Tax

August 21, 2025
BREAKING: NY Appeals Court Throws Out Trump's $500M Fraud Penalty

A divided New York state appeals court panel on Thursday tossed a nearly $500 million civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump and his sons, companies and their executives, ruling that the fine was "excessive."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
August 19, 2025
Home Depot To Raise Some Prices Due To Tariffs

Home Depot expects to raise prices for some of its products as tariffs weigh its costs, while Congress' latest tax package will boost its cash flow, executives said Tuesday.
August 18, 2025
IRS Sharing Tax Info With ICE Amid Legal Challenge

The Internal Revenue Service has begun sharing taxpayer return information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the government told a D.C. federal court, revising the tax agency's previous stance that it had not received or responded to any such requests.
August 18, 2025
Tax Court Finds Bankrupt Couple Owes Back Taxes

An Internal Revenue Service settlement officer didn't abuse her discretion by sustaining a tax levy against a Texas couple's abandoned assets, because the couple failed to file the correct paperwork, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday.
August 18, 2025
3rd Circ. Says IRS Can Pursue Taxes In Decades-Old Fraud

The IRS can go after a woman's unpaid taxes more than 20 years later because her return preparer committed fraud on her filings, even though the woman did not mean to evade taxes, the Third Circuit ruled Monday.
August 18, 2025
Founder Of 'Modest Needs' Charity Admits Stealing Millions

A New York City man who operated a crowdsourcing charity for the poor copped to fraud and tax evasion charges Monday, telling a Manhattan federal judge that he stole millions and spent the money on a lavish lifestyle.
August 18, 2025
Del. OKs Property Tax Installment Payments, Refund Change

Delaware made property tax changes, including allowing installment payments and changing refund rules, under bills signed by the governor.
August 15, 2025
IRS Strips 5% Safe Harbor In Solar, Wind Tax Credit Guidance

Large-scale clean energy projects seeking to claim solar and wind tax credits before they expire under a new accelerated sunset schedule can no longer rely on a safe harbor to incur 5% of the building costs to establish eligible construction start dates under Internal Revenue Service guidance released Friday.
August 15, 2025
US Eyeing Tariffs, Port Levies Over Shipping Emissions Plan

The U.S. government is considering tariffs, visa restrictions or port levies — and potentially a combination of those measures — in response to an intergovernmental plan to push the global shipping industry toward achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, a U.S. Department of State spokesperson told Law360.
August 15, 2025
New Jersey AG Slams Power Broker's 'Flawed' Appeal Brief

South Jersey power broker George Norcross used a flawed argument in pushing back against New Jersey's effort to revive a dismissed criminal case against him, Attorney General Matthew Platkin has argued in a reply brief filed in state appellate court.
August 15, 2025
Md.'s Digital Ad Tax Violates 1st Amendment, 4th Circ. Says

A provision in Maryland's digital advertising tax that prevents tech companies from directly passing the tax on to customers is unconstitutional, the Fourth Circuit said Friday, ruling that it unfairly suppresses companies' ability to explain the tax to consumers.
August 15, 2025
Truck Co. Asks Justices To Review Denial Of $268M Tax Break

A Tennessee truck company seeking $268 million in excise tax exemptions for its refurbished tractors has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Sixth Circuit decision finding the company's tractors might not qualify because they may have previously been sold to tax-exempt buyers.
August 15, 2025
Taxation With Representation: Wachtell, Cooley, Sullivan

In this week's Taxation With Representation, the NBA signs off on the sale of the Boston Celtics, Gildan Activewear acquires HanesBrands, private equity shop Advent International buys insurance software firm Sapiens, and financial software provider MeridianLink goes private via its acquisition by Centerbridge Partners.
August 15, 2025
Nebraska Tax Board Backs $1.4M Valuation Of Medical Office

A Nebraska dental and physical therapy office was correctly assessed as a medical office, resulting in an increased assessment totaling $1.4 million, the state tax review commission said in an order released Friday.
August 14, 2025
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.
August 14, 2025
Wyden, Warren Ask Lutnick's Son About Firm's Tariff Bets

Senate Democratic ranking members sent a letter published Thursday to Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. CEO Brandon Lutnick raising concerns about potential insider trading and conflicts of interest associated with a financial product hedging the legality of tariffs that his father, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, has been involved in.
August 14, 2025
Developing Nations Disfavor Arbitration In UN Tax Convention

Many developing countries objected Thursday to including arbitration as an option within a protocol on tax disputes in the United Nations framework convention on international tax cooperation, characterizing the process as tending to be imbalanced.
August 14, 2025
Pa. Tax Board Must Revisit Denial Of Calif. Co.'s $4.9M Refund

The Pennsylvania Board of Finance and Revenue must review its denial of a California corporation's request for a refund of an overpayment of Pennsylvania income tax following a federal audit, the Commonwealth Court ruled Thursday.

Editor's Picks

Blockchain Tech May Present New Transfer Pricing Challenges

Companies that develop blockchain systems to digitally record transactions may face difficulties when valuing intangibles tied to the decentralized and highly varied technology, creating novel transfer pricing issues for multinational corporations that create their own blockchain networks.
Trump-Era Tariff Angst Hasn't Gone Away Under Biden

The early days of the Biden administration have been relatively quiet on the trade front, but importers have nevertheless found themselves in the throes of a familiar battle: pleading with the government to hold off on tariffs in a heated trade dispute.
3 Major Implications For States In Biden's Tax Plans

President Joe Biden's sweeping tax changes proposed to pay for trillions in infrastructure spending would significantly alter the way the federal government taxes corporations, leaving states, for the second time in four years, to decide if and how to conform. Here Law360 presents three considerations for states in the president's tax proposals.

Expert Analysis

NY Tax Talk: ALJ Vacancy, Online Sales, Budget

Among the most notable developments in New York tax law last quarter, an administrative law judge vacancy continued affecting taxpayers, a state court decision tested the scope of the Interstate Income Act, and Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the 2025-2026 fiscal budget containing key tax-related provisions, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
Series

Quilting Makes Me a Better Lawyer

Turning intricate patterns of fabric and thread into quilts has taught me that craftsmanship, creative problem-solving and dedication to incremental progress are essential to creating something lasting that will help another person — just like in law, says Veronica McMillan at Kramon & Graham.
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.
Rebuttal

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.
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.
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.
Series

Hiking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

On the trail, I have thought often about the parallels between hiking and high-stakes patent litigation, and why strategizing, preparation, perseverance and joy are important skills for success in both endeavors, says Barbara Fiacco at Foley Hoag.
Opportunity Zone Overhaul Is Good News For Investors

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.
What US-India Trade Deal Will Mean For Indian Pharma

Complicated by newly imposed tariffs from the U.S., the outcome of the U.S.-India trade talks is poised to reshape not just trade policy, but also the strategic alignment of the two countries' pharmaceutical ecosystems, says Jashaswi Ghosh at Holon Law Partners.
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.
Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Negotiation Skills

I took one negotiation course in law school, but most of the techniques I rely on today I learned in practice, where I've discovered that the process is less about tricks or tactics, and more about clarity, preparation and communication, says Grant Schrantz at Haug Barron.
Taxpayers Face Tough Choices Under NJ's New Nexus Rules

Though New Jersey’s new rules expanding the commercial nexus that triggers state taxation are likely to be challenged, businesses still need to carefully consider whether it’s best to minimize potential tax by reducing online customer support services or maintain their current instate services and begin paying tax, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
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.
Opinion

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.
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.