Federal

  • December 20, 2024

    SEC Fines Entergy $12M Over Alleged Accounting Errors

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday announced a $12 million settlement with Entergy Corp. over claims that the company failed to properly account for what may have been hundreds of millions of dollars in unusable or surplus equipment.

  • December 20, 2024

    Utah Judge Pauses Challenge To Corporate Transparency Act

    A Utah federal judge has stayed a case seeking to block the Corporate Transparency Act to see how the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump handles the law after a kindred case in Texas won a preliminary injunction on it.

  • December 20, 2024

    Baker McKenzie Names 18 New Partners In North America

    Baker McKenzie announced the promotion of 18 North American-based attorneys to partner, a slight increase from last year but still significantly lower than in previous years.

  • December 20, 2024

    IRS Sets 2025 Wage Base For Covered Compensation

    The taxable wage base used to calculate covered compensation for employee retirement plans will be $176,100 for 2025 tax year, the Internal Revenue Service announced in a revenue ruling Friday. 

  • December 20, 2024

    Rules On Earnings, Profits Still Being Vetted, IRS Official Says

    Recently proposed rules for previously taxed earnings and profits aren't able to be relied on by taxpayers until they are finalized because they contain new approaches that have to be properly vetted through a notice and comment period, an IRS official said Friday.

  • December 20, 2024

    Top Federal Tax Decisions Of 2024

    Over the past year, federal courts have issued decisions further delimiting the power of the Internal Revenue Service, with the First Circuit affirming a decision to allow agency summonses for cryptocurrency account records and an Arizona federal court rejecting a call to lift the agency's moratorium on processing pandemic-era worker credits. Here, Law360 reviews some of the most significant federal tax decisions of 2024.

  • December 20, 2024

    IRS Seeks Input On Research Tax Credit Form Instructions

    The Internal Revenue Service is seeking comments on draft instructions for an updated research tax credit form, specifically on proposed changes to the reporting of controlled groups, research development costs and business component detail, the agency announced Friday. 

  • December 20, 2024

    Coffee Stands Owner Gets 10 Months For Tax Fraud

    An owner of bikini coffee stands in Seattle was sentenced to 10 months in prison for tax fraud that the U.S. government claimed involved his failure to report more than $6 million in income to the Internal Revenue Service, according to Washington federal court filings.

  • December 20, 2024

    Top North Carolina Cases Of 2024: Bias, Fraud And False Ads

    North Carolina saw a host of heavy-hitting civil trials in 2024, from back-to-back multimillion-dollar jury verdicts in suits over false advertising and employment discrimination, to a substantial bench ruling in a much-watched bias suit against the federal judiciary.

  • December 19, 2024

    Tax Court Cuts Easement Deductions, OKs Penalties

    The U.S. Tax Court on Thursday reduced tax deductions claimed by two partnerships for donating adjoining conservation easements in Georgia and sustained 40% penalties against them for misstating the value of the donations.

  • December 19, 2024

    Biz Owners Ask 11th Circ. To Revive Tax Penalty Challenge

    Owners of an electronic parts company whose reprieve from a $345,000 tax penalty was revoked by the U.S. Tax Court in light of an Eleventh Circuit ruling have asked the appeals court to reconsider its stance and to determine that Tax Court judges have unconstitutional job protections.

  • December 19, 2024

    Atty Owes Taxes Tied To Fraud, Tax Court Says

    An attorney convicted of tax evasion in connection with more than $1 million in renovations he and his wife made to a historic home in Virginia owes civil fraud penalties and roughly $100,000 in taxes, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Thursday.

  • December 19, 2024

    IRS Raises Standard Mileage Rate For 2025

    The Internal Revenue Service will raise the standard mileage rate for business vehicles to 70 cents per mile in 2025, the agency said Thursday.

  • December 19, 2024

    9th Circ. Rejects Tomato Paste Cos.' Deductions For Upgrades

    A Ninth Circuit majority affirmed on Thursday an Internal Revenue Service determination denying tax deductions for facility upgrades claimed by two tomato paste producers, with a dissenting judge criticizing the agency's reversal in rejecting the upgrade deductions it had previously approved.

  • December 19, 2024

    Atty Exits Denmark's $2.1B Tax Fraud Case After Settlement

    A New York federal court removed an attorney from a $2.1 billion tax fraud suit after Denmark's tax authority settled with him on his involvement in the matter, according to recent filings.

