Federal
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September 17, 2024
Blumenauer Pushes House Speaker To Put Pot Bill To Vote
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., on Monday urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring bipartisan cannabis legislation to a vote following revelations that Richard Nixon admitted privately that marijuana was "not particularly dangerous" while he publicly waged the war on drugs.
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September 17, 2024
Fraudster Can Deduct $367K Legal Expenses, Tax Court Says
A Californian convicted of wire fraud and money laundering is entitled to deduct more than $367,000 in legal expenses spent to defend himself from the charges because they were related to his business, even though his business was defrauding donors, the U.S. Tax Court said.
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September 17, 2024
10 Members Appointed To Electronic Advisory Panel, IRS Says
The Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday announced the appointment of 10 new members to its electronic tax administration advisory committee, including the secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Revnue and a program manager at H&R Block.
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September 16, 2024
Film Producer, Accountant Hid $25M From IRS, DOJ Alleges
A film producer who sold shares in the production company he cofounded for $25 million schemed with an Australian accountant to hide the proceeds from U.S. authorities in Swiss bank accounts, causing the IRS to lose out on some $5 million, according to the DOJ.
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September 16, 2024
Treasury Cuts 'Zero Basis' Rule In Final Estate Tax Regs
The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday said it would not keep a rule that set a zero value for the unreported property of an estate in final regulations on the requirement that an heir's basis in inherited property be consistent with the property's value for estate tax purposes.
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September 16, 2024
Audit Trails For IRS Taxpayer Data Trove Lacking, TIGTA Says
Audit trails that can be used to identify logins to an Internal Revenue Service's database containing extensive tax records were often incomplete, according to a report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released Monday.
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September 16, 2024
Applicable Federal Interest Rates To Decline Again In October
Applicable federal rates for income tax purposes will decrease again in October, continuing a months-long decline, the Internal Revenue Service said Monday.
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September 16, 2024
IRS Floats Definition Of 'Covered Month' For Premium Credit
The IRS on Monday proposed expanding the definition of a "covered month" for purposes of the health insurance premium tax credit to include the first month of the grace period for which an individual does not pay the premium in full but still receives coverage.
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September 16, 2024
IRS Cancels Hearing On 'Basket Contract' Transactions Rule
The Internal Revenue Service canceled a hearing on proposed rules that would flag what are known as basket option contracts as potentially abusive listed transactions, according to a notice released Monday.
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September 13, 2024
The 2024 Regional Powerhouses
The law firms on Law360's list of 2024 Regional Powerhouses reflected the local peculiarities of their states while often representing clients in deals and cases that captured national attention.
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September 13, 2024
IRS Monitoring Of Cloud IT Security Lacking, TIGTA Says
An audit of the IRS' cloud computing systems found that the agency was lacking in several areas, including not keeping up with systems to maintain the security of cloud computing services, according to a report released Friday by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
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September 13, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included proposed regulations on clean electricity low-income community bonus credits and procedures for obtaining the IRS' automatic consent to change accounting methods to comply with changes to the treatment of research and development costs.
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September 13, 2024
Mortgage Co. CEO Gets 11 Years In Prison For Ponzi Scams
A mortgage company owner was sentenced Thursday to 11 years and three months in prison for defrauding investors, a community bank and the government's pandemic relief program to cover gambling debts and personal expenses like luxury cars, Philadelphia's top federal prosecutor announced.
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September 13, 2024
Treasury Proposes Rules Defining Tax-Exempt Tribal Benefits
Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service released proposed rules Friday that would define what qualifies as tribal welfare benefits exempt from taxable income.
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September 13, 2024
IRS Extends La. Tax Deadlines For Francine Storm Victims
Victims of Hurricane Francine throughout Louisiana will have more time to file some tax returns and make estimated payments, the Internal Revenue Service announced Friday.
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September 12, 2024
AGs Ask 2nd Circ. To Revive Their SALT Cap Workaround Suit
Attorneys general from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut asked the Second Circuit to revive their challenge to an IRS rule prohibiting workarounds to the federal cap on state and local tax deductions, saying the rule was arbitrary and contrary to congressional intent.
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September 12, 2024
Convicted Fraudster Seeks To Challenge $21M Restitution
A Florida man convicted of defrauding hospitals in a payroll fraud scheme urged the Eleventh Circuit Thursday to allow him to challenge a $21 million restitution award while still in prison, saying he wasn't allowed to challenge inaccurate information during sentencing.
