Federal
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August 05, 2024
Pension Plan Testimony Barred In $2B Danish Tax Fraud Case
U.S. pension plans have proposed irrelevant expert testimony in response to allegations of their participation in a $2.1 billion Danish tax fraud scheme, a New York federal judge ruled in excluding the testimony but leaving room to try again.
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August 05, 2024
Dems Unearth Another Thomas Trip Paid For By Harlan Crow
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas took a previously undisclosed trip between Hawaii and New Zealand on a billionaire Republican donor's private jet in 2010, lawmakers revealed in a letter Monday that offered the donor a "final opportunity" to explain how that trip and others don't constitute a tax fraud scheme.
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August 05, 2024
Chamber Asking 4th Circ. To Revive Md. Digital Ad Tax Fight
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups are seeking Fourth Circuit review of a federal district court decision throwing out their First Amendment complaint against Maryland's digital advertising tax, the groups told the lower court.
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August 05, 2024
3 Changes To IRS Direct File On Stakeholders' Wish Lists
Organizations that partnered with the IRS or states on the free online tax filing system known as Direct File are seeking improvements in the program's second year, including allowing taxpayers to transfer more data from federal returns to state returns and enhancements for Spanish speakers. Here, Law360 looks at three changes sought by stakeholders.
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August 05, 2024
IRS Announces 2024 Senior Executive Review Board Members
The Internal Revenue Service on Monday named the 99 employees who will make up the standing roster of its fiscal year 2024 Senior Executive Service Performance Review Boards.
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August 02, 2024
IRS Wrongly Attacking Installment Method Deals, Court Told
The Internal Revenue Service mischaracterized installment sales as potentially abusive tax shelters in last year's rule proposing additional reporting requirements for such deals, an Idaho capital assets dealer told a federal district court.
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August 02, 2024
St. Louis Attys Can't Get Acquittal In $4M Tax Avoidance Case
Two Missouri-based attorneys, a father and daughter duo found guilty of participating in a $4 million tax avoidance scheme, will not be granted a new trial or an acquittal, despite their assertions that a number of errors tainted their trial, a North Carolina federal judge ruled Friday.
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August 02, 2024
Ex-Loeb Tax Atty Latest Addition To Kilpatrick's NY Team
A former Loeb & Loeb LLP attorney is bringing his experience in U.S. federal tax matters and real estate transactions to Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, the firm announced Thursday.
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August 02, 2024
Sister-In-Law Ordered To Testify In Hunter Biden Tax Case
A California federal judge ordered Hunter Biden's sister-in-law, with whom he was romantically involved, and her sister to testify at his upcoming criminal trial in which he is accused of scheming to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes.
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August 02, 2024
Calls To Taxpayer Advocates Go To Voicemail, TIGTA Says
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration called all 76 local Taxpayer Advocate Service phone lines to test their availability and only had calls answered twice, it said Friday, calling on the service to improve its monitoring of the lines.
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August 02, 2024
Treasury Faces Complicated Path For Amount B Pricing Rules
The U.S. Treasury Department signaled it is considering how to enact the OECD's routine pricing plan known as Amount B, but U.S. tax attorneys expect a complicated compliance exercise if rulemakers establish the new transfer pricing approach.
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August 02, 2024
Coca-Cola Poised To Appeal $2.7B Tax Bill With 11th Circ.
The U.S. Tax Court signed off Friday on Coca-Cola's $2.7 billion tax bill, setting the stage for the beverage giant to appeal the liabilities and related rulings in its long-running dispute over the IRS' reallocation of the company's foreign income.
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August 02, 2024
IRS Tells Tax Court AbbVie's $1.6B Break Fee Is A Capital Loss
The Internal Revenue Service correctly reclassified AbbVie's $1.6 billion break fee to an Irish biotechnology company as a capital loss, the agency told the U.S. Tax Court, arguing that the failed merger is tantamount to disposing of property.
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August 02, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Sullivan, Dechert, Kirkland
In this week's Taxation With Representation, BNP Parabis SA acquires an investment management subsidiary for €5.1 billion, Cleveland accounting firm CBIZ merges with competitor Marcum for $2.3 billion, and Arcosa Inc. inks a deal with a family-owned construction materials business for $1.2 billion.
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August 02, 2024
Liberty Global's $110M Tax Refund Kosher, 10th Circ. Told
The IRS is trying to block Liberty Global's bid for a $110 million tax refund by improperly using a legal doctrine requiring transactions to have economic substance, the telecommunications giant told the Tenth Circuit, arguing it was allowed to make tax-driven choices in the transactions at issue.
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August 02, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, includes finalized regulations that govern the quarterly reporting of a new excise tax that pharmaceutical companies, suppliers and importers must pay when they do not negotiate with Medicare over drug prices.
