Federal
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August 29, 2024
IRS Expands Accounting Change Waiver Eligibility
The Internal Revenue Service adjusted a previous notice Thursday to modify certain procedures for obtaining automatic consent of the agency commissioner to change methods of accounting for expenditures paid or incurred in taxable years beginning after 2021.
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August 29, 2024
Churches Attack Nonprofit Politics Ban As Unconstitutional
Churches and Christian advocacy groups asked a Texas federal court to declare unconstitutional a provision in the Internal Revenue Code that prevents tax-exempt nonprofits from endorsing political candidates, saying the IRS discriminates against conservative religious groups and churches in applying the law.
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August 29, 2024
IRS Corrects Partnership Conservation Easement Limit Rules
The Internal Revenue Service issued corrections Thursday to finalized rules that curb the conservation easement tax deduction claimed by certain partnerships under the Secure 2.0 Act.
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August 28, 2024
Hunter Biden's Addiction Expert Knocked Out Of Tax Trial
A California federal judge on Tuesday barred Hunter Biden's expected addiction expert from testifying in his upcoming trial on tax charges, saying the expert's opinions hadn't been clearly linked to the specifics of Biden's own struggle.
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August 28, 2024
IRS Declines Watchdog's Ask For Attys In Talks With Big Cos.
The IRS declined a recommendation by its internal watchdog to require the agency's counsel to attend talks held with large multinational corporations by its appellate division, which agents say thwarts their ability to correctly enforce the economic substance doctrine, according to a report.
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August 28, 2024
Pa. Atty Admits To Dodging Taxes On Mass Tort Deal Fees
A Pennsylvania attorney pled guilty Wednesday to failing to pay taxes for approximately $1.2 million in income she received over three years, depriving the government of up to half a million dollars in revenue, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
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August 28, 2024
Feds Looks To Toss Ex-Citizens' Renunciation Fee Challenge
The federal government asked a D.C. federal judge to throw out a lawsuit brought by former U.S. citizens who want their $2,350 citizenship renunciation fee refunded, arguing during a Wednesday hearing that the United States is immune from the litigation and the plaintiffs can't relitigate claims that they already lost.
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August 28, 2024
3 Items Tax Pros Want To See In Student Loan Matching Regs
Practitioners and experts are hoping the IRS will flesh out a recently released notice on student loan matching contributions to retirement plans with details including how to fix errors and whether plans may need to be changed depending on how they provide matches. Here, Law360 explores three issues practitioners and observers want the agency to address.
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August 28, 2024
Mo. Partnership Challenges Nix Of $79M Easement Deduction
The Internal Revenue Service offered no explanation for its claims that a Missouri partnership's conservation easement donation was overvalued and didn't serve a conservation purpose, the partnership told the U.S. Tax Court in challenging the rejection of a $79 million tax deduction.
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August 28, 2024
5th Circ. Upholds Tax Preparer's Sentence, Delays Restitution
The Fifth Circuit upheld a Texas federal jury's conviction that resulted in a prison sentence for a tax preparation service owner for assisting in filing false tax returns, but it determined that the nearly $72,000 in restitution that she owes should be delayed until after her sentence ends.
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August 28, 2024
IRS Must Reconsider Pair's Ability To Pay Tax Liability
The U.S. Tax Court sent a case involving a levy against a pair of Californians for six years' worth of tax deficiencies back to the IRS' Office of Appeals, saying Wednesday that more work needs to be done to determine the couple's ability to pay.
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August 28, 2024
IRS Corrects Proposed Foreign Currency Accounting Regs
The Internal Revenue Service issued corrections Wednesday to proposed rules that would adjust the timing for when companies could opt to use what is known as the mark-to-market accounting method for gains or losses that arise from foreign currency transactions.
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August 28, 2024
NY Firm Calls Gas Co.'s Contract And Fee Claims Duplicative
Albany, New York-based Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP has moved to trim breach of contract and disgorgement of fees claims brought by a former client over allegedly bungled tax advice, telling a New York federal judge the claims are redundant when the ex-client is also pursuing a legal malpractice cause of action.
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August 28, 2024
Atlanta's Ex-CFO Gets 3 Years For 'Triple-Dipping' In Coffers
Atlanta's former chief financial officer became the latest city hall official to head to prison on corruption charges Tuesday, after getting hit with a three-year prison sentence for what prosecutors called a "triple-dipping" scheme into city coffers to pay for swanky vacations and illegal firearms.
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August 28, 2024
Jury Justified In Dismissing $2.2M FBAR Case, Court Rules
A financial adviser will not face a new trial after an Arizona federal court ruled there was sufficient evidence for a jury to clear him in January of failing to report foreign bank accounts, sparing him at least $2.2 million in penalties.
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August 28, 2024
Sysco, IRS Asked To Address Varian's Foreign Dividend Win
The U.S. Tax Court asked food services giant Sysco and the IRS to address how a tax dispute between them is affected by a recent ruling in a similar case that found medical device company Varian can claim a deduction for foreign dividends.
