Federal

  • October 02, 2024

    Stopgap Gov't Funding Law May Hinder IRS Improvements

    The IRS may need to redirect funds from its 2022 funding boost intended for agency improvements in order to cover routine operations, reducing funds available for planned upgrade projects, due to the stopgap appropriations bill Congress passed last week.

  • October 02, 2024

    9th Circ. Upholds 14 Years For Ex-Deputy's Tax, Fraud Crimes

    A former sheriff's deputy who was ordered to pay $7.6 million in restitution and sentenced to 14 years in prison for tax crimes and wire fraud lost his bid to vacate his sentence Wednesday when the Ninth Circuit decided he wasn't unfairly denied a new attorney.

  • October 02, 2024

    IRS Says European Energy Exchange Is A Qualified Exchange

    The European Energy Exchange is a qualified board or exchange for purposes of mark-to-market contracts under Internal Revenue Code Section 1256(g)(7)(C), the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday. 

  • October 02, 2024

    IRS Too Lax On Tax Prep Partners' Data Practices, TIGTA Says

    The IRS isn't doing enough to oversee the data protection practices of the tax preparation businesses in its Free File program and has never removed a partner from the program despite some having been sanctioned for unauthorized disclosures of taxpayer information, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Wednesday.

  • October 02, 2024

    US Seeks To Drop $1M Tax Suit Against Sleep Clinic Founder

    The U.S. government seeks to drop its case against a sleep clinic founder and his wife, whom it had accused of hiding assets, after the couple agreed to pay their tax liabilities in full, according to a filing in California federal court Wednesday.

  • October 01, 2024

    VP Nominees Vance, Walz Spar Over Tax Cuts

    Vice presidential candidates Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and Gov. Tim Walz, D-Mich., laid out their plans for federal tax cuts to create affordable housing and child care, spark new business growth and increase manufacturing during a nationally televised debate Tuesday night.

  • October 01, 2024

    IRS Delays Deadlines, Grants Other Relief Following Helene

    Taxpayers in all or part of seven states will have until May 1 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments after Hurricane Helene hit the area, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday, while also granting dyed diesel penalty relief as well.

  • October 01, 2024

    Tax Deadlines Extended For Victims Of Israel-Hamas War

    The Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday that it will postpone tax return and payment deadlines to Sept. 30, 2025, for those affected by the Israel-Hamas war across 2023 and 2024.

  • October 01, 2024

    Amgen Must Face Suit It Misled Investors On $10.7B Tax Bill

    Amgen lost an attempt to escape a potential class action claiming the pharmaceutical giant hid a $10.7 billion tax bill from investors after a New York federal court ruled there was sufficient evidence for the action to proceed.

  • October 01, 2024

    Ex-USTR Official Sees Possible Path Forward For Digital Taxes

    The U.S. may withhold trade threats if it believes countries are having good-faith conversations about concerns that their digital services taxes discriminate against U.S. businesses, including in current talks with Canada, the former general counsel for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative told Law360.

  • October 01, 2024

    Tax Court Upholds Man's Penalty For Frivolous Return

    The Internal Revenue Service did not abuse its discretion when it determined a California man was liable for a $5,000 penalty for filing a frivolous tax return and sustained a levy against him to collect the penalty, the U.S. Tax Court said Tuesday.

  • October 01, 2024

    High Court Urged To Let Stand IRS Win In Bankruptcy Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court should let stand a decision that late-filed returns prevented a taxpayer from discharging his federal tax debt in bankruptcy, the government argued, saying the taxpayer has inaccurately claimed that issues at the heart of his case have created a significant circuit split.

  • October 01, 2024

    Treasury Plans Final Direct Pay Partnership Regs By Year-End

    The U.S. Treasury Department is eyeing the end of the year to finalize regulations for development projects to elect out of their partnership tax status to qualify for a direct cash payment of their clean energy tax credits, an official said Tuesday.

