Federal
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August 22, 2025
Canada To Toss Tariffs On US Goods Under USMCA
The Canadian government will remove retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods that comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, excluding steel, aluminum and automobiles, in a move aimed at jump-starting trade talks akin to an exemption made by the U.S. government, Canada's prime minister said Friday.
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August 22, 2025
Tribe Member Can't Discharge Tax Debt, 10th Circ. Affirms
An Oklahoma federal court correctly affirmed a bankruptcy court's refusal to reopen a case brought by a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation who claimed his tax debt should have been discharged in bankruptcy, the Tenth Circuit said.
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August 22, 2025
Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Weil, Fried Frank
In this week's Taxation With Representation, private equity firm Thoma Bravo buys human resources software provider Dayforce Inc. in a take-private deal, Lowe's buys Foundation Building Materials, Nexstar Media Group Inc. acquires fellow media company Tegna Inc., and Soho House & Co. Inc. inks a take-private deal with hotel operator MCR.
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August 22, 2025
Michigan Judge Gives Initial OK To Tax Foreclosure Deal
A Michigan federal judge has granted preliminary approval to a settlement that would allow former property owners to receive the surplus profits they allege county treasurers made selling their tax-delinquent properties.
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August 22, 2025
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included proposed rules that would change its system of business classification for employees hoping to exclude fringe benefits and employee discounts from their gross income.
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August 22, 2025
Treasury Doubles Statutory Value Of Clean Energy Credit
The U.S. Department of the Treasury is nearly doubling the statutory value of an income tax credit for producing electricity in line with a regularly scheduled increase tied to inflation, according to a Friday notice.
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August 21, 2025
Man Who Hid Account From Wife Owes FBAR Fines, US Says
A claim by the owner of a check-cashing business that he only meant to hide a foreign bank account from his wife during divorce proceedings doesn't excuse his failure to report the money to the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. told a California federal court.
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August 21, 2025
EU, US Agree To Eliminate Industrial Tariffs
The European Union and the U.S. have agreed on new terms to the trade agreement to eliminate EU tariffs on U.S. industrial products and implement a 15% U.S. tariff cap for most other sectors, according to a joint statement issued Thursday.
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August 21, 2025
Treasury Gets New Acting International Tax Counsel
A deputy international tax counsel for the U.S. Department of the Treasury has been elevated to serve as acting counsel, he said in a post on LinkedIn.
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August 21, 2025
IRS Asks For Input On Free Filing Programs
The Internal Revenue Service is surveying the public on tax preparation and filing as part of efforts to prepare a report for Congress on key issues surrounding free tax filing options, the agency said Thursday.
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August 21, 2025
Gov't Shrugs Off Sentencing Errors, IRS Leaker Tells DC Circ.
The IRS contractor appealing his five-year prison sentence for leaking thousands of wealthy people's tax returns to the media accused the U.S. of glossing over sentencing errors that unfairly burdened him with "the harshest sentence possible," he told the D.C. Circuit.
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August 21, 2025
G7 Deal May Undermine Global Minimum Tax Enforcement
The U.S. government's agreement with the Group of Seven nations to effectively exempt American companies from the 15% global minimum tax may hollow out enforcement of the international regime, in part because other multinational corporations may pursue similar treatment.
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August 20, 2025
Gov't Asks 8th Circ. To Ignore 2nd Circ. Tax Deadline Ruling
A government attorney seeking to stop a couple from challenging their tax bill in the U.S. Tax Court urged the Eighth Circuit not to follow the Second Circuit's recent determination that the 90-day petition filing deadline is flexible, saying that decision split from long-held precedent.
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August 20, 2025
Fla. Man Who Evaded $7M In Federal Taxes Gets Probation
A Florida investor who admitted to cheating the Internal Revenue Service out of $7 million in taxes was sentenced Wednesday to probation after telling a federal judge he suffers from serious health issues, including Stage 4 kidney cancer and early-onset dementia.
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August 20, 2025
Texas Plastics Co. Says Captive Insurance Program Legit
A plastics manufacturer's captive insurance program to cover itself from various industrial and commercial risks was set up for legitimate reasons, the company told a Texas federal court in a bid to restore a tax deduction the IRS had denied on its premiums.
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August 20, 2025
Morris Manning Faces $5M Ga. RICO Suit Over Tax Strategy
Morris Manning & Martin LLP is facing allegations of racketeering and tax fraud in a suit brought in Georgia state court by three investors that names a number of professional services firms.
