Federal
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November 20, 2024
IRS Should Tout Funding Boost Benefits, Advisory Panel Says
The Internal Revenue Service needs to appeal to taxpayers by communicating the benefits of the funding boost the agency received under the 2022 tax and climate law, the IRS Advisory Council said in a report released Wednesday.
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November 19, 2024
Former GOP Tax Chair Urges TCJA Permanence In 2025
Making permanent the provisions of the 2017 tax overhaul that are set to expire at the end of 2025 would provide certainty for businesses and individuals and encourage investment and expansion, former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady said Tuesday.
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November 19, 2024
12 House Dems Call For Flexible Hydrogen Tax Credit Rules
Twelve Democratic U.S. House members asked the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Tuesday to provide more lax requirements for the clean hydrogen production tax credit than what the agency has proposed.
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November 19, 2024
Group Of Local Gov'ts Asks For Clarity On Energy Credits
A coalition of local government agencies called on the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS in a letter released Tuesday to clarify that tax-exempt entities undertaking projects that qualify for certain energy credits are able to choose elective payments for certain costs.
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November 19, 2024
'Survivor' Winner Needs To Pay $3.3M Tax Bill, Judge Advises
The winner of the "Survivor" television series who evaded taxes on his $1 million in prize money and served time in prison should pay $3.3 million of his civil liabilities, including fraud penalties, a federal magistrate judge said.
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November 19, 2024
Payments To Ex-Wife Clearly Tax-Deductible, 11th Circ. Told
A Georgia man claiming payments he must make to his ex-wife as part of a marital settlement are alimony and therefore tax-deductible reaffirmed his argument to the Eleventh Circuit, saying the court can clearly answer two questions in his favor.
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November 19, 2024
Liberty Global Tax Break Based On Void Moves, 10th Circ. Told
The economic substance doctrine is broad and can invalidate telecommunications company Liberty Global's transaction that led to a $2.4 billion deduction because steps taken to maximize the tax break lacked business purpose, a government attorney told the Tenth Circuit on Tuesday.
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November 19, 2024
IRS Can Extend Deadline Over Preparer's Fraud, 3rd Circ. Told
The Third Circuit should affirm a U.S. Tax Court ruling allowing the Internal Revenue Service to skirt the normal deadlines and assess taxes going back to 1993 against a couple who were unaware that their tax preparer had falsified their returns to lower their liabilities, the government said.
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November 19, 2024
Treasury Finalizes Partnership Tax Credit 'Direct Pay' Regs
The U.S. Treasury Department finalized regulations Tuesday to make it easier for tax-exempt entities that co-own development projects to qualify for a direct cash payment of clean energy tax credits by electing out of their partnership tax status.
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November 18, 2024
Tax Court Won't Reverse On Foreign Reporting Penalties
The U.S. Tax Court affirmed Monday its position that the IRS lacks authority to assess certain foreign information reporting penalties, denying the agency's request to reverse a ruling that let a Missouri businessowner off the hook for $120,000.
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November 18, 2024
Nursing Home Owner Pleads Guilty A 2nd Time To Tax Fraud
A nursing home operator pled guilty for the second time in Newark federal court on Monday to a $38.9 million employment tax fraud scheme involving care centers he owned across the country.
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November 18, 2024
Countries Eye Certain Tax Credits To Get Leg Up Under Pillar 2
The international minimum tax agreement known as Pillar Two is changing how countries compete for corporate investment, in part by prompting some governments to retool their tax credit systems in ways that could edge out jurisdictions with fewer resources.
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November 18, 2024
IRS Must Speed Up Adoption Of AI Governance, TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service has nearly 70 artificial intelligence tools in use or in development, but the agency needs speed up its development of governance procedures to make sure AI is being used safely and securely, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Monday.
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November 18, 2024
IRS Sinks Arizona's Challenge To Federal Tax On Rebates
A federal judge dismissed Arizona's challenge to the Internal Revenue Service's position that rebates the state paid to taxpayers with dependents in 2023 were subject to federal tax, saying the state lacked standing to bring the case.
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November 18, 2024
Stradley Ronon Adds Tax Pro From Perkins Coie In Chicago
Pennsylvania-based firm Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP has added a tax partner to its Chicago office who spent more than two decades with Perkins Coie LLP, the firm announced Monday.
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November 18, 2024
6th Circ. Pauses IRS Summons For Eaton Worker Docs
The Sixth Circuit said Eaton Corp. doesn't have to comply with an IRS demand to produce performance reviews for its foreign employees until the appellate court decides whether to overturn a decision that the agency's transfer pricing investigation of the multinational power management company outweighed worker privacy concerns.
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November 18, 2024
Tobacco Co. Asks Justices To Review Ore. Out-Of-State Tax
Actions in Oregon by the wholesale customers of an out-of-state tobacco company do not invalidate the protections in federal law against state taxation, the company told the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking review of an Oregon Supreme Court decision.
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November 18, 2024
Loan Provider Owed $34M In Retention Credits, Court Told
A mortgage loan company based in New York asked a federal court to award it more than $34 million in pandemic-era employee retention tax credits, saying the Internal Revenue Service has failed to respond to three separate claims for the credits.
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November 18, 2024
Intuit's GC-Turned-People Chief Sees Comp Reach $15.8M
An executive who helps oversee financial software company Intuit's workforce and formerly served as its general counsel earned roughly $15.8 million in compensation for fiscal year 2024, most of that from stock awards, a public filing says.
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November 18, 2024
Allen Matkins Adds Stradley Ronon Tax Co-Chair In NY
Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP has continued growing its New York office with the addition of the co-chair of Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP's tax department, the firm said Monday.
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November 18, 2024
11th Circ. Shelves Peanut Truck Co.'s Excise Tax Refund
The Eleventh Circuit has overturned a decision awarding an excise tax refund to a manufacturer for selling wagons that dry and carry peanuts, saying the refund is reserved for vehicles that are specially designed for off-highway transportation — a test the peanut wagons failed.
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November 18, 2024
Tax Interest Rates To Drop In First Quarter Of 2025
The Internal Revenue Service's interest rates for overpayments and underpayments of tax will drop in the first quarter of 2025, the agency said Monday.
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November 15, 2024
The Tax Angle: TCJA Debate, S Corp. Compliance
From a look at congressional lawmakers ramping up their debate over the expiration of the GOP's 2017 tax overhaul law to the IRS' plans to provide more oversight for pass-through businesses and S corporations, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few of the week's developing tax stories.
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November 15, 2024
Poor Counsel Led To Unjust Tax Convictions, Justices Told
A North Carolina actuary asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fourth Circuit decision denying his bid to reverse his 2016 tax fraud convictions, saying the ruling was based on bad decisions made by his then-trial counsel.
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November 15, 2024
Man Gets 6 Years For Tax Evasion With Watches, Casino Chips
A former New Jersey businessman was sentenced to more than six years in prison and ordered to pay roughly $10.3 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service after being convicted of evading taxes using ploys involving luxury watches and casino chips.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
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A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.
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Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.
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Tracking Implementation Of IRA Programs As Election Nears
As the Biden administration races to cement key regulations implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, a number of the law's programs and incentives are at risk of delay or repeal if Republicans retake control of Congress, the White House or both — so stakeholders should closely watch ongoing IRA implementation and guidance, say attorneys at Squire Patton.
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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.