Federal
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December 09, 2024
Chicago Pol's Lies Enough To Keep Conviction, Feds Say
The government urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to disturb a former Chicago alderman's conviction for lying about money he'd borrowed from a since-shuttered bank, arguing his knowing understatements were enough to illegally mislead federal investigators.
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December 09, 2024
Man Owed $264K Under US-Canada Tax Treaty, Court Says
A U.S. man living abroad is allowed under the U.S.-Canada tax treaty to claim a foreign tax credit for nearly $264,000 in payments of the Affordable Care Act's net investment income tax, the Federal Claims Court said.
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December 09, 2024
Feds Seek 2-Year Sentence In Landmark Crypto Tax Case
The first person ever criminally charged for failing to report gains from the sale of cryptocurrency by filing false returns should be sentenced to more than two years in prison after he admitted underreporting $4 million in bitcoin proceeds, prosecutors told a Texas federal court.
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December 06, 2024
DC Circ. Affirms Man's $1.2M 'Seriously Delinquent' Tax Debt
A Florida man owes more than $1.2 million in federal taxes, the D.C. Circuit said Friday, affirming the Internal Revenue Service's certification of his liability under a law that allows those with a "seriously delinquent" tax debt to have their passport revoked.
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December 06, 2024
Trust Distribution Doesn't Violate Holding Law, IRS Says
A distribution from a trust of tenancy-in-common interests that resulted from the trust's involuntary termination will not prevent the interests from being held for certain investment and business purposes, the IRS said in a private letter ruling released Friday.
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December 06, 2024
Gov't Appeals Texas Judge's Block On Anti-Laundering Law
The U.S. government has appealed a Texas federal judge's order that halted the rollout of new reporting requirements aimed at unmasking anonymous shell companies, setting the stage for the Fifth Circuit to weigh in on the nationwide preliminary injunction.
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December 06, 2024
Simpson Thacher Adds Tax Pro From Ropes & Gray
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP announced the firm has added a tax professional from Ropes & Gray LLP as a partner in its Washington, D.C., office.
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December 06, 2024
Biz Owner In $2.8M Worker Tax Scheme Asks To Avoid Prison
A construction company owner who admitted skirting $2.8 million in employment taxes by claiming that his workers were subcontractors, including one who fell to his death on a job, asked a Massachusetts federal court Friday for a sentence of home confinement rather than prison.
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December 06, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Skadden, Gibson Dunn
In this week's Taxation With Representation, BlackRock buys HPS Investment Partners, TreeHouse Foods Inc. buys Harris Tea, Aya Healthcare acquires Cross Country Healthcare, and Bruin Capital launches a soccer representation business.
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December 06, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included regulations aimed at making 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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December 05, 2024
IRS Pick's Retention Credit History Raises Sens.' Hackles
As senators digested President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of a former U.S. House member to be commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, some Democrats said the nominee's experience promoting problematic employee retention credits immediately raised questions about his fitness to run the agency.
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December 05, 2024
11th Circ. Won't Rethink $100M Credit For John Hancock
The Eleventh Circuit won't reconsider its decision to let John Hancock Life Insurance Co. keep $100 million in foreign tax credits, leaving in place its October ruling against a Florida law firm retirement plan's trustees.
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December 05, 2024
Tax Court Penalizes Mail Carrier For Frivolous Returns
A retired U.S. Postal Service carrier from Texas owes $10,000 in civil penalties for making frivolous claims that his income wasn't subject to taxes because he wasn't a federal employee, the U.S. Tax Court ruled in a bench opinion released Thursday.
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December 05, 2024
IRS Issues Latest Required Retirement Plan Amendments List
The Internal Revenue Service released Thursday the 2024 edition of an annual list of required amendments for qualifying individually designed retirement plans.
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December 05, 2024
IRS Approved Late Workers' Comp. Payments, TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service approved workers' compensation claims from agency employees that should have been barred because they were filed late, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Thursday in a report that called for improvements to the agency's approval process.
