Federal
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December 12, 2024
IRS Seeks Feedback On Limits In Previous Taxed Profit Rules
The Internal Revenue Service will consider whether rules included in recently proposed guidance on previously taxed earnings and profits to limit instances where U.S. multinationals may use basis to offset gain are too restrictive, an official said Thursday.
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December 12, 2024
IRS Chief Makes Case To Restore $20B Funding Shortfall
Congress should reverse a $20 billion IRS funding gap in a year-end budget bill to help the agency modernize its technology, improve customer service and collect unpaid taxes from wealthy businesses and individuals, Internal Revenue Commissioner Daniel Werfel said Thursday.
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December 12, 2024
2nd Circ. Won't Rethink Dual Citizen's FBAR Penalties
The Second Circuit will not review its September decision finding that a dual U.S.-French citizen is liable for tax penalties for failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts, the court said Thursday.
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December 12, 2024
IRS Expands Business Tax Account Program To Corp. Leaders
The Internal Revenue Service's business tax account online self-service tool is now available to C corporations, while the agency is opening access to the program to certain officers of both C and S corporations, the agency said Thursday.
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December 12, 2024
IRS Hopes To Issue Amount B Pricing Guidance Within Weeks
Treasury is working to finish its guidance on the simplified transfer pricing approach to baseline marketing and distribution known as Amount B by the end of the year, a U.S. official said Thursday.
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December 12, 2024
Ex-FBI Informant Admits To False Accusations In Biden Case
A former FBI informant accused of making fake criminal accusations against President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, will plead guilty to tax evasion and falsifying records in a federal investigation, according to a deal filed Thursday in a California federal court.
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December 12, 2024
Treasury Seeks To Pause Anti-Laundering Law Injunction
The U.S. Treasury Department asked a Texas federal judge to pause his nationwide preliminary injunction of the Corporate Transparency Act pending an appeal of his recent decision that found Congress likely overstepped its constitutional authority when it wrote the anti-money laundering law.
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December 12, 2024
IRS Electronic Tax Committee To Meet In January
The Internal Revenue Service's Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee will hold its next meeting Jan. 8, the agency said Thursday.
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December 11, 2024
Bloomberg Entitled To Use $4B In Receipts For Deductions
Bloomberg incorrectly allocated gross receipts between software and services related to access to the Bloomberg Terminal, its interactive financial analysis product, but the company ultimately had $4.1 billion in gross receipts that could be used to calculate a deduction for domestic production from 2008 to 2010, the U.S. Tax Court found Wednesday.
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December 11, 2024
Temp Agency Owner Gets Prison For $2M Tax Scheme
A temp agency owner was sentenced to a year and a day in prison after pleading guilty in Massachusetts federal court to paying employees under-the-table wages to avoid $2.1 million in taxes.
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December 11, 2024
Tax Preparers Fabricated Expenses, US Says
Two tax preparers and their company should be barred from owning or operating tax preparation services because they fabricated business income and expenses for clients, the federal government told a Texas federal court.
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December 11, 2024
Exxon Tax Ruling Doesn't Help Liberty Global, 10th Circ. Told
Liberty Global cannot use a recent ruling that allowed Exxon Mobil a tax deduction for interest payments to claim a deduction for dividends that arose from its intragroup shuffling of a Belgian affiliate, the U.S. government told the Tenth Circuit on Wednesday.
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December 11, 2024
Beyoncé Fends Off Most Of $3M Tax Bill In Deal With IRS
Pop star Beyoncé owes only about $700 of what the IRS had claimed was $3 million in outstanding taxes and penalties, according to a U.S. Tax Court ruling Wednesday that approved a settlement between the star and the agency.
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December 11, 2024
17M Won't Benefit From Full Child Tax Credit, Report Says
Roughly 17 million children under 17 — or roughly a quarter of all U.S. children — will live in families that cannot claim the full child tax credit in 2025 because they make too little, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center said in a report.
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December 11, 2024
Judge Orders Home Sale To Pay Down $1.7M Tax Debt
A California federal judge ordered the private sale of a deceased couple's home to pay down a $700,000 tax bill that has been accruing interest for 20 years and now stands at roughly $1.7 million.
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December 10, 2024
FinCEN Says CTA Still Constitutional In Post-Injunction Alert
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has alerted companies that they do not currently need to file so-called beneficial ownership information with the agency after a federal judge's nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Corporate Transparency Act, though the bureau maintained that the law calling for such information is constitutional.
