Tax

October 22, 2025
Tax Court Judge Warns Against Unchecked AI Use In Filings

A U.S. Tax Court judge cautioned attorneys Wednesday against relying on artificial intelligence to write filings without verifying the information it generates, saying recent "unfortunate incidents" have prompted the court to double down on accuracy in using such tools.
October 22, 2025
'The Right Facts' Can Reduce Cos.' Tariff Impacts, Atty Says

Multinational companies with U.S. distributors that typically bear fewer business risks and earn low profit margins may be able to mitigate the effect of U.S. tariffs on their business as a whole by having a foreign principal bear the tariff costs, an attorney said Wednesday.
October 22, 2025
COST Urges Ky. Justices To Reject Walgreens' Tax Valuations

Kentucky's Supreme Court should reverse an appeal court's ruling finding that a local assessor correctly took above-market contract rents into consideration when valuing several Walgreen store properties, the Council on State Taxation said, because it unfairly raised their assessed values.
October 22, 2025
Presidential Firing Limits Fight Builds At High Court

The ousted U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board chair has encouraged the U.S. Supreme Court to include a caveat for "legislative courts" if it overturns precedent that empowers Congress to limit the president's authority to fire certain agency officials, but opponents of independent agencies want a clean break from the status quo.
October 22, 2025
Trade Court OKs $235K Tax Bill On Korean Soju Imports

South Korean alcoholic beverages were improperly classified upon entering the U.S., and U.S. Customs and Border Protection correctly calculated a nearly $235,000 bill in unpaid federal excise taxes plus interest, according to the U.S. Court of International Trade.
October 22, 2025
Widow Not Liable For Husband's Tax Debt, 4th Circ. Told

An 80-year-old widow whose husband was imprisoned after hiding more than $20 million from the IRS told the Fourth Circuit that he was "abusive and controlling" and that she shouldn't have to pay the millions of dollars they jointly owe, despite contrary claims by the government.
October 22, 2025
NY Bill Seeks Clean Energy Payment Exemption For Tax Caps

New York would exempt payments in lieu of taxes for renewable energy projects from local governments' property tax cap calculations under a bill introduced in the state Assembly.
October 21, 2025
Partnership Deadline To Dispute IRS Is Fixed, Tax Court Says

A deadline to petition the U.S. Tax Court to challenge IRS adjustments to partnership returns is effectively fixed and cannot be extended, the court said Tuesday in a reviewed decision that denied an Alabama LLC's late bid to restore a $46 million deduction for donating to charity.
October 21, 2025
Discovery Against Gem Company Halted In Malawi's Tax Probe

Malawi's government can no longer proceed with discovery against a gemstone company that partnered with a mining outfit the country claims evaded billions of dollars in taxes and royalties on exported rubies and sapphires, a Washington federal judge ruled, vacating his own order.
October 21, 2025
CPA Admits $1.7M Tax Fraud, Pandemic Loan Charges

A Massachusetts certified public accountant has agreed to plead guilty to failing to disclose to the IRS nearly $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation to an employee and making false certifications to obtain pandemic relief loans.
October 21, 2025
Medtronic Says 8th Circ. Wrongly Tossed Tax Court's Method

The Eighth Circuit's rejection of the U.S. Tax Court's latest ruling on the pricing of Medtronic intangibles placed unnecessary restrictions on the court's unspecified method addressing such assets transferred to Puerto Rico, the company argued as it asked the circuit court to rethink its decision.
October 20, 2025
NY AG Reaches Deal With Accounting Firm Over Data Breaches

A certified public accounting firm has agreed to pay $60,000 and improve its data security to resolve the New York attorney general's claims that it failed to adequately protect unencrypted Social Security numbers and other personal information swept up in a pair of data breaches or swiftly notify affected clients.
October 20, 2025
Tax Pros Seek Clarity In Energy Supplier Certification Rules

