Federal

  • 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.

  • September 27, 2024

    Corporate Raider Accused Of Shirking $180M SEC Judgment

    Corporate takeover specialist Paul A. Bilzerian, accused of ducking a more than $180 million judgment owed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for decades, was indicted alongside his longtime accountant and his cannabis company on Thursday, California federal prosecutors said Friday.

  • September 27, 2024

    Ex-Citizens' Renunciation Fee Suit Shipped To Claims Court

    A D.C. federal judge ruled that a lawsuit brought by former U.S. citizens seeking a refund on their $2,350 citizenship renunciation fee belongs in the Court of Federal Claims.

  • September 27, 2024

    Constitution Permits Blocked Anti-Laundering Law, Panel Told

    The U.S. government urged the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to reinstate the Corporate Transparency Act passed in 2021, arguing that the anti-money laundering law is within Congress' powers to regulate economic activity and necessary to have businesses report beneficial ownership to combat crimes like tax evasion and terrorist financing.

  • September 27, 2024

    Feds Say Crypto 'Godfather' Bribed Cops, Dodged Taxes

    California federal prosecutors have accused a cryptocurrency startup founder nicknamed "The Godfather" of extortion, robbery and failing to pay taxes on fraudulent income that he allegedly used for personal luxuries including a Bel Air mansion rental and cosmetic surgery to make his legs longer.

  • September 27, 2024

    The Tax Angle: Pass-Through Tax Relief, Corporate Rate Cut

    From a look at GOP efforts to extend the tax deduction for pass-through businesses to former President Donald Trump's proposal to cut the corporate tax rate to 15%, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few of the week's developing tax stories.

  • September 27, 2024

    IRS Plans Transition Rules In Basis-Shifting Regs, Atty Says

    The IRS plans to include transition rules in forthcoming proposed regulations that aim to clamp down on abusive tax avoidance practices through complex partnership transactions known as basis shifting, an agency attorney said Friday.

  • September 27, 2024

    Alvarez & Marsal Tax Appoints Former Weil Official

    Alvarez & Marsal's tax affiliate announced it has appointed a former Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP executive as a senior official for the firm's compensation and benefits practice.

  • September 27, 2024

    Ex-Mass. State Sen. Says Conviction By All-White Jury Unfair

    A former Massachusetts state senator has said his conviction on pandemic unemployment aid and tax fraud charges should be thrown out in part because the jury was all white.

  • September 27, 2024

    IRS Hopes To Clarify 'Friendly Doctor' Arrangements

    The Internal Revenue Service hopes to release general guidance on arrangements in which a physician's business can be run by a separate entity, known as friendly doctor arrangements, an agency official said Friday.

  • September 27, 2024

    Corp. AMT Rules Could Wrap In Smaller Partnerships

    Recently proposed rules on the U.S. corporate alternative minimum tax create new concerns for partnerships of various sizes that could be forced to comply with complex reporting requirements unless the government introduces carveouts, tax observers said.

  • September 27, 2024

    IRS Told To Improve Notices Of Disaster-Related Delays

    An estimated 390,000 taxpayers in federal emergency and disaster areas may have paid the balances owed on their taxes before a postponed due date because of Internal Revenue Service notices that did not clearly inform taxpayers of the postponement, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Friday.

  • September 27, 2024

    Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Skadden, Cleary

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners acquire Smartsheet Inc., Macquarie Asset Management takes a stake in D.E. Shaw Renewables Investment Group, and Apogee Enterprises Inc. buys UW Interco LLC from Heartwood Partners.

  • September 27, 2024

    US Trade Group Pushes OECD On Compliance Burden

    The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development needs to do more work on the safe harbor provisions of its Pillar Two 15% global corporate minimum tax plan — including potentially making it permanent — among other compliance burden concerns, the National Foreign Trade Council said Friday.

  • September 27, 2024

    Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin

    The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included a U.S. Treasury Department decision to drop a rule that would have set a zero value for the property of an estate that is not declared on the estate's tax return or is discovered after the return is filed.