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December 10, 2024
Morgan Lewis Gets DLA Piper Tax Pro With DOJ Experience
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP announced that it has added to its Boston office a tax attorney from DLA Piper who served as an appellate attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division.
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December 10, 2024
Biz Owner In $2.8M Worker Tax Scheme Gets 18 Months
A construction company owner who failed to pay $2.8 million in employment taxes by falsely claiming his workers were subcontractors was sentenced to 18 months in prison Tuesday and ordered to pay full restitution, according to Massachusetts federal court documents.
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December 10, 2024
FBAR Default Against Widow Should Be Vacated, Judge Says
A New York federal magistrate judge recommended vacating a default judgment against a widow, which would give her a second chance to defend her dead husband's estate against U.S. government claims that it owes $275,000 for his failure to report his account at an Indian bank.
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December 10, 2024
Tax Court Nixes Overpayment Refunds In Tolling Row
A Florida man was correctly denied a pair of tax overpayment refunds that totaled roughly $88,000 because the statutes covering his claims are not governed by equitable tolling rules, the U.S. Tax Court said Tuesday.
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December 10, 2024
9th Circ. Nixes Tax Deductions For Disbarred Calif. Attorney
A California attorney who fought with his neighbors in court cannot take business deductions for the cost of challenging his disbarment and a court's declaration that he is a "vexatious litigant," the Ninth Circuit said Tuesday, upholding a ruling from the U.S. Tax Court.
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December 10, 2024
Exxon's Tax Win Sets Path For Liberty Global, 10th Circ. Told
A ruling allowing Exxon Mobil a U.S. tax deduction for interest expenses in its natural gas deal with Qatar confirms that Liberty Global is entitled to a deduction related to its sale of a Belgian affiliate, an attorney for the telecommunications company told the Tenth Circuit.
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December 10, 2024
Soft Landing For Pilot As Billionaire's Insider Case Wraps
A pilot who admitted to dodging taxes on $500,000 in income after he was accused of taking stock tips from Joe Lewis, his billionaire boss, avoided prison on Tuesday at a sentencing that closed a high-profile insider trading prosecution.
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December 10, 2024
Treasury Finalizes Simplified Foreign Currency Rules
The U.S. Treasury Department finalized regulations Tuesday that aim to simplify aspects of how corporations determine taxable income or loss with respect to certain affiliates that conduct business in a foreign currency.
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December 09, 2024
10th Circ. Affirms Nix Of Atty's Racing Expense Deductions
The Tenth Circuit affirmed Monday the U.S. Tax Court's determination that a Denver personal injury lawyer shouldn't be allowed to deduct about $300,000 for his car racing-related costs as advertising, despite his claims that his races helped him drum up business.
Expert Analysis
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.
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Takeaways From Justices' Redemption Insurance Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Connelly v. U.S. examines how to determine the fair market value of shares in a closely held company for estate tax purposes, and clarifies how life insurance held by the company to enable redemption of a decedent’s shares affects that calculation, says Evelyn Haralampu at Burns & Levinson.
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6 Tips For Maximizing After-Tax Returns In Private M&A Deals
With potential tax legislation likely to spur a surge in private business sales, sellers can make the most of after-tax proceeds with strategies that include price allocation and qualified investment options, say Isaac Grossman and Daniel Studin at Morrison Cohen.
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After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1
The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.
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Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers
BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.
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What DOL Fiduciary Rule Means For Private Fund Managers
Attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss how the U.S. Department of Labor's recently released final fiduciary rule, which revises the agency's 1975 regulation, could potentially cause private fund managers' current marketing practices and communications to be considered fiduciary advice, and therefore subject them to strict prohibitions.
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Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence
As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Navigating New Safe Harbor For Domestic Content Tax Credits
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s recent notice simplifying domestic content calculations for certain solar, onshore wind and battery storage projects, which directly acknowledges the difficulty for taxpayers in gathering data to support a domestic content analysis, should make it easier to qualify additional domestic content bonus tax credits, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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'Energy Communities' Update May Clarify Tax Credit Eligibility
A recent IRS notice that includes updated lists of locations where clean energy projects can qualify for additional tax credits — based 2023 unemployment data and placed-in-service dates — should help provide clarity regarding project eligibility that sponsors and developers need, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.