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September 12, 2024
Wilson Sonsini Hires Tax Pro From Slaughter and May
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC has recruited a tax specialist from Slaughter and May to its office in London to boost its strengths representing U.K. and European technology and life sciences companies that are expanding in the U.S. and globally.
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September 12, 2024
Ex-Mass. State Sen. Tran Convicted Of Pandemic Aid Fraud
Former Massachusetts State Sen. Dean Tran was convicted Wednesday of fraudulently collecting pandemic unemployment benefits after he was voted out of office and of cheating on his taxes.
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September 12, 2024
House OKs Tightening Restrictions On Tax Credit For EVs
The U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a bill Thursday that would place further restrictions on qualifications for a tax credit for new electric vehicles amid concerns that current limits don't do enough to keep the benefits from flowing to foreign adversaries, including China.
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September 12, 2024
IRS Lacked Way To Track CAMT Comments, TIGTA Finds
The IRS Office of Chief Counsel did not always track comments it received in response to guidance issued on the corporate alternative minimum tax and did not have detailed procedures in place for the pre-rulemaking guidance process, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported Thursday.
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September 12, 2024
Treasury Floats Long-Awaited Rules For Corp. Minimum Tax
Treasury and the IRS released eagerly awaited rules Thursday on the new 15% corporate alternative minimum tax on corporations with reported profits of $1 billion or more, taking a step toward implementing a key provision of President Joe Biden's signature 2022 tax and climate law.
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September 11, 2024
Philly Loan Biz Brothers Admit To $100M Investment Scam
The two brothers helming Philadelphia's Par Funding cash advance company admitted to reaping $100 million through an investment fraud scheme that could land them each over a decade in prison, Philadelphia's top federal prosecutor announced.
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September 11, 2024
Tax Court Affirms Sushi Restaurant Owner's Labor Deductions
The U.S. Tax Court ruled Wednesday that the owner of an Alabama sushi restaurant was entitled to deduct nearly $292,000 in contract labor expenses for 2015 and 2016.
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September 11, 2024
House Tax Panel OKs Repeal Of $600 Reporting Threshold
The House Ways and Means Committee advanced several bills Wednesday, including one that would repeal a law requiring peer-to-peer payment platforms such as Venmo and PayPal to report aggregate payments of $600 or more.
Expert Analysis
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Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.
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Tracking Implementation Of IRA Programs As Election Nears
As the Biden administration races to cement key regulations implementing the Inflation Reduction Act, a number of the law's programs and incentives are at risk of delay or repeal if Republicans retake control of Congress, the White House or both — so stakeholders should closely watch ongoing IRA implementation and guidance, say attorneys at Squire Patton.
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.
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Takeaways From Justices' Redemption Insurance Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Connelly v. U.S. examines how to determine the fair market value of shares in a closely held company for estate tax purposes, and clarifies how life insurance held by the company to enable redemption of a decedent’s shares affects that calculation, says Evelyn Haralampu at Burns & Levinson.
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6 Tips For Maximizing After-Tax Returns In Private M&A Deals
With potential tax legislation likely to spur a surge in private business sales, sellers can make the most of after-tax proceeds with strategies that include price allocation and qualified investment options, say Isaac Grossman and Daniel Studin at Morrison Cohen.
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After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1
The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.
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Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers
BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.
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What DOL Fiduciary Rule Means For Private Fund Managers
Attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss how the U.S. Department of Labor's recently released final fiduciary rule, which revises the agency's 1975 regulation, could potentially cause private fund managers' current marketing practices and communications to be considered fiduciary advice, and therefore subject them to strict prohibitions.
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Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence
As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Navigating New Safe Harbor For Domestic Content Tax Credits
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s recent notice simplifying domestic content calculations for certain solar, onshore wind and battery storage projects, which directly acknowledges the difficulty for taxpayers in gathering data to support a domestic content analysis, should make it easier to qualify additional domestic content bonus tax credits, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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'Energy Communities' Update May Clarify Tax Credit Eligibility
A recent IRS notice that includes updated lists of locations where clean energy projects can qualify for additional tax credits — based 2023 unemployment data and placed-in-service dates — should help provide clarity regarding project eligibility that sponsors and developers need, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.