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August 20, 2025
Nutter Welcomes Tax Atty In NY From Fox Horan
Less than a month after announcing it had grown its ranks by 8% with the addition of 13 attorneys in three states, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP said earlier this week that it has hired a New York-based tax attorney from Fox Horan & Camerini LLP.
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August 20, 2025
IRS Lost Lien In Bankruptcy, Man Says In $28M Tax Battle
The Internal Revenue Service jettisoned any federal tax lien it claims to have against a man by filing an unsecured claim in his bankruptcy case, he told a Florida federal court Wednesday in response to the government's $28 million lawsuit against him.
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August 19, 2025
IRS To Float Rules Aimed At Easing Corporate Moves To US
The IRS announced plans Tuesday to propose regulations that would make it easier for publicly traded foreign corporations that own U.S. real estate to move their official base to the U.S. without facing unexpected tax issues.
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August 19, 2025
IRS Told To Explain Granting $142M Contract Without Bids
The IRS must explain why it thinks an executive order mandating electronic tax payments required it to skip the competitive bidding process in awarding a $142 million contract for scanning and digitizing incoming tax filings, the Court of Federal Claims said.
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August 19, 2025
Reasoning For IRS Firings Clashes With Reality, TIGTA Says
Probationary workers at the Internal Revenue Service who were told earlier this year that they were fired for performance had been rated highly or had not been there long enough to be evaluated, according to a report Tuesday by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
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August 19, 2025
Fed. Circ. Won't Revisit Steel Duties On German Companies
The Federal Circuit denied Tuesday a request for it to reconsider a precedential opinion upholding steel duties on German companies imposed after the U.S. Department of Commerce applied adverse facts available in an antidumping investigation.
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August 19, 2025
Medtronic Sees Tariffs Adding $185M To Costs This Year
Medtronic expects tariffs to add $185 million to its costs over the course of its current fiscal year, an amount lower than a previous estimate due to the company's efforts to lessen tariffs' impact, an executive said Tuesday in an earnings call.
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August 19, 2025
NJ Man Gets 30 Months For Russian Arms Dealing Scheme
A dual U.S.-Russian national was sentenced in a New York federal court to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to his role in a scheme to smuggle sensitive, U.S.-made technology to further Russia's weapons development, prosecutors announced.
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August 19, 2025
Trump Tariff Suit Belongs In Trade Court, Gov't Tells DC Circ.
Suits challenging President Donald Trump's imposition of emergency tariffs belong in the U.S. Court of International Trade and a D.C. federal judge improperly considered a case lodged by Illinois-based toy makers in his court, the government told the D.C. Circuit.
IRS Guidance Sparks Mixed Reaction For Solar, Wind Projects
The IRS recently narrowed the way large solar and wind energy development projects can set their construction start dates to qualify for certain tax credits, a change offering relief for some developers but new hurdles for others depending on the stage, type and size of the project.
Tax Court Says Civil Fraud Penalty Cases Don't Require Juries
The U.S. Tax Court rejected Thursday a Mississippi partnership's bid, based on the Supreme Court's landmark 2024 decision requiring a jury to adjudicate common law fraud penalties, to dismiss civil fraud penalties the IRS imposed on a conservation easement transaction.
IRS To Nix Recent Rules On Disregarded Foreign Payments
The U.S. Treasury Department and IRS said Wednesday that they're planning to remove rules issued in January that would have forced companies to recognize income from payments that are disregarded for U.S. taxes yet reduce income in a foreign jurisdiction, a move prompted by criticism from businesses.
IRS Guidance Sparks Mixed Reaction For Solar, Wind Projects
The IRS recently narrowed the way large solar and wind energy development projects can set their construction start dates to qualify for certain tax credits, a change offering relief for some developers but new hurdles for others depending on the stage, type and size of the project.
Tax Court Says Civil Fraud Penalty Cases Don't Require Juries
The U.S. Tax Court rejected Thursday a Mississippi partnership's bid, based on the Supreme Court's landmark 2024 decision requiring a jury to adjudicate common law fraud penalties, to dismiss civil fraud penalties the IRS imposed on a conservation easement transaction.
IRS To Nix Recent Rules On Disregarded Foreign Payments
The U.S. Treasury Department and IRS said Wednesday that they're planning to remove rules issued in January that would have forced companies to recognize income from payments that are disregarded for U.S. taxes yet reduce income in a foreign jurisdiction, a move prompted by criticism from businesses.