  • December 19, 2024

    Denmark Says $500M Recovered In Dividend Tax Fraud Suits

    Denmark's tax administration has recovered a total of 3.6 billion Danish kroner ($500 million) in money lost to suspected dividend tax refund fraud after entering settlements of civil cases in several countries in 2024, Denmark's tax minister announced.

  • December 19, 2024

    Top Federal Tax Policies Of 2024

    In 2024, the U.S. Senate rejected a tax bill negotiated between the chairs of the House and Senate tax-writing committees, and on the regulatory front, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service pressed ahead with regulations implementing the Inflation Reduction Act. Here, Law360 looks at the most consequential developments in federal tax policy from the past year.

  • December 19, 2024

    5th Circ. Urged To Deny Tax Break For Doc's Captive Insurance

    A physician who owns a network of urgent care clinics was correctly denied tax deductions along with his wife for over $1 million in premiums they paid to insurance companies they owned, the government told the Fifth Circuit, saying the captive arrangements didn't qualify as insurance for tax purposes.

  • December 19, 2024

    GAO Finds Direct File Pilot Successful, Suggests Upgrades

    The Internal Revenue Service conducted a successful test run this past tax season of Direct File, a new online tax return preparation service for individual taxpayers, but the agency could do more to expand access to the program, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported Thursday.

  • December 18, 2024

    Tax Shelter Defendant Charged In Investment Ploy

    Federal prosecutors have accused two men, one of whom is already facing charges of promoting tax shelters, with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with their operation of a multimillion-dollar fraudulent investment fund, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday in Colorado federal court.

  • December 18, 2024

    Dutch Bank Exec Gave IRS Good Tax Tip, DC Circ. Judge Says

    D.C. Circuit judges grappled Wednesday with the denial of a whistleblower award to a late Dutch bank executive who tipped off the IRS to tax reporting schemes, with one judge saying during oral arguments that the executive appeared to have handed the agency "gift-wrapped" evidence of wrongdoing.

  • December 18, 2024

    Dem Senators Probe IRS Pick's Past With Retention Tax Credit

    Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden said Wednesday that he was investigating President-elect Donald Trump's Internal Revenue Service commissioner pick over his work promoting the fraud-riddled employee retention tax credit and had sent letters demanding information from two tax advisory firms he worked for.

  • December 18, 2024

    Man Must Pay $1.3M Tax After Losing Fight Over IRS' Timing

    A Nevadan owes the Internal Revenue Service more than $1.3 million for 2006 after a federal court rejected his arguments that the agency failed to timely pursue its tax claim against him.

  • December 18, 2024

    Short-Term Funding Bill Would Keep $20B For IRS Frozen

    The Internal Revenue Service would have $20 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding remain temporarily frozen under a deal lawmakers struck to keep the government running until March 14.

  • December 18, 2024

    Upcoming IRS Regs Will Have Optional Amount B Pricing

    The Internal Revenue Service announced Wednesday that is planning to propose regulations that will give corporations the option to price certain cross-border transactions using a simplified and streamlined approach under a new international tax framework known as Amount B.

Expert Analysis

  • What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires

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    Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.

  • Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support

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    A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.

  • Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where

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    During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Brownfield Questions Surround IRS Tax Credit Bonus

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    Though the IRS has published guidance regarding the Inflation Reduction Act's 10% adder for tax credits generated by renewable energy projects constructed on brownfield sites, considerable guesswork remains as potential implications seem contrary to IRS intentions, say Megan Caldwell and Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Why DOJ's Whistleblower Program May Have Limited Impact

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower pilot program aims to incentivize individuals to report corporate misconduct, but the program's effectiveness may be undercut by its differences from other federal agencies’ whistleblower programs and its interplay with other DOJ policies, say attorneys at Milbank.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • Trump's Best Hush Money Appeal Options Still Likely To Fail

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    The two strongest potential arguments former President Donald Trump could raise in appealing his New York hush money conviction seem promising at first, but precedent strongly suggests they will still ultimately fail — though, of course, Trump's unique position could lead to surprising results, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.

  • Tips For Tax Equity-Tax Credit Transfers That Pass IRS Muster

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    Although the Internal Revenue Service has increased its scrutiny of complex partnership structures, which must demonstrate their economic substance and business purpose, recent cases and IRS guidance together provide a reliable road map for creating legitimate tax equity structures, say Ian Boccaccio and Michael Messina at Ryan Tax.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • 3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture

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    Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.

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