Federal
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June 07, 2024
IRS Lists Shuttered Coal Areas For Energy Bonus Credits
The Internal Revenue Service on Friday issued updated lists of areas, including closed coal mines and factories, where developers can qualify for additional tax credits for building their clean energy projects.
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June 07, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service issued its weekly bulletin Friday, which included proposed foreign trust transaction reporting requirements.
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June 06, 2024
Medtronic Urges 8th Circ. To Back Its Transfer Pricing Method
Medical device maker Medtronic reiterated Thursday its bid for the Eighth Circuit to revive its method for pricing intangible property that was licensed to a Puerto Rican affiliate, arguing the government's concessions show why the company's approach is more reliable.
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June 06, 2024
9th Circ. Denies Trust Refund Of Money Forfeited To IRS
A trust lost its ownership claims to property when an Idaho federal court determined the property had been transferred to the trust fraudulently, the Ninth Circuit said Thursday, affirming a decision to deny a $225,000 tax refund.
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June 06, 2024
Estate Entitled To Deduct Payouts To Stepkids, 11th Circ. Told
The U.S. Tax Court wrongly denied deductions to a former attorney's $81 million estate for million-dollar payouts it made to his stepchildren after they sued, the estate told the Eleventh Circuit, saying the payments satisfied legitimate claims against the estate and were therefore deductible.
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June 06, 2024
Tax Court Upholds Rejection Of Man's Biz Deductions
A Floridian failed to adequately back up certain business loss deduction claims made on his tax return, the U.S. Tax Court said Thursday, backing the IRS' rejection of the claims and imposition of an accuracy-related penalty.
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June 06, 2024
'Brothel' Manager Violated Bail After $5.7M Sting, Feds Say
A manager and bookkeeper facing federal charges connected to a COVID-19 grant and tax fraud scheme at a Connecticut strip club violated his bail conditions by showing up at the facility and "hanging out" with a potential witness, federal probation authorities have alleged.
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June 06, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Revive Org's Push To Restore Nonprofit Status
The U.S. Tax Court's dismissal of an attempt to reinstate nonprofit status for a California organization that said its officers fell victim to a Ponzi scheme did not breach the group's constitutional rights, the Ninth Circuit said.
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June 06, 2024
Ex-IRS Worker Indicted In $2M Exxon Credit Theft Scheme
A former Internal Revenue Service employee used his account management job at the agency to steal more than $2 million worth of tax credits from Exxon Mobil and pocket the money, according to a Utah federal grand jury indictment.
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June 06, 2024
Fox Rothschild Brings On Tax Pro From Atlanta Boutique
Fox Rothschild LLP has added an attorney in Atlanta from tax law boutique Wiggam Law to strengthen the firm's taxation and wealth planning department.
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June 06, 2024
IRS Needs Strategy For 2.6M Tax Doc Backlog, TIGTA Says
Not only does the Internal Revenue Service have a document backlog exceeding 2.6 million source documents that need to be associated with a specific form, but it also has been making significant mistakes in reporting closures, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a report released Thursday.
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June 06, 2024
Justices Affirm Taxing Of Estate On Insurance Payout
The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed on Thursday a decision denying a tax refund to the estate of an owner of a building materials company that used a payout from his $3.5 million life insurance policy to purchase his shares in the business.
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June 05, 2024
CohnReznick Scores Quick Exit In Tax Scheme Suit
A New York federal judge agreed to toss a housing partnership's suit accusing accounting firm CohnReznick LLP of professional negligence and fraud, finding that the district court doesn't have jurisdiction over the dispute.
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June 05, 2024
IRS Must Better Log AI Use In Tax Gap Estimates, GAO Says
The Internal Revenue Service needs to complete documentation on its use of artificial intelligence models as part of a plan to improve its tax gap estimates, the Government Accountability Office said Wednesday.
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June 05, 2024
Californian Failed To Report Missing Income, Tax Court Says
A California woman's contention that she should not be accountable for a deficiency in her 2021 tax filing due to what she said was an error by her accountant doesn't stand up under scrutiny, the U.S. Tax Court said Wednesday.
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June 05, 2024
Some Payments After Train Derailed Aren't Taxable, IRS Says
Certain payments from Norfolk Southern Corp. to victims of its freight train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, are considered disaster relief payments and are therefore not taxable, the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.
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June 05, 2024
House Panel Tees Up $2B In IRS Cuts For Full Committee Vote
A House Appropriations subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday that would reduce Internal Revenue Service funding for fiscal 2025 by over $2 billion and prohibit money from going to the agency's free online tax-filing program without congressional approval.
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June 05, 2024
Win May Embolden IRS Use Of Economic Substance Doctrine
The IRS' successful wielding of the economic substance doctrine to characterize multinational telecommunications corporation Liberty Global's sophisticated set of intercompany deals as an abusive tax shelter could encourage the agency to apply similar analysis to even the most basic tax transactions.
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June 05, 2024
IRS Presses Justices To Weigh In On Tax Challenge Deadline
The IRS urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a Third Circuit decision finding the U.S. Tax Court's 90-day deadline for challenging tax bills is not set in stone, arguing the couple defending the ruling are wrongly relying on a 2022 high court decision.
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June 05, 2024
Billionaire's 'Naive' Stock-Trading Pilot Asks For No Prison
A private pilot for U.K. billionaire Joe Lewis is asking for no prison time after pleading guilty to insider trading on stock tips provided by his boss, arguing that he has otherwise lived a law-abiding life and is less culpable than many white-collar defendants who've come through the Manhattan federal court.