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August 28, 2024
Farm Co. Defends Switch To Amortization In 8th Circ. Tax Fight
An Arkansas company that leases land eligible for government farm subsidies was entitled to start amortizing the acres for better tax treatment without notifying the IRS, the company told the Eighth Circuit, asking the court to overturn a decision denying its related deductions for 2013 and 2014.
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August 28, 2024
Treasury To Require Reports On All-Cash Real Estate Deals
Anyone who transfers real estate to a legal entity in an all-cash transaction, including attorneys, will be required starting Dec. 1, 2025, to inform the U.S. Treasury Department about that entity's beneficial owners and their identification numbers under a final rule issued Wednesday.
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August 28, 2024
Greenberg Traurig Builds PE Team With Kirkland Hires
Greenberg Traurig LLP has brought on two fund formation partners from Kirkland & Ellis LLP to continue its growth into the private equity space, according to an announcement this week by the firm.
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August 28, 2024
IRS Art Advisory Panel To Discuss Appraisals In Sept.
The Internal Revenue Service's Art Advisory Panel will meet next month to discuss fair market appraisals of pieces of art for tax purposes, the agency said Wednesday.
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August 28, 2024
Virgin Islands Tax Deadlines Delayed After Tropical Storm
Taxpayers in the U.S. Virgin Islands will be given until Feb. 3 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments after the area was hit by Tropical Storm Ernesto this month, the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.
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August 28, 2024
Atty Can't Escape Danish Tax Agency's $2.1B Tax Fraud Suit
An attorney in a $2.1 billion tax fraud case brought by the Danish tax authority cannot argue that a suit filed against him as an individual should be dismissed because it was filed late, a New York federal court ruled.
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August 27, 2024
Gov't Says Doctor Can't Escape Contempt Fine In FBAR Case
A doctor challenging his $20,000 civil contempt fine for failing to follow a court order to repatriate money from his foreign bank account to cover $1.1 million in tax liabilities shouldn't be allowed to escape the penalty, the U.S. government argued Tuesday.
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August 27, 2024
TIGTA Flags Due Process Issues In IRS' Lien Practices
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that the Internal Revenue Service had numerous issues that affected due process for taxpayers whom it filed lien notices against, according to a report published Tuesday.
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August 27, 2024
Treasury Asked To Scrap Stock Buyback Tax's Funding Rule
Business groups urged the U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday to remove what's known as the funding rule in forthcoming final regulations on the stock buyback tax, saying the provision would go beyond Congress' intentions for the levy, which aims to deter companies from giving outsize rewards to shareholders.
Expert Analysis
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Unpacking FinCEN's Proposed Real Estate Transaction Rule
Phil Jelsma and Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner take a close look at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recently proposed rulemaking — which mandates new disclosures for professionals involved in all-cash real estate deals — and discuss best next steps for the broad range of businesses that could be affected.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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The Corporate Transparency Act Isn't Dead Yet
After an Alabama federal court's ruling last week rendering the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional, changes to the law may ultimately be required, but ongoing compliance is still the best course of action for most, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.
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How New EU Tax And Transfer Pricing Rules May Affect M&A
Companies involved in mergers and acquisitions may need to adjust fiscal due diligence procedures to ensure they consider potential far-reaching effects of newly implemented transfer pricing measures, such as newly implemented global minimum tax and European Union anti-tax avoidance directives and proposals, says Patrick Tijhuis at BDO.
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Employers, Prep For Shorter Stock Awards Settlement Cycle
Companies that provide equity compensation in the form of publicly traded stock will soon have one less day to complete such transactions under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nasdaq rules — so employers should implement expedited equity compensation stock settlement and payroll tax deposit procedures now, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Demystifying IRS' Claims Of $851B Return On Investment
The IRS' recently released analysis, estimating a $851 billion return on the government’s $80 billion investment in the agency, represents a huge increase over its 2022 estimate and that of the Congressional Budget Office and may be best viewed as a best-case scenario, says Joyce Beebe at the Baker Institute.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
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A Proposal For Fairer, More Efficient Innocent Spouse Relief
Adding a simple election to the current regulatory framework for innocent spouse claims would benefit both taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service by alleviating the undue burdens placed on those the program was intended to help and improving agency collections in such cases, says Laurie Kazenoff at Kazenoff Tax.
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7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves
As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.
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Proposed Hydrogen Tax Credit Regs May Be Legally Flawed
While the recently proposed regulations for the new clean hydrogen production tax credit have been lauded by some in the environmental community, it is unclear whether they are sufficiently grounded in law, result from valid rulemaking processes, or accord with other administrative law principles, say Hunter Johnston and Steven Dixon at Steptoe.
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Navigating ACA Reporting Nuances As Deadlines Loom
Stephanie Lowe at Liebert Cassidy walks employers through need-to-know elements of Affordable Care Act reporting, including two quickly approaching deadlines, the updated affordability threshold, strategies for choosing an affordability safe harbor, and common coding pitfalls.
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6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media
In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.
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Why Biz Groups Disagree On Ending Chevron Deference
Two amicus briefs filed in advance of last month's U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo highlight contrasting views on whether the doctrine of Chevron deference promotes or undermines the stable regulatory environment that businesses require, say Wyatt Kendall and Sydney Brogden at Morris Manning.