Federal
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May 30, 2024
Ex-KPMG Manager Joins Davis+Gilbert As Tax Partner
A former managing director at KPMG has joined New York law firm Davis+Gilbert LLP as a tax partner in its corporate and transactions practice, Davis+Gilbert announced.
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May 30, 2024
Black Business Owners Sue Over Impact Of Transparency Act
The Corporate Transparency Act creates unique burdens on businesses owned by people of color, immigrants and other marginalized groups, the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts and several company owners said in the latest legal challenge to the anti-money laundering law.
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May 30, 2024
Russian Gas Ex-CFO Says $44M FBAR Penalty Is Excessive
The former chief financial officer of a Russian gas company who was sentenced to seven years in prison for hiding money in Swiss banks told a Florida federal court that the $44 million in foreign account reporting penalties the government is seeking is illegally high.
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May 30, 2024
IRS To Make E-File Program Permanent, Plans Expansions
The Internal Revenue Service will make permanent the free online tax filing system it launched as a limited pilot program this year and plans to expand its scope, Commissioner Daniel Werfel said Thursday.
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May 29, 2024
10th Circ. Tosses Insurance Co. Appeal In Tax Court Dispute
The Tenth Circuit tossed an insurance company's challenge to a U.S. Tax Court ruling rejecting the company's effort to invalidate tax deficiency notices on Wednesday, saying it lacked authority to hear the case because the Tax Court's decision wasn't a final one that would end litigation.
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May 29, 2024
Miami Tax Preparers Should Be Barred For Fraud, DOJ Says
Two Miami-based tax professionals and their businesses should be barred from preparing federal tax returns for others because they repeatedly claimed fraudulent credits without their customers' knowledge, the U.S. Department of Justice told a Florida federal court.
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May 29, 2024
Baker McKenzie Grows Tax Practice With Ex-KPMG Adviser
Baker McKenzie announced the hiring of an experienced Chicago-based tax adviser as a principal who most recently spent sixteen and a half years at Big Four accounting firm KPMG.
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May 29, 2024
Presidential Candidate Convicted For $15.5M Tax Fraud
A tax-preparation business owner and 2024 presidential candidate was convicted on 33 counts of tax fraud after being accused of inflating deductions in a scheme federal prosecutors said caused more than $15.5 million in tax losses, according to Texas federal court documents.
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May 29, 2024
Treasury Details Which Tech Would Get Clean Energy Credits
Treasury released proposed rules Wednesday outlining which technologies would qualify for new zero-emission energy tax credits, saying wind, solar and geothermal are among those that would make the cut.
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May 28, 2024
Preserving Enhanced LITC Funding Could Aid Tax System
Lawmakers haven't yet enacted funding levels for low-income taxpayer clinics for 2025, but they could grease the wheels of tax administration by preserving enhanced funding for the clinics, which helps more taxpayers comply with the law, reducing the burden on the IRS.
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May 28, 2024
Mich. Doctor Denied Release From Contempt In FBAR Fight
A Michigan doctor will stay jailed for civil contempt after a federal judge found Tuesday that he failed to back up claims that he cannot pay his more than $1 million in foreign bank account reporting penalties due to a bank's bankruptcy and his criminal history.
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May 28, 2024
Biz Groups Back BofA In Merger Interest Tax Fight At 4th Circ.
Business groups told the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday that they supported Bank of America in its fight against a North Carolina federal court ruling that found the bank wasn't entitled to net the interest on the tax liabilities of Merrill Lynch after the two companies merged.
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May 28, 2024
Wisconsin Atty Gets 5½ Years For $2.3M Fraud, Tax Evasion
An attorney licensed in Wisconsin has been sentenced to 5½ years in federal prison and ordered to pay around $2.3 million in restitution for her involvement in multiple fraud schemes, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
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May 28, 2024
Home Care Co. Says It's Owed $1.1M In Pandemic Tax Credits
The IRS has unfairly delayed paying a home healthcare service in Pennsylvania more than $1.1 million in pandemic-era employee retention tax credits while the agency claims to be checking that the business doesn't owe taxes, the company told a federal court.
