International
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January 23, 2025
Corporate Transparency Law Remains Flanked By Threats
The Corporate Transparency Act is facing threats across the branches of government despite the U.S. Supreme Court pausing a nationwide injunction on it Thursday, with another universal injunction in place, other court battles underway and some Republican lawmakers targeting the law.
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January 23, 2025
Finland's Corporate Tax Revenue Dipped 8% Last Year
Finland's corporate tax take fell about 8% last year on an annual basis, although the government has a slight surplus overall with €81.7 billion ($85.1 million) in total revenues, the country's tax authority said Thursday.
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January 23, 2025
UK Gov't Tones Down Plan For Non-Dom Tax Changes
The U.K. government will amend its finance bill to soften its plan to abolish the nondomicile tax status for people claiming tax benefits as nonresidents, Exchequer Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in an interview broadcast Thursday.
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January 23, 2025
Australia Looking To Combine 3 Accounting Bodies
The Australian government asked for feedback Thursday on a plan to combine three accounting standards boards into one, with the goal of streamlining the country's financial reporting architecture to adapt to continued changes to the economy and reporting rules.
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January 23, 2025
Poland's €23M For Chemical Co. Clears EU State Aid Inquiry
The Polish government didn't break state aid law when it awarded €23 million ($23.9 million) to a chemical producer to open a production plant, the European Commission said Thursday.
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January 23, 2025
Gov't Floats Tweak To Pension Tax As £49M Returned
The government confirmed Thursday that it will close a controversial loophole that has resulted in retirees being overtaxed to the tune of £1.3 billion ($1.6 billion) over the past decade.
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January 22, 2025
Renewing TCJA Will Deepen Economic Divide, Oxfam Says
Renewing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would cost the U.S. more than $4.5 trillion in revenue that could be used to reduce economic inequality, nongovernmental organization Oxfam said in the release of its annual report on inequality.
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January 22, 2025
GOP Again Floats Reciprocal Taxes In Affront To Global Deal
Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday renewed their proposal for reciprocal taxes against countries that participate in an international minimum tax agreement, following up on President Donald Trump's rejection of the global accord.
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January 22, 2025
Parliament Defends Report Alleging HMRC Has Poor Service
The chair of a United Kingdom parliamentary committee said Wednesday he was disappointed in HM Revenue & Customs rejection of an inquiry alleging the tax authority's customer service standards deteriorated to an all-time low in 2023 and 2024, arguing the agency approved reports that back up his findings.
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January 22, 2025
India Won't Apply Tax Treaty Abuse Provision Retroactively
An India tax agency said it won't retroactively apply an anti-abuse provision added to India's double-tax treaties with other countries by the nation's adoption of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's multilateral convention on base erosion and profit shifting.
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January 22, 2025
UK Insurance Premium Tax Haul Up 10%, Hits Record £6.7B
The U.K. government raised a record £6.7 billion ($8.3 billion) in insurance premium tax in the first nine months of the financial year ending March, up 10% from the corresponding period a year earlier, according to HMRC figures released Wednesday.
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January 21, 2025
Parliamentary Panel Faults HMRC's Customer Service
HM Revenue & Customs is failing to deliver a good service to taxpayers, with its standards sliding even lower last tax year compared with the prior year, the U.K. Parliament's Public Accounts Committee said in a report published Tuesday.
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January 21, 2025
Detroit Council OKs $45K Settlement Over Holding Co.'s Gain
The city of Detroit approved a settlement Tuesday in the Michigan Tax Tribunal in a long-running tax assessment dispute stemming from a holding company's gain from selling stock in a Canadian tobacco testing company.
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January 21, 2025
Mexico Extends Tax Breaks To Domestic Taxpayers
Mexico is extending a number of tax breaks aimed at foreign companies to qualifying domestic taxpayers, such as the ability to reduce taxable income by immediately deducting investments in fixed assets through late 2030, according to a presidential decree Tuesday.
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January 21, 2025
Skadden Hires Tax Pro In London From Baker McKenzie
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP has hired a former Baker McKenzie partner to serve in the firm's tax group in London.
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January 21, 2025
Expat Facing $6.9M In FBAR Penalties, Interest
An American woman living in Switzerland faces $6.9 million in penalties, interest and late fees because she did not report her accounts that were held at a Swiss bank, the U.S. government told a D.C. federal court.
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January 21, 2025
UK Waste Management Co. Denies Ties To £2.2M Tax Scam
A U.K. waste management company denied involvement in a scheme to reduce tax rates that put a business affiliate on the hook for £2.2 million ($2.7 million), contending that the affiliate failed to detect red flags.
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January 21, 2025
Sweden Considering Wind Turbine Property Tax Hike
Sweden is considering increasing the property tax on wind turbines to 0.5% of their assessed value from the current 0.2% starting in 2026, the country's Ministry of Finance said Tuesday.
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January 21, 2025
EU Officials Still Committed To Global Tax Deal Without US
The European Union remains committed to the global tax deal signed by over 130 countries in 2021 even after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would no longer participate in the agreement, according to EU officials speaking in Brussels on Tuesday.
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January 21, 2025
Justices Decline To Review NY Tax On IBM, Disney Royalties
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Tuesday to hear claims from Disney and IBM that New York's former method of taxing royalty payments from foreign affiliates resulted in unconstitutional discrimination against interstate commerce.
