Federal

  • September 25, 2024

    Remote Sales Tax Compliance Burdens Small Biz, Senate Told

    The 2018 Wayfair decision has burdened small businesses with significant compliance costs to collect and remit taxes in thousands of jurisdictions across the U.S., state tax experts told a U.S. Senate subcommittee Wednesday.

  • September 25, 2024

    Accountant Used Fake Tax Docs For Mortgage, Feds Say

    A managing director at consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal was charged in D.C. federal court with failing to file his personal tax returns for over a decade and falsifying tax documents as part of a mortgage application.

  • September 25, 2024

    Harris Proposes Tax Credits For Domestic Manufacturing

    Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, announced a proposal Wednesday that would offer tax credits to boost investment and job creation in manufacturing, energy and agriculture.

  • September 25, 2024

    2 Senate Dems Ask IRS For Faster Worker Credit Payments

    The Internal Revenue Service should speed up payments of employee retention credit claims and prioritize paying low-risk credits to taxpayers that are struggling financially, two Democratic senators told the agency's commissioner.

  • September 25, 2024

    IRS Must Improve Seizure Procedure Compliance, TIGTA Says

    While a review of over 70 cases in which Internal Revenue Service field officers conducted seizures found the employees largely adhered to standard procedures, three cases where they did not highlight areas where the agency could improve its compliance, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Wednesday.

  • September 25, 2024

    Julie Chrisley Gets No Slack In Resentencing From Ga. Judge

    Julie Chrisley, the former real estate mogul and reality TV star who was convicted of running a yearslong bank fraud scheme with her husband, Todd, was resentenced Wednesday by a Georgia federal judge to the same seven-year prison term she first received nearly two years ago.

  • September 25, 2024

    Expect More R&D Guidance Before Regs, IRS Atty Says

    The Internal Revenue Service plans to release more guidance governing the tax treatment of research and development expenses before it formally issues proposed regulations that implement the 2017 federal tax law's changes to the incentive, an agency attorney said Wednesday.

  • September 25, 2024

    House Bill Proposes Tax Incentive For Efficient Vehicles

    Buyers of new vehicles with higher-than-average energy performance would be entitled to a tax credit of up to $5,000 under a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

  • September 25, 2024

    Direct File Needs Security, Testing Improvements, TIGTA Says

    While the deployment of the Internal Revenue Service's pilot of its free online Direct File program was largely successful, the agency must address some security lapses and testing deficiencies, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Wednesday.

  • September 25, 2024

    Basis-Shifting Regs May Add Accounting Fixes, IRS Atty Says

    The Internal Revenue Service may include in upcoming proposed regulations a solution for partnership basis-shifting for taxpayers that want to adjust accounting methods so prior transactions can be compliant with economic substance laws, an agency attorney said Wednesday.

  • September 25, 2024

    Wyden Calls On 2025 Tax Bill To Include Partnership Reform

    Lawmakers should consider next year how to revise partnership tax laws to better collect on large businesses' income without harming smaller entities as Congress debates over how to address expiring tax provisions, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden said Wednesday.

  • September 25, 2024

    House Bill Proposes Housing Incentive For Disabled Veterans

    A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would exclude veteran disability benefits from the income calculation for the low-income housing tax credit.

  • September 25, 2024

    Chicago School Contractor Loses Energy Efficiency Tax Break

    The owner of a Chicago-based electrical contracting company isn't entitled to an over $459,000 tax refund for upgrading Chicago Public Schools buildings with energy-efficient lighting because his company didn't design the systems, only installed them, an Illinois federal judge ruled.

  • September 25, 2024

    Puerto Rico Seeking Input On Implementing Global Min. Tax

    Puerto Rico's Department of the Treasury is looking for public comments regarding possible implementation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's 15% global corporate minimum tax on large multinational entities.

  • September 24, 2024

    1st Circ. Affirms Tossing Of IRS Crypto Doc Seizure Case

    A New Hampshire federal court correctly dismissed a bitcoin investor's claim that the IRS violated his privacy and property rights when it seized his records from the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, the First Circuit ruled Tuesday, agreeing that he lacked a reasonable expectation that his account information would be kept private.

