Federal
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April 01, 2024
BakerHostetler Adds Partner To Tax Practice Group
BakerHostetler's Washington office has added a partner from Morris Manning and Martin LLP to join its tax practice group, Baker said in a statement Monday.
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April 01, 2024
Baker Donelson Adds EY Tax Pro To Houston Office
A former EY senior manager has joined Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC's tax group in Houston as counsel, the firm announced.
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April 01, 2024
Jailed Atty Pleads Not Guilty To Witness Tampering In Tax Case
A Chicago-area lawyer facing more than a dozen criminal tax fraud charges pled not guilty Monday to superseding charges that he tried scripting a bookkeeper's anticipated testimony, but he'll have to wait to learn whether he'll remain jailed until his upcoming retrial.
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April 01, 2024
Texas Tax Man Gets 3 Years, Must Pay $6.7M For Fake Filings
A Texas man who pled guilty to assisting with the preparation of false tax returns will serve three years in prison and pay restitution of $6.7 million, a Texas federal court ruled.
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April 01, 2024
Wis. Couple Must Pay $1.5M In Back Taxes, US Tells Court
A Wisconsin federal court should force a couple who owe more than $1.5 million in back taxes to pay up, the U.S. government said.
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March 29, 2024
Petition Watch: Off-Label Ads, Retiree Discrimination & PPE
A Utah attorney has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether allegedly retaliatory IRS summonses can be quashed, and two former pharmaceutical executives are challenging the constitutionality of their convictions for marketing the off-label use of a drug. Here, Law360 looks at recently filed petitions that you might've missed.
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March 29, 2024
100 Projects Get Share Of $4B In Advanced Energy Tax Credits
More than 100 projects across 35 states received a share of the $4 billion in tax credit funding that incentivizes investment in new or refurbished facilities that manufacture critical products and materials that support the clean energy supply chain, the U.S. government announced Friday.
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March 29, 2024
APA Work Doubled In 2023, IRS Report Says
The Internal Revenue Service finalized more than twice as many advance pricing agreements for U.S. multinational corporations in 2023 as in the previous year, according to an agency report released Friday.
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March 29, 2024
IRS Clarifies Low-Income Bonus Energy Credit Applications
The Internal Revenue Service released guidance Friday on requirements and other application information for solar and wind project owners that want to apply for this year's bonus tax credit program for building their facilities in low-income communities.
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March 29, 2024
Senate Bill Seeks Credit For No-Emission Electric Lawn Tools
A bill introduced Friday in the Senate would provide small businesses with a tax credit on the purchase of zero-emission electric landscaping equipment.
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March 29, 2024
Green Energy Credit Sales Spur Surge In Tax Insurance
A new way for project owners to monetize clean energy tax credits by selling them for cash has turbocharged demand for insurance policies to cover various risks tied to the transactions, which can often be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
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March 29, 2024
Tax Preparer Gets 30 Months For $780K COVID Aid Scheme
A North Carolina tax preparer who fraudulently obtained $780,000 in pandemic relief loans and laundered money was sentenced in federal court to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release, prosecutors announced.
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March 29, 2024
Atty Called A Flight Risk In $1.3 Billion Tax Fraud Case
An attorney serving a 23-year prison sentence for tax fraud in a $1.3 billion conservation easement scheme is a flight risk and should remain in federal custody while he waits for his appeal, the government told a Georgia federal court Friday.
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March 29, 2024
Income From Schools' Reinsurance Excluded, IRS Says
A nonprofit insurance company can exclude income received for providing reinsurance coverage for a conglomerate of public charter schools from its gross income as its work is "an essential government function," the Internal Revenue Service said in a ruling published Friday.
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March 29, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service issued its weekly bulletin Friday, which included proposed regulations for claiming a tax credit for the production of qualified clean hydrogen.
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March 28, 2024
Tax Court Revokes Treasury's Easement Perpetuity Rule
A divided U.S. Tax Court on Thursday invalidated Treasury rules regarding requirements for charitable donations of conservation easements to protect conservation purposes in perpetuity, granting a partial win to an Oklahoma partnership fighting to keep its $14.8 million conservation easement deduction.
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March 28, 2024
Corp. Transparency Act Overbroad, Mich. Group Tells Court
The Corporate Transparency Act is overbroad and violates both the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, the Small Business Association of Michigan told a federal court in a case similar to one currently in the Eleventh Circuit.
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March 28, 2024
Abuse Of Discretion Claims Fall Flat In $13M Tax Court Case
The federal government may proceed with collecting on a $13 million tax liability after a Colorado woman failed to prove that there was an abuse of discretion when the IRS sustained a levy against her, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Thursday.
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March 28, 2024
Musician's Trips To Japan Not Business, Tax Court Rules
A musician who said he traveled to Japan to conduct market research and learn about the country's music culture cannot claim a deduction of nearly $20,000 in travel expenses, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Thursday.
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March 28, 2024
Canadian In Wash. Owes Over $1M FBAR Penalty, US Says
A Canadian man living in Washington state owes more than $1 million in penalties for failing to report bank accounts he held in Montreal, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a complaint filed in an attempt to collect the money.
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March 28, 2024
Doctor Allowed To Withdraw NBA Fraud Plea, Gets June Trial
A Manhattan federal judge will allow a Seattle-area doctor to pull back his guilty plea and go to trial in June, against prosecutors' objections, in a case alleging he assisted a cohort of retired NBA players to create fake invoices to submit to the league's healthcare plan.
