for what the battles may look like, say Caroline Ngo and Le Chen at McDermott.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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After Chevron: Uniform Tax Law Interpretation Not Guaranteed
The loss of Chevron deference will significantly alter the relationship between the IRS, courts and Congress when it comes to tax law, potentially precipitating more transparent rulemaking, but also provoking greater uncertainty due to variability in judicial interpretation, say Michelle Levin and Carneil Wilson at Dentons.
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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 High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.