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January 21, 2025
HMRC Wins Appeal In £197M BlueCrest Tax Battle
A London appeals court has sent a challenge by British-American hedge fund BlueCrest to a demand from HM Revenue and Customs for approximately £197 million ($242 million) in tax back to a lower tribunal for fresh consideration.
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January 17, 2025
Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year
Law360 would like to congratulate the winners of its Practice Groups of the Year awards for 2024, which honor the attorney teams behind litigation wins and significant transaction work that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year.
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January 17, 2025
Law360 Names Firms Of The Year
Eight law firms have earned spots as Law360's Firms of the Year, with 54 Practice Group of the Year awards among them, steering some of the largest deals of 2024 and securing high-profile litigation wins, including at the U.S. Supreme Court.
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January 20, 2025
Gov't Gets Mixed Reception On Inheritance Tax Pension Plans
Proposals by the U.K. government to bring pension assets within the scope of inheritance tax will result in "numerous problems" and raise concerns in their current form, a trade body and consultants warned on Monday.
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January 17, 2025
UK Parliament Calls New Treasury Unit 'Poorly Defined'
A new HM Treasury office set up to scrutinize fiscal policy lacks staff and its purpose is poorly defined, which means it could duplicate the work of other organizations, the U.K. Parliament's Treasury Select Committee said in a report Sunday.
Expert Analysis
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What Large Language Models Mean For Document Review
Courts often subject parties using technology assisted review to greater scrutiny than parties conducting linear, manual document review, so parties using large language models for document review should expect even more attention, along with a corresponding need for quality control and validation, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Participating In Living History Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My role as a baron in a living history group, and my work as volunteer corporate counsel for a book series fan association, has provided me several opportunities to practice in unexpected areas of law — opening doors to experiences that have nurtured invaluable personal and professional skills, says Matthew Parker at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
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Private Equity Owners Can Remedy Law Firms' Agency Issues
Nonlawyer, private-equity ownership of law firms can benefit shareholders and others vulnerable to governance issues such as disparate interests, and can in turn help resolve agency problems, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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How Taxpayers Can Prep As Justices Weigh Repatriation Tax
The U.S. Supreme Court might strike down the 2017 federal tax overhaul's corporate repatriation tax in Moore v. U.S., so taxpayers should file protective tax refund claims before the case is decided and repatriate previously taxed earnings that could become entangled in dubious potential Section 965 refunds, say Jenny Austin and Gary Wilcox at Mayer Brown.
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OFAC Designation Prosecutions Are Constitutionally Suspect
Criminal prosecutions based on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s sanctions-related listing decisions — made with nearly unfettered discretion through an opaque process — present several constitutional issues, so it is imperative that courts recognize additional rights of review, say Solomon Shinerock and Annika Conrad at Lewis Baach.
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How The OECD Global Tax Proposal Could Affect M&A
Following agreement on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Pillar Two proposal to introduce a global minimum tax, domestic implementation is expected to have a significant impact on international M&A transactions, with financial modeling, deal structuring, risk allocation and joint venture arrangements likely to be affected, say lawyers at Freshfields.
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UK Shares-Tax Proposals Offer Long-Awaited Modernization
The U.K. government's recent consultation on the introduction of a new tax on transactions in securities raises detailed legal and practical issues, but the prospect of a single digital stamp tax offering both streamlined legislation and administration will be welcomed, say Zoë Arnautov and Mark Sheiham at Simmons & Simmons.
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IRS Foreign Tax Credit Pause Is Welcome Course Correction
A recent IRS notice temporarily suspending application of 2022 foreign tax credit regulations provides wanted relief for the many U.S. multinational companies and other taxpayers that otherwise face the risk of significant double taxation in their international operations, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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IRS Criminal Probe Spells Uncertainty For Malta Pension Plans
The IRS’ recent scrutiny of Malta pension plan arrangements — and its unusual issuance of criminal administrative summonses — confirms that it views many of these plans as illegal tax evasion schemes, and the road ahead will not be smooth and steady for anyone involved, say attorneys at Kostelanetz.
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IRS Announcement Will Aid Cos. In Buyback Tax Planning
Recent IRS transitional guidance regarding current requirements for reporting and payment of the stock repurchase excise tax will help corporate taxpayers make decisions about records retention and establishing reserves for future tax payments, say Xenia Garofalo and Kyle Colonna at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Flawed Analysis Supports Common Law Tax Deficiency Ruling
The Colorado federal district court’s recent decision in Liberty Global, holding that the U.S. Department of Justice may assert a common law tax claim without the notice of tax deficiency required by the Internal Revenue Code, relies on a contorted reading of the statute and irrelevant case law, say Loren Opper and Christie Galinski at Miller Canfield.
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Review Of Repatriation Tax Sets Justices On Slippery Slope
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to review the constitutionality of the repatriation tax in Moore v. U.S. has implications for many tax rules involving unrealized amounts and could leave the court on the brink of invalidating large swaths of the Internal Revenue Code, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
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What To Make Of IRS' New Advance Pricing Guidance
Recent guidance on the IRS' goals for its advance pricing agreement system provides helpful insight into review and decision-making procedures for advance pricing agreement requests, but it also raises questions about the IRS' objectives, say Richard Slowinski and Stefanie Kavanagh at Alston & Bird.