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December 05, 2024
Texas Paving Co. Drops Suit Over $686K Carryback Refund
A Texas contracting company voluntarily dropped its case seeking a $686,000 tax refund, plus interest, from the Internal Revenue Service for a carryback operating loss.
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December 05, 2024
IRS Errors Allow Millions In Improper Refunds, TIGTA Says
Tax overpayments aren't being applied to outstanding debt in taxpayer accounts because of procedural and programming errors at the Internal Revenue Service that allow millions of dollars to be improperly refunded to taxpayers, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Thursday.
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December 05, 2024
Senate Finance Committee Advances IRS Watchdog Pick
The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday advanced President Joe Biden's nomination of a former assistant inspector general at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to serve as the top IRS watchdog.
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December 05, 2024
Whistleblower Asks DC Circ. To Strike Tax Court Judge Shield
A man whose whistleblower claim was blocked by the IRS for being too late asked the D.C. Circuit to reject a second U.S. Tax Court decision to uphold the denial, saying, among other things, that Tax Court judges have unconstitutional job protection.
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December 04, 2024
GAO Finds Limited Oversight, Data On Crypto In 401(k)s
Though crypto assets make up a small part of the 401(k) market, their limited federal oversight might leave workers responsible for monitoring the volatile investment options, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
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December 04, 2024
Trump Picks Ex-Congressman For IRS Commissioner
President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he has tapped a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives to lead the Internal Revenue Service during his coming second term.
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December 04, 2024
Senate Finance Committee Schedules Vote On TIGTA Nominee
The Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a vote Thursday on the nomination of David Samuel Johnson as the inspector general for tax administration, committee Chairman Ron Wyden announced Wednesday.
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December 04, 2024
Ending Trump Tax Cuts Would Have Neutral Effect, CBO Says
Allowing the individual income tax cuts enacted under President Donald Trump's 2017 tax overhaul to expire at the end of next year as planned won't have a significant effect on the economy over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.
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December 04, 2024
IRS Warns Of Rising Charitable Contribution Scams
The Internal Revenue Service warned taxpayers Wednesday of an uptick in fraud schemes involving donations of ownership interests in closely held businesses, a scam that usually targets wealthier people.
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December 04, 2024
IRS Seeks Electronic Tax Committee Membership Applications
The Internal Revenue Service is accepting applications until the end of January to join its Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee, the agency announced Wednesday.
Expert Analysis
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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How Cannabis Rescheduling May Alter Paraphernalia Imports
The Biden administration's recent proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana use raises questions about how U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement policies may shift when it comes to enforcing a separate federal ban on marijuana accessory imports, says R. Kevin Williams at Clark Hill.
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NCAA Settlement May End The NIL Model As We Know It
The recent House v. NCAA settlement in California federal court, in which the NCAA agreed to allow schools to directly pay March Madness television revenue to their athletes, may send outside name, image and likeness collectives in-house, says Mike Ingersoll at Womble Bond.
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Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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BF Borgers Clients Should Review Compliance, Liability
After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently announced enforcement proceedings against audit firm BF Borgers for fabricating audit documentation for hundreds of public companies, those companies will need to follow special procedures for disclosure and reporting — and may need to prepare for litigation from the plaintiffs bar, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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What Updated PLR Procedure May Mean For Stock Spin-Offs
A recently published Internal Revenue Service revenue procedure departs from commonly understood interpretations of the spinoff rules by imposing more stringent standards on companies seeking private letter rulings regarding tax-free stock spinoff and split-off transactions, and may presage regulatory changes that would have the force of law, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Proposed Cannabis Reschedule Sidesteps State Law Effects
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent proposal to move cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act provides certain benefits, but its failure to address how the rescheduling would interact with existing state cannabis laws disappointed industry participants hoping for clarity on this crucial question, says Ian Stewart at Wilson Elser.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.