Federal
-
September 24, 2024
IRS Received $226K In Prohibited Levy Payments In 2023
The Internal Revenue Service collected more than $226,000 in levy payments in the 2023 fiscal year in collection due process cases that involved prohibited levies, but affected taxpayers were made whole, according to a watchdog report released Tuesday.
-
September 24, 2024
IRS Largely Complies With Levy Requirements, TIGTA Says
A review of more than 48,000 levies issued by IRS field collection officers from July 2022 through June 2023 found that they were mostly compliant with both legal and administrative requirements, but the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration identified over 1,900 instances of noncompliance, it said Tuesday.
-
September 24, 2024
Digital Asset Rules Coming By Year's End, Treasury Atty Says
The U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service intend to release rules "later this year" on additional reporting requirements for brokers of digital assets such as cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens, a senior Treasury attorney said Tuesday.
-
September 24, 2024
Wyden, House Dem Float Small-Biz Wage, Investment Credits
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and a House Democratic tax writer proposed legislation that would provide small-business wage and investment tax credits, according to a Tuesday statement.
-
September 24, 2024
Abbott Seeks $24M Refund Over Transfer Pricing Adjustments
Healthcare products giant Abbott Laboratories is owed $24.3 million for overpaid taxes after the IRS incorrectly adjusted its intragroup income and payments this year, the company told the U.S. Tax Court in a petition.
-
September 24, 2024
Defunct Cannabis Co. Says It's Owed $1.4M In Worker Credits
A Seattle cannabis company that was administratively dissolved this year is entitled to roughly $1.4 million in tax credits for continuing to pay employees when its business dropped off during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company's receivership estate told a Washington federal court.
-
September 24, 2024
IRS Wary Of Adding Complexity In Min. Tax Regs, Official Says
The IRS opted to use existing tax rules in proposed guidance to address risks that the U.S. corporate alternative minimum tax could count offshore income twice, an agency official said Tuesday, noting a more precise method would increase complexity.
-
September 24, 2024
Insurer Wants Quick Appeal At 8th Circ. In DOL Tax Fight
A health insurer will seek the Eighth Circuit's review after a federal judge refused to toss a suit from the U.S. Department of Labor claiming the company unlawfully took at least $66.8 million in Minnesota state tax liability from plans it administered to pay in-network providers.
-
September 24, 2024
Exxon Claims It Beat Weak Defense In $1.8B Tax Trial
Exxon Mobil urged a Texas federal judge to find that it defeated what it called a scattered defense by the U.S. government during a five-day bench trial in April when the company argued for a $1.8 billion tax refund on its natural gas deal with Qatar, according to newly released filings.
-
September 24, 2024
Applications For Low-Income Energy Tax Breaks Due In Oct.
With more than 50,000 applications for the low-income communities clean energy bonus credit program submitted, three U.S. government agencies announced Tuesday that they will be accepting applications on a rolling basis for most categories through Oct. 10 to make sure they are timely processed.
-
September 24, 2024
Tax Data Consent Practices Need Shoring Up, TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service must take steps to make sure any tax software companies that collect taxpayer information include consent statements that are clear about the intended purpose of the disclosure of that information and the specific recipients of it, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said.
-
September 24, 2024
Miller & Chevalier Adds Federal Tax Expert From White & Case
Miller & Chevalier Chtd. announced that it added a former partner at White & Case LLP to its tax controversy and litigation practice.
-
September 23, 2024
Clean Energy Safe Harbor Applies To Direct Pay, Official Says
The safe harbor for the bonus clean energy tax credits' domestic content rules applies to all applicable project owners, including tax-exempt entities that are eligible to get a direct cash payment of the credits, a U.S. Treasury Department attorney said Monday.
-
September 23, 2024
Some Former IRS Contractors Not Purged From Systems
An analysis of over 1,800 former Internal Revenue Service contractors who were incorrectly listed as active found a number of them still possessed network permissions, IRS hardware or identification cards giving them access to agency facilities, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Monday.
-
September 23, 2024
3 IRS Divisions Not Heeding Customer Surveys, TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service's Wage and Investment, Small Business/Self-Employed and Tax Exempt and Government Entities divisions are generally not using the results of their customer service surveys to make improvements to their operations, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Monday.
-
September 23, 2024
Couple Didn't Report Business Income, Tax Court Says
A couple whose mortgage company managed two LLCs failed to report income received from the company, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday in upholding most of the roughly $1.3 million in deficiency notices for 2009 and 2010 issued by the Internal Revenue Service.
-
September 23, 2024
The Tax Angle: Corporate Inversions, SALT Cap
From a look at criticisms that the 2017 federal tax law failed to stop corporations from moving overseas to GOP efforts to navigate the SALT cap ahead of the November elections, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few of the week's developing tax stories.
-
September 23, 2024
Sysco Allowed $324M Dividend Deduction After Varian Ruling
Sysco Corp. can deduct $324 million in foreign dividends after agreeing with the Internal Revenue Service that a decision in a similar case brought by Varian Medical Systems resolved their dispute, the U.S. Tax Court said in an order.
