Federal
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February 11, 2026
House OKs Ending Canada Tariffs After GOP Block Fails
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution Wednesday evening that would end President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canadian imports, a day after Republican lawmakers were unable to pass a measure blocking that kind of effort.
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February 11, 2026
US Budget Deficit Projected To Hit $3.1T By 2036
The U.S. budget deficit is tracking toward $3.1 trillion by 2036 after the first year of President Donald Trump's administration, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday, saying the costs of last year's reconciliation bill are expected to only be somewhat balanced out by Trump's tariff regime.
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February 11, 2026
Tax Court Allows IRS To Collect From Nurse Anesthetist
The Internal Revenue Service can continue collecting taxes and penalties for frivolous tax submissions from a nurse anesthetist who improperly reported that she earned no income for five years, the U.S. Tax Court said in an opinion released Wednesday.
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February 11, 2026
Tax Biz Owner Owes Taxes, Fraud Penalties, Tax Court Says
The owner of a tax return business who held degrees in business and accounting is on the hook for $73,000 in taxes and fraud penalties after the U.S. Tax Court found he claimed inflated deductions for business and other expenses.
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February 11, 2026
'It Takes Time To Write': Jackson On High Court's Tariff Ruling
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has provided an unusual update on the court's decision over President Donald Trump's authority to impose emergency tariffs, saying in a TV interview that the justices are still working on what is one of their most anticipated rulings this term.
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February 11, 2026
Tax Group Of The Year: Sullivan & Cromwell
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's tax practice showed the depth of its experience this past year, advising on multijurisdictional tax litigations to playing a key role counseling RedBird Capital Partners in a deal that merged Paramount and Skydance, helping it earn a place among the 2025 Law360 Tax Groups of the Year.
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February 11, 2026
7th Circ. Denies New Trial To Convicted Tax Preparer
A tax preparer convicted of filing false returns and stealing her grandmother's pension will not receive a new trial, the Seventh Circuit ruled, rejecting her argument that a lower court made a mistake in allowing her to represent herself.
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February 11, 2026
Morgan Lewis Adds 30-Year Baker McKenzie Atty, Ex-Tax Chair
The former chair of Baker McKenzie's Americas tax practice has joined Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP's Washington, D.C., team, where he'll work as a partner on transfer pricing disputes and tax matters, the firm announced Wednesday.
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February 10, 2026
Tom Goldstein To Testify At Tax Trial Wednesday
SCOTUSblog co-founder Thomas Goldstein will take the stand in his tax fraud trial Wednesday, after the government rested its case with an IRS agent tallying up $3.6 million that she said went unreported on his 2016 tax return.
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February 10, 2026
DC Circ. Seeks End To Atty Fight Over Fees From IRS Deal
The D.C. Circuit wants to stop a fight over almost $800,000 in attorney fees from a suit against the Internal Revenue Service that was settled years ago, telling the parties' counsel during oral arguments Tuesday they'd like to put the matter to bed for good.
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February 10, 2026
Senate Blocks Resolution To Reject IRS Corp. AMT Guidance
The Senate rejected a resolution Tuesday that had been introduced to reverse IRS guidance that would allow corporations to use different methods to calculate partnership investment income under the corporate alternative minimum tax.
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February 10, 2026
Tax Court Lets IRS Claw Back Child Credit Overpayment
The IRS can use standard deficiency procedures to recover nearly $16,000 that was erroneously refunded to a woman after the agency's computer system mistakenly boosted her additional child tax credit, the U.S. Tax Court held Tuesday.
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February 10, 2026
Broker Renews Fight Against $6.6M Civil Fraud Penalties
An insurance broker renewed challenges to a $6.6 million civil fraud tax penalty over its captive deductions by arguing that the assessment required a jury trial, telling a Pennsylvania federal court that recent rulings, including in the Fifth Circuit, have reinvigorated requests the court previously denied.
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February 10, 2026
The Tax Angle: DC Home Rule Override, GOP Messaging
From a look at congressional efforts to overturn a Washington, D.C., law decoupling the district's tax code from the 2025 GOP budget law to Republicans' efforts to recast the budget law as more favorable to working families, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few developing tax stories.
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February 10, 2026
GAO Urges IRS To Address Retention Tax Credit Errors
The Internal Revenue Service should complete an improper payment estimate for the pandemic-era employee retention credit in order to guide future decisions on employment tax relief, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a report published Tuesday.
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February 10, 2026
IRS Misses Its Goal For Paperless Processing, TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service did not meet its goal to achieve paperless processing for all tax returns by the 2025 tax filing season, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a report released Tuesday.
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February 10, 2026
DOJ Drops Bid For Offshore Asset Freeze In $28M Tax Suit
The U.S. Department of Justice and a family of overseas-trust beneficiaries struck a partial deal in a $28 million tax suit in Florida federal court, with the DOJ dropping its push to freeze the family's assets and the family agreeing to temporarily limit their account withdrawals.
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February 09, 2026
Goldstein's Defense Questions Missing Tax Emails
Document retention at the outside accounting firm for SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein and his law firm took center stage at the U.S. Supreme Court lawyers' tax fraud trial Monday, as the defense claimed that the accountants' internal emails about Goldstein's tax returns were never produced despite being sought in subpoenas.