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June 05, 2024
Taxpayer Advocacy Committee Meeting Moved Up
The Internal Revenue Service moved up an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel's Notices and Correspondence Project Committee to June 18, it said Wednesday.
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June 04, 2024
Full DC Circ. Asked To Weigh Foreign Info Disclosure Penalties
A D.C. Circuit panel made questionable assumptions about congressional intent when it revived the IRS' authority to assess and administratively collect penalties related to undisclosed foreign corporations, a businessman said Tuesday in asking the full appellate court to hear his case.
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June 04, 2024
Sen. Leaders Press Biden's Tax Court Nominees On Fairness
Senate Finance Committee leaders pressed President Joe Biden's three new judicial nominees for the U.S. Tax Court to explain Tuesday how they would extend fair treatment to taxpayers if they are confirmed.
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June 04, 2024
Aflac Matriarch's Estate Owes $1.9M Penalty, Tax Court Told
The Internal Revenue Service is seeking an additional accuracy penalty of over $1.9 million from the estate of the matriarch of the family that founded Aflac, according to a filing in the U.S. Tax Court.
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June 04, 2024
Tax Law Firm Can't Kick Ex-Clients' Class Suit To Arbitration
Former clients of a Florida-based tax law firm who live in Wisconsin can move forward with their proposed class action accusing the firm of malpractice and charging illegal fees, a Wisconsin federal judge ruled Tuesday, rejecting the firm's requests to toss the suit or move it to arbitration.
Expert Analysis
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Issues And Opportunities In Hydrogen Fuel Cell Development
A variety of tax incentives, funding opportunities and state programs have the potential to provide value across the hydrogen fuel cell business chain and alleviate existing hurdles, establishing a stronger business case for the continued development of hydrogen infrastructure, says Pamela Wu at Morgan Lewis.
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IRS Green Energy Tax Credit Notice Provides Needed Clarity
Recent IRS guidance clarifying how the government will determine energy community locations for purposes of bonus clean energy tax credits should help resolve risk allocation disagreements among financing parties and parties to merger and acquisition transactions, say Casey August and Paul Gordon at Morgan Lewis.
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SVB Collapse Highlights Ch. 11 Issues With Bank Holding Cos.
Amid recent banking turmoil, including Silicon Valley Bank's collapse and subsequent Chapter 11 filing of its parent company, distressed debt investors and board members must understand the distinct rules in bank holding company bankruptcies, including Bankruptcy Code provisions granting significant advantages to federal regulatory agencies like the FDIC, say attorneys at Skadden.
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9th Circ. Ruling Legitimizes Classwide Injury In Predominance
The Ninth Circuit's recent ruling that vacated class certification in Van v. LLR makes clear that the question of injury is highly relevant to the predominance analysis, and underscores the importance of making a persuasive argument that injury is individualized within the class, say attorneys at Skadden.
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IRS' Cost Method Update Is Favorable For RE Developers
The Internal Revenue Service's recent update to its alternative cost method will allow real estate developers to accelerate their cost recovery of improvements in certain circumstances and make it easier for practitioners to satisfy the method's tax compliance requirements, says Benjamin Oklan at Weil.
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The Key Issues Keeping Transfer Pricing A Top Tax Concern
Several challenges preventing a global economic reemergence from the pandemic era are making practitioners reevaluate commonly used transfer pricing models, and embrace new technologies and ways of doing business, say Farnaz Amini and Sophia Castro Jurado at Marcum.
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Cannabis Cos. Must Heed Growing Federal Investigatory Risks
As state-regulated cannabis markets expand rapidly, so too does government oversight, and industry participants must plan ahead to avoid potential liabilities related to workplace health and safety requirements, tax audits, securities regulations and foreign bribery laws, say Alicia Corona and Amy Rubenstein at Dentons.
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5 Ways Taxpayers Can Spot Employee Retention Credit Scams
On Monday, the Internal Revenue Service added the employee retention credit to its list of prevalent tax scams because of ERC promoters seeking to take advantage of employers, but taxpayers who may qualify for the credit can protect themselves by recognizing certain red flags, say attorneys at Potomac Law and Stout Risius.
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Could The Supreme Court Legalize Marijuana Federally?
Amid slow legislative and executive movement on cannabis reform, it’s worth examining whether the U.S. Supreme Court could provide a pathway to federal cannabis legalization — a decision that would surely require strange bedfellows given the court’s current ideological makeup, say Whitt Steineker and Mason Kruse at Bradley Arant.
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Tax Pitfalls To Avoid In Employment Litigation Settlements
Downsizing companies should keep certain questions in mind when settling claims with departing employees to ensure they understand associated tax withholding and reporting obligations, and avoid costly interest and penalties down the road, says Matthew Meltzer at Flaster Greenberg.
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Key Considerations For Taxpayers Deducting Crypto Losses
While a recent Internal Revenue Service memorandum is helpful in providing insight into how the agency is considering guidance related to cryptocurrency, questions remain with respect to whether a taxpayer can claim a tax deduction for cryptocurrency losses, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Justices' MoneyGram Opinion Could Spur State Legislation
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision that federal law governs the escheatment of over $250 million in unclaimed MoneyGram checks provides clarity for some issuers, but aspects of related common law remain uncertain and states may take the opportunity to pass multistate escheatment legislation, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Justices Leave Questions Open On Dual-Purpose Atty Advice
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury on grounds that certiorari was improvidently granted leaves unresolved a circuit split over the proper test for deciding when attorney-client privilege protects a lawyer's advice that has multiple purposes, say Susan Combs and Richard Kiely at Holland & Hart.