Featured Stories
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IRS Guidance Sparks Mixed Reaction For Solar, Wind Projects
The IRS recently narrowed the way large solar and wind energy development projects can set their construction start dates to qualify for certain tax credits, a change offering relief for some developers but new hurdles for others depending on the stage, type and size of the project.
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G7 Deal May Undermine Global Minimum Tax Enforcement
The U.S. government's agreement with the Group of Seven nations to effectively exempt American companies from the 15% global minimum tax may hollow out enforcement of the international regime, in part because other multinational corporations may pursue similar treatment.
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Trump's Brazil Tariffs Raise Questions About Legal Limits
Higher tariffs imposed last week on Brazilian imports may prove especially vulnerable to legal challenges, but stakeholders expect the U.S.-Brazil trading relationship to nevertheless remain in limbo for the immediate future.
Expert Analysis
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Lessons From 7th Circ.'s Deleted Chat Sanctions Ruling
The Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in Pable v. Chicago Transit Authority, affirming the dismissal of an ex-employee’s retaliation claims, highlights the importance of properly handling the preservation of ephemeral messages and clarifies key sanctions issues, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.
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What 2 Profs Noticed As Transactional Law Students Used AI
After a semester using generative artificial intelligence tools with students in an entrepreneurship law clinic, we came away with numerous observations about the opportunities and challenges such tools present to new transactional lawyers, say professors at Cornell Law School.
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BigLaw Settlements Should Not Spur Ethics Deregulation
A recent Law360 op-ed argued that loosening law firm funding restrictions would make BigLaw firms less inclined to settle with the Trump administration, but deregulating legal financing ethics may well prove to be not merely ineffective, but counterproductive, says Laurel Kilgour at the American Economic Liberties Project.
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5 Ways Lawyers Can Earn Back The Public's Trust
Amid salacious headlines about lawyers behaving badly and recent polls showing the public’s increasingly unfavorable view of attorneys, we must make meaningful changes to our culture to rebuild trust in the legal system, says Carl Taylor at Carl Taylor Law.
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Legal Jeopardy Looms Over Trump's Trade Negotiation Plans
Even as the Trump administration announces one trade deal after another, the legal authority of the executive branch to impose tariffs under consensual arrangements with leading trading partners is just as debatable as the unilateral imposition of U.S. tariffs under the president's executive orders, says Jeffrey Bialos at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Opportunity Zone Overhaul Is Good News For Investors
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Recently enacted reforms making the qualified opportunity zone program permanent, restoring the basis step-up for capital gains and adding flexibility to the zone designation process enhance the program’s appeal for long-term investment, says Steven Hadjilogiou at McDermott.
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White House Report Strikes An Optimistic Note On Crypto
Taking seriously President Donald Trump's pledge to adopt a pro-innovation mindset toward digital assets and blockchain technologies, a recent benchmark White House report on crypto provides a comprehensive regulatory framework that takes into account the products' novel characteristics within the high-tech ecosystem, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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Bipartisan Bill Could Aid ESOP Formation, Valuation Clarity
The proposed Retire through Ownership Act represents a meaningful first step toward clarifying whether transactions qualify under the adequate consideration exemption in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, potentially eliminating the litigation risk that has chilled employee stock ownership plan formation, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.
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Bar Exam Reform Must Expand Beyond A Single Updated Test
Recently released information about the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ new NextGen Uniform Bar Exam highlights why a single test is not ideal for measuring newly licensed lawyers’ competency, demonstrating the need for collaborative development, implementation and reform processes, says Gregory Bordelon at Suffolk University.
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A Simple Way Courts Can Help Attys Avoid AI Hallucinations
As attorneys increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence for legal research, courts should consider expanding online quality control programs to flag potential hallucinations — permitting counsel to correct mistakes and sparing judges the burden of imposing sanctions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl and Connors.
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Supreme Court's Criminal Law Decisions: The Term In Review
Though the U.S. Supreme Court’s criminal law decisions in its recently concluded term proved underwhelming by many measures, their opinions revealed trends in how the justices approach criminal cases and offered reminders for practitioners, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.
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Budget Act's Deduction Limit Penalizes Losing Gamblers
A provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that reduces the deduction for gambling losses is unfair to professional and recreational players, risks driving online activity to offshore sites, and will set back efforts to legalize and regulate the industry, says Walter Bourdaghs at Kang Haggerty.
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The Legal Education Status Quo Is No Longer Tenable
As underscored by the fallout from California’s February bar exam, legal education and licensure are tethered to outdated systems, and the industry must implement several key reforms to remain relevant and responsive to 21st century legal needs, says Matthew Nehmer at The Colleges of Law.