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March 28, 2024
2nd Circ. Urged To Uphold Dual Citizen's FBAR Penalties
A New York federal court correctly upheld tax penalties against a dual French citizen for hiding millions of dollars in six foreign accounts, the U.S. government told the Second Circuit, urging it to reject the woman's claims that American authorities violated the Hague Convention in pursuing her.
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March 28, 2024
IRS Floats Expanding Tax Info Disclosures To Census Bureau
The Internal Revenue Service proposed rules Thursday that would expand what tax return information can be disclosed to the U.S. Census Bureau.
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March 28, 2024
IRS Investigated $9B In Potential COVID Aid Fraud
The criminal investigation arm of the Internal Revenue Service investigated nearly $9 billion in potential fraud cases related to coronavirus relief funds, the agency said Thursday.
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March 28, 2024
Nev. Estate Owes Over $3.8M In FBAR Penalties, Court Rules
The estate of a Nevada entrepreneur must pay over $3.8 million in penalties and interest for willfully failing to report his foreign bank accounts in Belize, the Bahamas and Panama, a federal district court ruled.
Expert Analysis
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Crypto Coverage After FTX Fall: Crime And Custody Coverage
Cryptocurrency firm FTX's recent implosion provides a case study for potential crypto exposure under traditional insurance policies, and suggests carriers should ask some basic underwriting questions, including whether a company engages in transactions involving cryptocurrencies or holds digital assets in custody, says Anjali Das at Wilson Elser.
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US-India Advance Pricing Resolutions Should Reassure Cos.
The United States' and India's tax authorities' recent resolution of a significant number of pending advance pricing agreements should reduce taxpayer uncertainty, reassure companies of the nations' good working relationship and improve India's investment environment, say Miller Williams and Caroline Setliffe at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Reimagining Benefits For A World Without Noncompetes
Though the Federal Trade Commission's recently proposed noncompete ban is still in its infancy, companies should begin considering whether they would need to retool their payment and benefits packages to comply, while still protecting their competitive edge, say Melissa Ostrower and Alec Nealon at Jackson Lewis.
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A Closer Look At Rep. Santos' Claims And Potential Charges
Skadden partner and former federal prosecutor Maria Cruz Melendez discusses Rep. George Santos' legal exposure following his alleged misrepresentations and the possible scope of investigations into his conduct — noting that if history is any indication, the congressman could face prison time if convicted.
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Stock Buyback Excise Tax Guidance A Mixed Bag For SPACs
Recent IRS guidance on the new stock repurchase excise tax includes a welcome exception for publicly traded special-purpose acquisition companies but does not exclude redemptions in connection with a de-SPAC transaction, and further guidance is needed to clarify ambiguities around the exception's application, say Olga Bogush and Evgeny Magidenko at ArentFox Schiff.
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Crypto Coverage After FTX Fall: Accountant And Atty Liability
The recent fall of cryptocurrency firm FTX highlights complexities regarding accounting and tax reporting for digital assets, and reveals lawyers’ potential liability exposure when providing services to crypto firms — as a result, insurers may face unintended vulnerabilities related to this nebulous landscape, say Anjali Das and Farzana Ahmed at Wilson Elser.
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The Forces Defining Sales Tax Policy And Compliance In 2023
In the coming year, expect to see tax policymakers grapple with the complexity of state and local tax compliance, cryptocurrency, metaverse transactions, and more, says Scott Peterson at Avalara.
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Inflation Reduction Act's Methane Tax May Be Unenforceable
Recent legislation directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to impose a first-ever direct charge on methane emissions from oil and gas operations — but two fundamental problems with the formula for calculating this tax could make it impossible for the EPA to implement, say Poe Leggette and Bailey Bridges at BakerHostetler.
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Atty-Client Privilege Arguments Give Justices A Moving Target
Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case regarding the scope of the attorney-client privilege appeared to raise more questions about multipurpose counsel communications than they answered, as the parties presented shifting iterations of a predictable, easily applied test for evaluating the communications' purpose, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.
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Industry Takeaways From IRS Guidance On EV Tax Credits
The IRS and U.S. Department of the Treasury’s recently issued documents on tax credit eligibility for clean vehicle purchases showcases three important points for the electric vehicle industry, including emphasis on the importance of in-service dates, guidance on how leased vehicles could be evaluated, and insight into manufacturing requirements, says Levi McAllister at Morgan Lewis.
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States Must Align Distribution Age Rules With Secure 2.0
To prevent unintended escheatment of retirement benefits, states will need to undertake legislative efforts to amend unclaimed property standards that conflict with the Secure 2.0 Act's required minimum distribution age increases, says Michael Giovannini at Alston & Bird.
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The IRS' APA Rulemaking Journey: There And Back Again
Attorneys at Dentons examine recent challenges in which taxpayers successfully argued Internal Revenue Service rulemaking was invalid under the Administrative Procedure Act, how tax exceptionalism and U.S. Supreme Court regulatory deference prompted such challenges, and similar challenges the agency will likely face following this line of cases.
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Tax Court Ruling Should Allay Post-Boechler Concerns
An unusually long U.S. Tax Court ruling in Hallmark Research Collective v. Commissioner, confirming that deficiency deadlines are jurisdictional, should reassure practitioners concerned about the statutory time limit implications of last year's U.S. Supreme Court Boechler v. Commissioner ruling and reaffirm the vital role of the Tax Court itself, says James Creech at Baker Tilly.