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February 09, 2026
9th Circ. Backs Comerica's Escape From Investor Suit
The Ninth Circuit backed Comerica's win in an investor dispute led by a pension fund accusing the bank of misleading investors about its oversight of a U.S. Department of the Treasury contract, concluding a California federal judge was right to permanently toss the case for failure to state a claim.
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February 09, 2026
Calif. Woman Owes Refund For Health Credits, Tax Court Says
A California woman was well above the income threshold to be a recipient of more than $11,000 in tax credits intended to be used for low-income individuals to purchase healthcare through the federal marketplace, a special U.S. Tax Court trial judge said Monday.
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February 09, 2026
Tax Court Upholds IRS Deficiency Over Restaurant Receipts
A deceased attorney and his wife underreported income from a family restaurant business and failed to back up depreciation deductions they claimed for two rental properties, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday, sustaining most of the findings of the Internal Revenue Service.
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February 09, 2026
Tax Court Says Rancher Isn't Hobbyist, Can Deduct Expenses
A Texas rancher can deduct more than $205,000 in farm expenses the IRS said were not linked to a for-profit activity after the U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday that he was trying to run a bona fide ranching business even though it wasn't profitable.
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February 09, 2026
Renewable Fuel Co. Owner Cops To $6M Tax Credit Scheme
The owner of a renewable fuel company copped to a scheme that sought more than $6 million in fraudulent tax credits related to how much biodiesel the company claimed to produce, according to Florida federal court documents.
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February 09, 2026
DOD Employee Denies Laundering Millions For Scammers
A U.S. Department of Defense logistics specialist pled not guilty Monday to federal charges accusing him of laundering millions as part of an alleged Nigeria-based fraud scheme that targeted victims in the United States.
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February 09, 2026
$19M In Foreign Account Penalties Required Jury, Court Told
A U.S.-German citizen who failed to report his foreign accounts to the IRS told a Florida federal court that his $19 million punishment violates his right to a jury trial under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that curbed the use of in-house agency courts to hand down stiff penalties.
Expert Analysis
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3 Steps For In-House Counsel To Assess Litigation Claims
Before a potential economic downturn, in-house attorneys should investigate whether their company is sitting on hidden litigation claims that could unlock large recoveries to help the business withstand tough times, says Will Burgess at Hilgers Graben.
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IRS And ICE Info Sharing Could Drive Payroll Tax Enforcement
Tax crimes are historically difficult to prosecute, but the Internal Revenue Services’ recent agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to share taxpayer records of non-U.S. citizens could be used to enhance payroll tax-related enforcement against their employers, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Enviro To Mid-Law
Practitioners leaving a longtime government role for private practice — as when I departed the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental enforcement division — should prioritize finding a firm that shares their principles, values their experience and will invest in their transition, says John Cruden at Beveridge & Diamond.
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Legal Ethics Considerations For Law Firm Pro Bono Deals
If a law firm enters into a pro bono deal with the Trump administration in exchange for avoiding or removing an executive order, it has an ethical obligation to create a written settlement agreement with specific terms, which would mitigate some potential conflict of interest problems, says Andrew Altschul at Buchanan Angeli.
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10 Arbitrations And A 5th Circ. Ruling Flag Arb. Clause Risks
The ongoing arbitral saga of Sullivan v. Feldman, which has engendered proceedings before 10 different arbitrators in Texas and Louisiana along with last month's Fifth Circuit opinion, showcases both the risks and limitations of arbitration clauses in retainer agreements for resolving attorney-client disputes, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.
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Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions
The first quarter of 2025 was filled with the refinement of old theories in the property and casualty space, including in vehicle valuation, time to seek appraisal and materials depreciation, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.
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Power To The Paralegals: The Value Of Unified State Licensing
Texas' proposal to become the latest state to license paraprofessional providers of limited legal services could help firms expand their reach and improve access to justice, but consumers, attorneys and allied legal professionals would benefit even more if similar programs across the country become more uniform, says Michael Houlberg at the University of Denver.
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10 Soft Skills Every GC Should Master
As businesses face shifting regulatory and technological uncertainty, general counsel will need to strengthen certain soft skills to succeed, from admitting when they make a mistake to maintaining a healthy dose of dispassion, says Douglas Brown at Manatt.
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An Unrestrained, Bright-Eyed View Of Legal AI's Future
Todd Itami at Covington offers a bright-eyed, laughing-all-the-way, skydive look at what the legal industry could look like after an artificial intelligence revolution, which he believes may happen much sooner and more dramatically than we expect.
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Tracking The Evolution In Litigation Finance
Despite continued innovation, litigation finance remains an immature market with borrowers recieving significantly different terms as lenders learn to value cases, which firms need a strong handle on to ensure lending terms do not overwhelm collateral value, says Robert Wilkins at Lightfoot Franklin.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: The Perils Of Digital Data Protocols
Though stipulated protocols governing the treatment of electronically stored information in litigation are meant to streamline discovery, recent disputes demonstrate that certain missteps in the process can lead to significant inefficiencies, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Maximizing Exemptions Before TCJA Rides Into The Sunset
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Individuals with taxable estates can optimize the benefits of estate planning strategies like spousal lifetime access trusts by setting them up before increases in estate and gift tax exemptions under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act sunset in January, say attorneys at Katten.
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A Cold War-Era History Lesson On Due Process
The landmark Harry Bridges case from the mid-20th century Red Scare offers important insights on why lawyers must be free of government reprisal, no matter who their client is, says Peter Afrasiabi at One LLP.