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August 01, 2024
Feds Want Full Sentence Kept In Fla. Illegal Employment Case
The U.S. urged a Florida federal court on Thursday to uphold the three-year prison sentence of a labor staffing company operator convicted in a conspiracy to hire migrants not authorized to work in the U.S., saying he's ineligible for a reduction because of his admitted role in the scheme.
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August 01, 2024
Divided Tax Court Says Treaty Bars Collections Hearing
A divided U.S. Tax Court ruled Thursday that it lacked authority to review an Internal Revenue Service decision preventing a woman from challenging a federal tax lien the agency issued on behalf of the Canadian government to secure her tax debt to that country.
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August 01, 2024
TIGTA Says IRS Cybersecurity Program Still Not Fully Effective
The Internal Revenue Service's cybersecurity program continues to not meet federal standards, potentially leaving taxpayer data vulnerable to inappropriate and undetected use, modification or disclosure, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Thursday.
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August 01, 2024
Coca-Cola, IRS Enter $2.7B Tax Bill In Transfer Pricing Dispute
Coca-Cola and the IRS submitted tax liability calculations totaling $2.73 billion to the U.S. Tax Court, reflecting the latest step in the company's long-running transfer pricing dispute over the agency's reallocation of the company's foreign affiliate income.
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August 01, 2024
Calif. Couple Ordered To Pay $1.5M Tax Bill
A California couple must pay more than $1.5 million for three years' worth of unpaid tax liabilities, plus interest and any other additions, a federal district court ruled Thursday.
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August 01, 2024
Direct File Will Be Available In New Mexico, IRS Announces
New Mexico will participate in the Internal Revenue Service's free electronic tax return filing program known as Direct File in the 2025 tax filing season, the agency and the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Thursday.
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August 01, 2024
Airbnb's $1.3B Bill From IRS Overvalues IP, Tax Court Told
Airbnb is challenging a $1.3 billion tax bill tied to income the IRS allocated from overseas, telling the U.S. Tax Court the agency overvalued intellectual property the home-rental giant licensed to its Irish affiliate before going public.
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August 01, 2024
Senate GOP Blocks House-Passed Tax Break Bill
Republicans on Thursday blocked the Senate from considering a bipartisan tax bill negotiated by the chairmen of the House and Senate's tax-writing committees that would extend the full tax break for research and development costs and expand the child tax credit for multiple years.
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August 01, 2024
Court Won't Stop FTC Judges In H&R Block False Ad Fight
The Federal Trade Commission can proceed with its hearing against H&R Block accusing the tax preparation firm of false advertising, a Missouri federal judge ruled Thursday, rejecting the company's argument that the agency's administrative law judges lack constitutional authority to preside.
Expert Analysis
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BF Borgers Clients Should Review Compliance, Liability
After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently announced enforcement proceedings against audit firm BF Borgers for fabricating audit documentation for hundreds of public companies, those companies will need to follow special procedures for disclosure and reporting — and may need to prepare for litigation from the plaintiffs bar, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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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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What Updated PLR Procedure May Mean For Stock Spin-Offs
A recently published Internal Revenue Service revenue procedure departs from commonly understood interpretations of the spinoff rules by imposing more stringent standards on companies seeking private letter rulings regarding tax-free stock spinoff and split-off transactions, and may presage regulatory changes that would have the force of law, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Proposed Cannabis Reschedule Sidesteps State Law Effects
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent proposal to move cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act provides certain benefits, but its failure to address how the rescheduling would interact with existing state cannabis laws disappointed industry participants hoping for clarity on this crucial question, says Ian Stewart at Wilson Elser.
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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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Geothermal Energy Has Growing Potential In The US
Bipartisan support for the geothermal industry shows that geothermal energy can be an elegant solution toward global decarbonization efforts because of its small footprint, low supply chain risk, and potential to draw on the skills of existing highly specialized oil and gas workers and renewable specialists, say attorneys at Weil.
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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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Trump Hush Money Case Offers Master Class In Trial Strategy
The New York criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump typifies some of the greatest challenges that lawyers face in crafting persuasive presentations, providing lessons on how to handle bad facts, craft a simple story that withstands attack, and cross-examine with that story in mind, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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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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State-Regulated Cannabis Can Thrive Without Section 280E
Marijauna's reclassification as a Schedule III-controlled substance comes at a critical juncture, as removing marijuana from being subjected to Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code is the only path forward for the state-regulated cannabis industry to survive and thrive, say Andrew Kline at Perkins Coie and Sammy Markland at FTI Consulting.
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Asset Manager Exemption Shifts May Prove Too Burdensome
The U.S. Department of Labor’s recent change to a prohibited transaction exemption used by retirement plan asset managers introduces a host of new costs, burdens and risks to investment firms, from registration requirements to new transition periods, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.