International

  • December 02, 2024

    5 Convicted In €14M COVID Test VAT Fraud Scheme

    A German court convicted five people for their roles in a value-added tax fraud scheme involving the sale of COVID-19 tests that caused about €14 million ($14.7 million) in VAT losses, the European Public Prosecutor's Office said.

  • November 29, 2024

    Audit Watchdog Urges EU To Curb Harmful Tax Practices

    The European Union is still not doing enough to stop harmful corporate tax practices that are costing governments more than €100 billion ($105 billion) a year in revenue, the bloc's independent audit watchdog has warned.

  • November 28, 2024

    Police Detain 32 People In Raids On €297M VAT Fraud Network

    Police have detained more than 30 people in raids on a €297 million ($313 million) value-added tax fraud network that spanned 16 EU countries, the European Public Prosecutor's Office said Thursday.

  • November 28, 2024

    EU Closes Tax Investigations Into Amazon, Fiat, Starbucks

    The European Commission said Thursday that it is closing tax investigations into three multinational companies — Amazon, Fiat and Starbucks — following a series of high-profile court decisions.

  • November 28, 2024

    Ex-HMRC Compliance Officer Helped Husband Launder £3M

    A former compliance officer with HM Revenue and Customs has been handed a suspended sentence for her role in a £3 million ($3.8 million) money laundering operation carried out by her husband, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.

  • November 28, 2024

    AXA Loses Time Limits Appeal In HMRC Foreign Tax Claim

    Insurer AXA has lost its fight over time limits for bringing claims for restitution against the British tax authority over taxes collected in violation of European Union law, as a London appeals court ruled that the limits could not be extended.

  • November 27, 2024

    UN Approves Start Of Formal Talks On Global Tax Convention

    The United Nations General Assembly voted Wednesday in favor of beginning formal negotiations on a global tax convention next year with the goal of finishing in 2027, a proposal that was led by the body's African bloc and won support from 125 countries.

  • November 27, 2024

    US Says Prof's 8th Amendment Argument Fails In FBAR Case

    An 86-year-old former professor cannot claim that his $545,000 penalty for failing to report foreign bank accounts violates the Eighth Amendment, the U.S. told a federal court, saying the penalty is neither excessive nor a fine, and that he never raised the argument before.

  • November 27, 2024

    BlueCrest Disputes 'Disguised Salary' Claim In HMRC Case

    British-American hedge fund BlueCrest Capital Management LLP pushed back Wednesday against arguments from the U.K. tax authority that its portfolio managers are employees receiving a disguised salary.

  • November 27, 2024

    US Seeks FBAR Penalties Over $1.7M In Foreign Accounts

    A Texas woman should face penalties for willfully failing to disclose foreign bank accounts from 2011 through 2013, which held balances exceeding $1.7 million, the U.S. government told a federal court Wednesday.

  • November 27, 2024

    UK Gambling Levy Would Generate £100M, Gov't Says

    A new levy on U.K. gambling operations would generate £100 million ($127 million), which would be earmarked for funding various ways to combat problem gambling, a government agency said Wednesday.

  • November 27, 2024

    Info On €12T In Assets Swapped Last Year, OECD Says

    Tax jurisdictions using the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's automatic exchange of information frameworks swapped information on 134 million financial accounts last year, representing nearly €12 trillion ($12.7 trillion) in assets, according to an OECD forum report.

  • November 26, 2024

    Ukrainian Man Admits To $25M Staffing, Tax Scheme

    A Ukrainian man who was recently extradited to the U.S. to face charges that he helped illegally employ immigrants in Florida hotels pled guilty to tax crimes that prosecutors say caused $25 million in tax losses, according to Florida federal court filings.

  • November 26, 2024

    Jones Walker Welcomes New Commercial, Tax Atty

    Jones Walker LLP has added a corporate partner who practices tax law and negotiates, structures and drafts complex merger and acquisition transactions, financings and related contracts and agreements, the firm said.

  • November 26, 2024

    Australia Will Enact Pillar 2 Minimum Corporate Tax

    Australia will institute the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's global corporate minimum tax under legislation enacted Tuesday by Parliament.

  • November 26, 2024

    Many OECD Gov'ts Need More Tax Transparency, Report Says

    Peer reviews found nearly half of OECD countries need to improve their legal frameworks for the automatic exchange of financial account information, a decade-old tax transparency system crafted by the organization, while many developing countries received passing grades, according to a report released Tuesday.

  • November 26, 2024

    OECD Suggests Indonesia Broaden Its Tax Base

    Indonesia should broaden its tax base to account for long-term spending pressures like an aging population, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday, while also recommending the country pick up the pace on implementing a carbon tax.