The U.S. Treasury Department should clarify how developers can demonstrate new supplier certification compliance for some clean energy tax credits retooled by the Republican budget law, practitioners said Monday, noting uncertainty over what information could suffice under new restrictions on certain foreign suppliers.
October 20, 2025
Tax Startup CEO Swindled $13M From Investors, SEC Says

The CEO of a defunct tax-compliance startup lied to investors as she raised $13 million for her company, overstating its revenues by almost 900 times and falsely claiming she was a certified public accountant, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday in California federal court.
October 20, 2025
Emergency Tariffs Unlawfully Unprecedented, Justices Told

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act has never been used until President Donald Trump to impose tariffs, and nowhere does the law provide that explicit authority, a dozen states, several small businesses and a pair of Illinois toymakers told the U.S. Supreme Court Monday.
October 20, 2025
Justices Won't Review Repeat Indictment For Medicare Fraud

The U.S. Supreme Court let stand Monday the repeat indictment of a health clinic manager for what the Second Circuit called a massive, yearslong scheme to submit false claims to Medicare and Medicaid, effectively rejecting the manager's claims that his original trial was irreparably delayed.
October 17, 2025
Arson, Stalking Claims Not Defamatory, NC Biz Court Rules

A Virginia couple has lost their bid for a pretrial win on claims their former friends defamed them online, with a North Carolina Business Court judge finding the posts weren't defamatory and their identities couldn't otherwise be easily deduced.
October 17, 2025
NM Medical Cannabis Co. Tells Tax Court 280E Does Not Apply

A New Mexico medical marijuana company said Friday that a federal policy barring cannabis enterprises from taking ordinary business deductions should not apply, and the company is entitled to a refund for overpayment.
October 17, 2025
3rd Circ. Won't Rethink IRS Collections For Preparer Fraud

The Third Circuit declined Friday to reconsider a panel decision allowing the IRS to pursue a woman's unpaid taxes more than 20 years later — well after the normal three-year deadline — because her return preparer committed fraud on her filings without her knowledge.
October 17, 2025
Georgia Justices Affirm Stormwater Charge Is Fee, Not Tax

A stormwater utility charge levied by a local government in Georgia is a fee, not a tax, the state Supreme Court said, upholding a trial court's finding that the charge did not violate the state constitution's uniformity provision on property taxation.
October 17, 2025
Federal Courts To Scale Back Operations Amid Shutdown

The federal court system has run out of money and will scale back operations beginning Monday as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, possibly leading to case delays.
October 17, 2025
UN Shipping Agency Delays Carbon Price Opposed By US

The United Nations' shipping agency agreed Friday to postpone for one year its plan to introduce a global carbon price, which the U.S. government opposes, having called it a "global carbon tax."
October 17, 2025
Covington Adds Former IRS Special Counsel In DC

Covington & Burling LLP has grown its tax practice in Washington, D.C., with the addition of a former special counsel in the Office of Chief Counsel at the Internal Revenue Service.
October 17, 2025
Estate Fights $4M Bill In Tax Court, Citing IRS Valuation Errors

An estate challenged $4 million in taxes the Internal Revenue Service said it owes, telling the U.S. Tax Court that the agency made valuation mistakes related to loans for autism research and interests in companies that included a Caterpillar dealership.
October 17, 2025
Steptoe Hires Corporate, Energy, Transactions Partner

Steptoe LLP has hired the former lead land use and real estate counsel for Florida's almost $3 billion I-4 ultimate highway reconstruction project, who has joined the firm's Washington, D.C., transactions practice to continue working with energy, infrastructure and real estate development matters.