  • October 01, 2024

    Estate Exaggerating Value Of Exec's Tax Tipoff, DC Circ. Told

    A Dutch bank executive's estate is "vastly" overstating the significance of his tips to the IRS in seeking a whistleblower award for his reporting of tax schemes, the U.S. government told the D.C. Circuit, urging it to uphold the U.S. Tax Court's denial of the award.

  • October 01, 2024

    IRS Delays Tax Deadlines In Ill. After July Storms

    Taxpayers in seven Illinois counties will have until Feb. 3 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments after portions of the state were hit by severe storms and tornadoes in July, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.

  • September 30, 2024

    11th Circ. Skeptical Of Peanut Truck Co.'s Excise Tax Refund

    The Eleventh Circuit seemed skeptical of a lower court's decision to award a $37,000 excise tax refund to a manufacturer on its sale of wagons for carrying and drying peanuts, suggesting during oral arguments that the semitrailers may fail to qualify for a tax exemption for off-road vehicles.

  • September 30, 2024

    Biz Owner Gets 18 Months For Tax Fraud On $2.8M In Income

    The owner of a metal fabrication company who admitted to neglecting to report nearly $3 million in business income to the Internal Revenue Service was sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to Connecticut federal prosecutors.

  • September 30, 2024

    IRS Seeks Input On Draft Partnership Basis-Shifting Form

    The Internal Revenue Service asked for comments Monday on a draft form and instructions for partners to disclose all the property they receive from partnerships, part of upcoming regulations meant to target abusive tax avoidance that uses sophisticated partnership basis-shifting transactions.

  • September 30, 2024

    Ex-Jersey Shore Mayor Admits To Benefits Theft, Tax Crimes

    The former mayor of Wildwood, New Jersey, has admitted to unlawfully obtaining state health benefits, failing to disclose his outside employment and neglecting to report income from that job on state tax returns, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability announced Monday.

  • September 30, 2024

    Feds Seek Prison In Tax Case Linked To 'China Initiative'

    Prosecutors have asked a Texas federal judge for an 18- to 24-month prison sentence for a Chinese-born engineer who pled guilty to tax crimes after being charged with export violations and fraud in a case the defense claims began as an espionage investigation under the U.S. Department of Justice's now-disbanded "China Initiative."

  • September 30, 2024

    IRS Appeals Office Tests Group Mailbox For Large Cos.

    The Internal Revenue Service's Independent Office of Appeals announced Monday that it will test out a program intended to help enhance secure messaging for large businesses with multiple representatives by allowing them to request a group mailbox to communicate with their assigned Appeals employee.

  • September 30, 2024

    Supplement Co. Owes $1.3M Of Ex-Owner's Tax, US Says

    A health supplements company and its owners owe the federal government about $1.3 million in taxes stemming from the liabilities of the company's previous owner, the U.S. said in a complaint Monday in a Connecticut federal court.

  • September 30, 2024

    43K Issues In IRS Application Overdue For Fixes, TIGTA Says

    A review of two Internal Revenue Service system applications discovered that one had more than 43,000 vulnerabilities that were overdue for being patched, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in report released Monday. 

  • September 30, 2024

    IRS Grants Relief To Farmers Impacted By Drought

    The Internal Revenue Service granted tax relief Monday to qualified farmers and ranchers in 41 states and other regions that were forced to sell their livestock due to drought conditions, extending the time they have to replace their animals and still defer taxes on capital gains from selling.

  • September 29, 2024

    Hunter Biden's Tax Privacy Case Can Proceed, Judge Says

    Hunter Biden can move forward with his lawsuit against the federal government alleging the unauthorized disclosure of his tax return information by special agents and their attorneys who talked publicly about an investigation that culminated in Biden's copping to criminal tax charges, a D.C. federal judge ruled.

Expert Analysis

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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'

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    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

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    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.

  • Whistleblowers Must Note 5 Key Differences Of DOJ Program

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s recently unveiled whistleblower awards program diverges in key ways from similar programs at other agencies, and individuals must weigh these differences and look first to programs with stronger, proven protections before blowing the whistle, say Stephen Kohn and Geoff Schweller at Kohn Kohn.

  • 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.

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