  • November 26, 2024

    UK Gov't Urged To Hold Off On Changes To Inheritance Tax

    The British Labour government should hold off on inheritance tax changes for farmers, scheduled to take effect in April, that would make gifts to their heirs taxable if they occur within seven years of the giver's death, a U.K. economics think tank said.

  • November 26, 2024

    Two Arrested In €19M VAT Fraud Involving VoIP

    Authorities arrested two people Tuesday alleging their participation in a €19 million ($19.9 million) value-added tax fraud scheme involving services that let users make phone calls via the internet, the European Public Prosecutor's Office said.

  • November 26, 2024

    Gov't, US-Saudi Former Pilot Close $1.2M FBAR Suit

    A U.S.-Saudi citizen who's been a pilot and luxury airplane consultant settled his $1.2 million dispute with the U.S. government over bank accounts in Switzerland that the IRS said he failed to report.

  • November 26, 2024

    IRS Confirms Commerce Payments In Chips Tax Credit

    Semiconductor development projects that received funding awards from the U.S. Commerce Department's CHIPS incentives program are considered investments that can also take advantage of the advanced manufacturing tax credit, the Internal Revenue Service confirmed Tuesday in guidance.

  • November 26, 2024

    UK Gov't Urged To Rethink Inheritance Tax Plan For Pensions

    The government should consider alternatives to its plan to bring pension assets within the scope of inheritance tax, an online investment company has said, warning that the current proposals could create "financial gridlock."

  • November 25, 2024

    Aussie Court Affirms R&D Credit Denial For Basketball Shoe

    The Australian producer of a basketball shoe cannot count its activities as research and development for tax purposes because of a lack of details on the shoe's development, the Federal Court of Australia ruled Monday.

  • November 25, 2024

    Ex-DOJ Attorney Joins Moore Tax Law Group In Chicago

    The Moore Tax Law Group has brought on a former trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division, the firm announced.

  • November 25, 2024

    UK Releases Deadlines For Top-Up Tax Payments

    The U.K. government issued new guidance detailing how multinational corporations should pay domestic and multinational top-up taxes under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Pillar Two 15% global minimum tax, providing payment deadlines and methods for compliance.

Expert Analysis

  • New Crypto Reporting Will Require Rigorous Recordkeeping

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    The release of a form for reporting digital asset transactions is a pivotal moment in the Internal Revenue Service's efforts to track cryptocurrency activities that increases oversight by requiring brokers to report investor sales and exchanges, say Shaina Kamen and Max Angel at Holland & Knight.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs

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    The Internal Revenue Services' finalized Treasury Regulations addressing whether real estate investment trusts qualify as domestically controlled adopt the basic structure of previous proposals, but certain new and modified rules may mitigate the regulations' impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

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    As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic

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    Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • The Art Of Asking: Leveraging Your Contacts For Referrals

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    Though attorneys may hesitate to ask for referral recommendations to generate new business, research shows that people want to help others they know, like and trust, so consider who in your network you should approach and how to make the ask, says Rebecca Hnatowski at Edwards Advisory.

  • Unpacking The Bill To Extend TCJA's Biz-Friendly Tax Breaks

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    Attorneys at Skadden examine how a bipartisan bill currently being considered by the U.S. Senate to save the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's tax breaks for research and development costs, and other expiring business-friendly provisions, would affect taxpayers.

  • Deciding What Comes At The End Of WTO's Digital Tariff Ban

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    Companies that feel empowered by the World Trade Organization’s recent two-year extension of the ban on e-commerce tariffs should pay attention to current negotiations over what comes after the moratorium expires, as these agreements will define standards in international e-commerce for years to come, say Jan Walter, Hannes Sigurgeirsson and Kulsum Gulamhusein at Akin Gump.

  • 4 Ways To Refresh Your Law Firm's Marketing Strategy

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    With many BigLaw firms relying on an increasingly obsolete marketing approach that prioritizes stiff professionalism over authentic connection, adopting a few key communications strategies to better connect with today's clients and prospects can make all the difference, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law.

  • This Earth Day, Consider How Your Firm Can Go Greener

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    As Earth Day approaches, law firms and attorneys should consider adopting more sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint — from minimizing single-use plastics to purchasing carbon offsets for air travel — which ultimately can also reduce costs for clients, say M’Lynn Phillips and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • Cum-Ex Prosecutions Storm Shows No Sign Of Abating

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    The ongoing trial of Sanjay Shah in Denmark is a clear indicator that efforts remain focused on holding to account the alleged architects and beneficiaries of cum-ex trading, and with these prosecutions making their way across Europe, it is a more turbulent time now than ever, says Niall Hearty at Rahman Ravelli.

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