Expert Analysis

2 Rulings Highlight IRS' Uncertain Civil Fraud Penalty Powers

Conflicting decisions from the U.S. Tax Court and the Northern District of Texas that hinge on whether the IRS can administratively assert civil fraud penalties since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in SEC v. Jarkesy provide both opportunities and potential pitfalls for taxpayers, says Michael Landman at Bird Marella.
Junior Attys Must Beware Of 5 Common Legal Brief Mistakes

Excerpt from Practical Guidance

Junior law firm associates must be careful to avoid five common pitfalls when drafting legal briefs — from including every possible argument to not developing a theme — to build the reputation of a sought-after litigator, says James Argionis at Cozen O'Connor.
Digital Asset Report Opens Doors For Banks, But Risks Linger

A recent report from a White House working group discussing digital asset market structure signals how banks may elect to expand into digital asset custody, trading and related services in the years ahead, but the road remains layered with challenges, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.
Series

Power To The Paralegals: How And Why Training Must Evolve

Empowering paralegals through new models of education that emphasize digital fluency, interdisciplinary collaboration and human-centered lawyering could help solve workforce challenges and the justice gap — if firms, educators and policymakers get on board, say Kristine Custodio Suero and Kelli Radnothy.
5 Real Estate Takeaways From Trump's Sweeping Tax Law

Changes to the Internal Revenue Code included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will have a range of effects on real estate sponsors, investors and real estate investment trusts — from more compliance flexibility around taxable REIT subsidiary limits to new considerations raised by a key retaliatory tax provision that was left out, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
Evaluating The Current State Of Trump's Tariff Deals

As the Trump administration's ambitious tariff effort rolls into its ninth month, and many deals lack the details necessary to provide trade market certainty, attorneys at Adams & Reese examine where things stand.
Series

Playing Softball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My time on the softball field has taught me lessons that also apply to success in legal work — on effective preparation, flexibility, communication and teamwork, says Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty.
Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Mastering Time Management

Law students typically have weeks or months to prepare for any given deadline, but the unpredictability of practicing in the real world means that lawyers must become time-management pros, ready to adapt to scheduling conflicts and unexpected assignments at any given moment, says David Thomas at Honigman.
How Hyperlinks Are Changing E-Discovery Responsibilities

A recent e-discovery dispute over hyperlinked data in Hubbard v. Crow shows how courts have increasingly broadened the definition of control to account for cloud-based evidence, and why organizations must rethink preservation practices to avoid spoliation risks, says Bree Murphy at Exterro.
State False Claims Acts Can Help Curb Opioid Fund Fraud

State versions of the federal False Claims Act can play an important role in policing the misuse of opioid settlement funds, taking a cue from the U.S. Department of Justice’s handling of federal fraud cases involving pandemic relief funds, says Kenneth Levine at Stone & Magnanini.
Revamped Opportunity Zones Can Aid Clean Energy Projects

The Qualified Opportunity Zone program, introduced in 2017 and reshaped in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, offers investors federal tax incentives for development in low-income communities — incentives that are especially meaningful for clean energy projects, where capital-intensive infrastructure and long-term planning are essential, say attorneys at Dentons.
Sales And Use Tax Strategies For Renewables After OBBBA

With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act sharply curtailing federal tax incentives for solar and wind projects, it is vital for developers to carefully manage state and local sales and use tax exposures through early planning and careful contract structuring, say advisers at KPMG.
Series

Writing Musicals Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My experiences with writing musicals and practicing law have shown that the building blocks for both endeavors are one and the same, because drama is necessary for the law to exist, says Addison O’Donnell at LOIS Law.
How Fashion, Tech Can Maximize New Small Biz Tax Breaks

Fashion and technology companies, which invest heavily in innovation, should consider taking advantage of provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that favor small businesses, restructuing if necessary to become eligible for expanded research and experimental expenditure credits and qualified small business stock incentives, says Aime Salazar at Olshan Frome.
Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From Va. AUSA To Mid-Law

Returning to the firm where I began my career after seven years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia has been complex, nuanced and rewarding, and I’ve learned that the pursuit of justice remains the constant, even as the mindset and client change, says Kristin Johnson at Woods Rogers.