  • September 26, 2024

    Tax Court Rejects Gasoline Deductions For Stove Store Owner

    The owner of a New York stove and fireplace store had about $1 million in receipts for 2014 and isn't entitled to deduct gasoline and depreciation expenses, the U.S. Tax Court said Thursday, sustaining most of a determination made by the Internal Revenue Service.

  • September 26, 2024

    Montreal Exchange Is A Qualified Exchange, IRS Says

    The Montreal 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 Thursday. 

  • September 26, 2024

    IRS Rolls Out Process to Fix Worker Credit Claims

    The Internal Revenue Service has started a supplemental claim filing process to allow third-party payers who handle tax and payroll reporting for clients to fix incorrect unprocessed claims for the employee retention credit, the agency said Thursday.

  • September 26, 2024

    Collection Agents Need Representation Guidance, TIGTA Says

    The Internal Revenue Service needs to provide guidance for private collection agency employees for cases in which taxpayers request a representative, such as an attorney, while on a call, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Thursday.

  • September 26, 2024

    IRS Hiring Up, But Process Often Takes Too Long, TIGTA Says

    While the Internal Revenue Service increased its hiring by 41% between fiscal years 2022 and 2023, it took longer than the agency's 80-day target to hire over 35% of the nearly 53,000 new employees due to numerous problems, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Thursday.

  • September 26, 2024

    Tariff Tax Base Too Small To Replace Income Tax, Report Says

    Higher tariffs can't replace income tax revenue, as former President Donald Trump has suggested, since U.S. imports total $3 trillion annually while incomes top $20 trillion, but they would lower incomes by raising prices for U.S. consumers, a think tank reported Thursday.

  • September 26, 2024

    Oil Estate Must Boost Value By $6M, Tax Court Says

    The estate of a woman who inherited an oil company must include in its value over $6 million more to account for her relationship with a limited partnership formed by her great-nephew, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Thursday.

  • September 26, 2024

    Harris' And Trump's Tax Plans Each Add To Deficit, Study Says

    The U.S. federal deficit would grow by at least $2 trillion over the next decade from the tax policy plans of both major parties' candidates, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, researchers said Thursday.

  • September 26, 2024

    Texas Energy Co. Is Owed $8.1M Research Credit, Court Told

    An energy company that said it developed a method for recycling water produced by fracking is owed $8.1 million in tax credits for research related to developing new oil production methods in the U.S. and Canada, the company told a Texas federal district court.

Expert Analysis

  • It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Why DOJ's Whistleblower Program May Have Limited Impact

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower pilot program aims to incentivize individuals to report corporate misconduct, but the program's effectiveness may be undercut by its differences from other federal agencies’ whistleblower programs and its interplay with other DOJ policies, say attorneys at Milbank.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • Trump's Best Hush Money Appeal Options Still Likely To Fail

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    The two strongest potential arguments former President Donald Trump could raise in appealing his New York hush money conviction seem promising at first, but precedent strongly suggests they will still ultimately fail — though, of course, Trump's unique position could lead to surprising results, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.

  • Tips For Tax Equity-Tax Credit Transfers That Pass IRS Muster

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    Although the Internal Revenue Service has increased its scrutiny of complex partnership structures, which must demonstrate their economic substance and business purpose, recent cases and IRS guidance together provide a reliable road map for creating legitimate tax equity structures, say Ian Boccaccio and Michael Messina at Ryan Tax.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • 3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture

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    Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

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    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • A Guide To Long-Term, Part-Time Employee Determinations

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    With final regulations under the Secure Act requiring 401(k) retirement benefits for long-term, part-time employees expected soon, Amy Sheridan and David Guadagnoli at Sullivan & Worcester look at how the proposed rules would shift the risk-reward calculus on excluding categories of employees, and what plan sponsors would need to consider when designing retirement plans.

  • After Chevron: Delegation Of Authority And Tax Regulators

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    The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service will face higher standards following Loper Bright’s finding that courts should determine whether agency rules meet the best possible interpretation of the tax code, as well as the scope of the authority delegated by Congress, says Edward Froelich at McDermott.

  • Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act

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    As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

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