-
September 23, 2024
More Needed On Energy Tax Credit Monetization, TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service has taken steps to facilitate the sale or transfer of the Inflation Reduction Act's clean energy tax credits, but it must develop more processes to accommodate the credits, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported.
-
September 23, 2024
Senate Confirms 3rd Tax Court Judge In 2 Months
The U.S. Senate approved one of President Joe Biden's nominees to serve on the U.S. Tax Court on Monday, marking the third time the chamber has confirmed a judge to the court in the past two months.
-
September 23, 2024
Tax Court Allows Woman's Gambling Loss Deduction
A California woman made good-faith attempts to substantiate her gambling losses and therefore may claim a roughly $62,000 tax deduction, but she is still liable for an accuracy-related penalty for the year in question, the U.S. Tax Court said Monday.
-
September 23, 2024
DOJ Seeing Deluge Of Attacks In Tax Cases After Loper Bright
The U.S. Department of Justice's Tax Division is seeing its casework flooded with taxpayer arguments citing the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright overturning the Chevron doctrine, and that's not likely to change soon, a division chief said Monday.
-
September 23, 2024
Vanguard Agrees To Settle Investors' Tax Liability Suit
Vanguard agreed to settle a proposed class action by investors who accused the company of violating its fiduciary duties when it triggered a sell-off of assets that left them with massive tax bills, according to a Pennsylvania federal court order Monday.
-
September 23, 2024
Profs, Retired Judges Ask Justices To Uphold Return Of Taxes
Two former bankruptcy judges and a group of law professors threw their support behind the bankruptcy trustee of a Utah transportation company seeking to convince the U.S. Supreme Court that the IRS, like any other creditor, should have to return payments deemed fraudulent under state law.
-
September 23, 2024
IRS Finalizing Pricing Pact Guidance, Official Says
The Internal Revenue Service is in the final stages of updating revenue procedures to help multinational corporations pursue advance pricing agreements and resolve tax treaty disputes, and it will release the guidance soon, an agency official said Monday.
Treasury To Allow 3 AMT Transition Methods, Official Says
Final rules on the new corporate alternative minimum tax are expected to adopt the proposed regulations' three ways for companies to transition to the regime, and the U.S. Treasury Department is open to other ways as well, a department official said Tuesday.
Energy Bonus Credit Penalty Guidance Coming, Atty Says
The U.S. Treasury Department will soon release additional guidance on penalties for clean energy developers that initially failed to meet the prevailing wage requirements tied to claiming bonus tax credits on their development projects, a Treasury attorney said Monday.
Family Owes $81M Taxes On 'Son-Of-Boss' Scheme, DOJ Says
Former shareholders of a family-owned holding company owe the IRS nearly $81 million for participating in what is known as a Son-of-Boss arrangement, which generated fake capital losses in the 2022 sale of company stock, the U.S. Department of Justice told a New York federal court.
Featured Stories
-
The Tax Angle: Corporate Inversions, SALT Cap
From a look at criticisms that the 2017 federal tax law failed to stop corporations from moving overseas to GOP efforts to navigate the SALT cap ahead of the November elections, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few of the week's developing tax stories.
-
4 Key Complications 3 Years After Pillar 2
Three years ago, countries around the world outlined an agreed-upon minimum corporate tax system in an eight-page document that couldn't have foreseen the full scope of complications that later emerged during implementation, including frictions with existing tax laws. Here, Law360 looks at four key issues that countries and multinational corporations are grappling with as Pillar Two turns three.
-
3 Ways Justices' SEC Fraud Ruling Could Affect Tax Disputes
The U.S. Supreme Court's groundbreaking decision to curb the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's in-house fraud enforcement could hamper the IRS' ability to assert certain penalties, including in contested conservation easement cases, and challenge the U.S. Tax Court's authority to review them. Here, Law360 examines three arenas in which the Supreme Court decision could shake up tax administration and litigation.
Expert Analysis
-
Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners
Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
-
Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics
Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.
-
It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.
-
Avoid Getting Burned By Agencies' Solar Financing Spotlight
Recently coordinated reports and advisories from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission maximize the spotlight on the consumer solar financing market and highlight pitfalls for lenders to avoid in this burgeoning field, says Mercedes Tunstall at Cadwalader.
-
Tax Traps In Acquisitions Of Financially Distressed Targets
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Parties to the acquisition of an insolvent or bankrupt company face myriad tax considerations, including limitations on using the distressed company's tax benefits, cancellation of indebtedness income, tax lien issues and potential tax reorganizations.
-
Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls
Despite the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's continued release of guidance for complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, its interpretation remains in flux, making it important for companies to understand potentially problematic areas of ambiguity in the practical application of the law, say attorneys at Sidley.
-
How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations
Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.
-
Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles
Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.
-
Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.
-
5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond
As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.
-
Pros, Cons Of Disclosing Improper Employee Retention Credit
Employers considering the Internal Revenue Service’s second voluntary disclosure program, which allows companies to avoid penalties for erroneously claiming employee retention credits for the 2021 tax year by repaying the credits and naming the tax advisers who encouraged these abusive practices, should carefully weigh the program’s benefits against its potential drawbacks, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
-
How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'
Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.
-
Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process
Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.