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May 28, 2024
Global Tax Body Provides Crypto Risk Assessment Red Flags
The Internal Revenue Service and four international tax authorities issued an advisory to financial institutions on the dangers of cryptocurrency in relation to tax evasion, money laundering and other illicit activities, identifying certain risk factors worth their attention.
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May 28, 2024
Tax Lawyer Rejoins Mayer Brown In DC From Latham
Mayer Brown LLP has rehired a tax partner from Latham & Watkins LLP, who joins the firm in Washington, D.C., to continue working with clients to best utilize renewable energy tax credits, the firm announced Tuesday.
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May 28, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Touch IRS Bid For Tax Liability On Bookie
A bookie who pled guilty to helping run an illegal sports gambling ring out of Peru can't escape his ensuing $100,000 tax liability under a Ninth Circuit ruling that declined to expunge his conviction after he argued the taxes are disproportionately punishing.
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May 24, 2024
Court Upholds Limit To Award In Ecopetrol, Texas Co. Dispute
An arbitration tribunal was within its authority to limit the number of years and the amount that a Houston-based oil company had to reimburse Colombia's state-owned entity, Ecopetrol, for the value-added tax liability of a subsidiary while owned by the company, a New York federal judge determined.
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May 24, 2024
CohnReznick Adds Tax Planning Partner From Mazars
CohnReznick LLP added a top accountant and tax partner from Mazars USA LLP to its roster of tax professionals, the firm announced.
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May 24, 2024
The Tax Angle: TCJA Stalemate, Corp. Rates, Tax Preparers
From a look at the Senate's inaction on a bipartisan House-passed tax bill to efforts to raise the corporate tax rate and regulate tax return preparers, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few of the week's developing tax stories.
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May 24, 2024
IRS Corrects Notice On Bonus Energy Tax Credit Safe Harbors
The Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a correction Friday to a notice providing additional safe harbors that clean energy project developers can use to qualify for bonus tax credits for domestically sourcing their steel and aluminum parts.
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May 24, 2024
Arizona Man Admits To $4.4M Conspiracy To Defraud IRS
An Arizona man admitted to conspiring with a New Jersey tax preparer to obtain at least $4.4 million by defrauding the Internal Revenue Service in an elaborate identify theft scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
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May 24, 2024
Lists Of State Laws That Satisfy Charitable Org. Regs Invalid
The Internal Revenue Service rendered obsolete two lists of state laws and circumstances that allowed for charitable organizations to satisfy certain federal requirements, as a number of the relevant laws have since changed, the agency announced Friday.
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May 24, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Wachtell, Latham
In this week's Taxation With Representation, SouthState Corp. buys Independent Bank Group Inc., CyberArk acquires Venafi, Carlyle clinches its fifth Japanese buyout fund, and AuditBoard Inc. agrees to be bought by Hg Capital.
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May 24, 2024
No Loss For Parent Cos. For Spinoff Stock, IRS Says
A publicly traded parent corporation planning to expand business partly through the separation of two companies will not recognize a gain or loss when it receives the controlled stock of an internal spinoff, the Internal Revenue Service said in a private letter ruling released Friday.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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US-Chile Tax Treaty May Encourage Cross-Border Investment
Provisions in the recently effective U.S.-Chile bilateral income tax treaty should encourage business between the two countries, as they reduce U.S. withholding tax on investment income for Chilean taxpayers, exempt certain U.S. taxpayers from Chilean capital gains tax, and clarify U.S. foreign tax credit rules, say attorneys at Kramer Levin.
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A Look Ahead For The Electric Vehicle Charging Industry
This will likely be an eventful year for the electric vehicle market as government efforts to accelerate their adoption inevitably clash with backlash from supporters of the petroleum industry, say Rue Phillips at SkillFusion and Enid Joffe at Green Paradigm Consulting.