  • September 24, 2024

    Estate's Value Shouldn't Be Increased, Tax Court Says

    The estate of a Maryland doctor who died in a car accident does not have to increase its taxable value by more than $19 million to account for the proceeds of two life insurance policies held by a family trust, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    Halliburton Tardy In Contesting $35M Deduction, US Says

    A Halliburton Co. lawsuit claiming a deduction for a $35 million payoff to a foreign country must be dismissed because the company waited too long to start its action, the U.S. told a Texas federal court.

  • September 24, 2024

    IRS Received $226K In Prohibited Levy Payments In 2023

    The Internal Revenue Service collected more than $226,000 in levy payments in the 2023 fiscal year in collection due process cases that involved prohibited levies, but affected taxpayers were made whole, according to a watchdog report released Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    IRS Largely Complies With Levy Requirements, TIGTA Says

    A review of more than 48,000 levies issued by IRS field collection officers from July 2022 through June 2023 found that they were mostly compliant with both legal and administrative requirements, but the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration identified over 1,900 instances of noncompliance, it said Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    Digital Asset Rules Coming By Year's End, Treasury Atty Says

    The U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service intend to release rules "later this year" on additional reporting requirements for brokers of digital assets such as cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens, a senior Treasury attorney said Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    Wyden, House Dem Float Small-Biz Wage, Investment Credits

    Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and a House Democratic tax writer proposed legislation that would provide small-business wage and investment tax credits, according to a Tuesday statement.

  • September 24, 2024

    Abbott Seeks $24M Refund Over Transfer Pricing Adjustments

    Healthcare products giant Abbott Laboratories is owed $24.3 million for overpaid taxes after the IRS incorrectly adjusted its intragroup income and payments this year, the company told the U.S. Tax Court in a petition.

  • September 24, 2024

    Defunct Cannabis Co. Says It's Owed $1.4M In Worker Credits

    A Seattle cannabis company that was administratively dissolved this year is entitled to roughly $1.4 million in tax credits for continuing to pay employees when its business dropped off during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company's receivership estate told a Washington federal court.

  • September 24, 2024

    IRS Wary Of Adding Complexity In Min. Tax Regs, Official Says

    The IRS opted to use existing tax rules in proposed guidance to address risks that the U.S. corporate alternative minimum tax could count offshore income twice, an agency official said Tuesday, noting a more precise method would increase complexity.

  • September 24, 2024

    Treasury To Allow 3 AMT Transition Methods, Official Says

    Final rules on the new corporate alternative minimum tax are expected to adopt the proposed regulations' three ways for companies to transition to the regime, and the U.S. Treasury Department is open to other ways as well, a department official said Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Preserving Payment Rights

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    Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions that together illustrate the importance of keeping accurate records and adhering to contractual procedures to avoid inadvertently waiving contractual rights to cost reimbursements or nonroutine payments.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • After Jarkesy, IRS Must Course-Correct On Captive Insurance

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision has profound implications for other agencies, including the IRS, which must stop ignoring due process and curtailing congressional intent in its policing of captive insurance arrangements, says Peter Dawson at the 831(b) Institute.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.

  • Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • Reading Between The Lines Of Justices' Moore Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Moore v. U.S. decision, that the Internal Revenue Code Section 965 did not violate the 16th Amendment, was narrowly tailored to minimally disrupt existing tax regimes, but the justices' various opinions leave the door open to future tax challenges and provide clues for what the battles may look like, say Caroline Ngo and Le Chen at McDermott.

  • A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates

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    Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.

  • States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions

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    Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.

  • After Chevron: Uniform Tax Law Interpretation Not Guaranteed

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    The loss of Chevron deference will significantly alter the relationship between the IRS, courts and Congress when it comes to tax law, potentially precipitating more transparent rulemaking, but also provoking greater uncertainty due to variability in judicial interpretation, say Michelle Levin and Carneil Wilson at Dentons.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

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