Federal
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February 07, 2025
Goldstein's Pro Se Filing Irks Feds Amid Murky Atty Situation
Prosecutors have asked a Maryland federal judge to strike a pro se motion from Tom Goldstein in his tax evasion case, saying the U.S. Supreme Court attorney and SCOTUSblog publisher shouldn't be allowed to personally make arguments to the court when he is represented by several experienced lawyers.
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February 07, 2025
IRS System Error Leads To $43.7M In Faulty Refunds
The Internal Revenue Service processing system's handling of dishonored checks may have caused as much as $43.7 million in erroneous refunds to be distributed, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said, though it noted the agency already has settled on a fix.
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February 07, 2025
Former Top Congressional Investigator Leaves Lasting Legacy
Elise J. Bean, former chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, is remembered for leading landmark bipartisan congressional probes, which exposed massive tax and financial scandals with findings that helped pave the way for game-changing legislation.
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February 07, 2025
Florida Couple Owed $14M Tax Refund, Court Told
A couple claiming they overpaid their taxes asked a Florida federal court for help getting a nearly $14 million refund, saying they asked the IRS for the money more than four years ago, but the agency has yet to make a decision or explain the delay.
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February 07, 2025
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included the release of the first annual table showing the types of facilities eligible for the clean energy production and investment tax credits.
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February 06, 2025
State AGs To Sue Over DOGE Access To Payment Systems
Over a dozen state attorneys general are set to file suit challenging Elon Musk and Department of Government Efficiency staffers' access to people's sensitive personal information through government payment systems, New York Attorney General Letitia James' office announced Thursday.
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February 06, 2025
Senate Approves Trump's Pick To Lead OMB
The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to confirm President Donald Trump's pick — one of the authors of the controversial Project 2025, a conservative policy wish list — to again oversee the Office of Management and Budget.
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February 06, 2025
Dems Demand Info On DOGE's Taxpayer Data Access
House Ways and Means Committee Democrats demanded in a letter released Thursday to know whether Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency has been given access to individuals' confidential tax data.
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February 06, 2025
Baker McKenzie Partner Rejoins Firm From Apple
Baker McKenzie announced that a former partner specializing in trade and customs law has rejoined the firm after serving as principal counsel and the lead adviser on global trade matters for Apple.
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February 06, 2025
Trump Lays Out Tax Priorities In Meeting With GOP
President Donald Trump encouraged Republican leaders in Congress to fulfill his campaign promises to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits, overtime pay and tips and to renew the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act this year, a White House spokesperson told reporters Thursday.
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February 06, 2025
Democrats Pitch Taxing Carried Interest As Ordinary Income
Democrats in the House of Representatives and Senate proposed on Thursday ending the favorable tax treatment of income from carried interest, saying they want to close what they describe as a tax loophole that unfairly benefits professional investors.
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February 06, 2025
US To Appeal Block On Corporate Transparency Act
The federal government plans to challenge an order preventing it from enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act's reporting requirements for businesses, following the U.S. Supreme Court's pause of another nationwide block on the law in a separate case, according to a notice filed in a Texas federal court.
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February 06, 2025
IRS Correctly Upheld Levy On $11.2M Tax Bill
The IRS correctly upheld a levy for over $11.2 million in quarterly taxes owed by a South Carolina business, the U.S. Tax Court said Thursday, finding that it brought a collection alternative on to-be-processed employee retention credits too late.
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February 06, 2025
Musk's Access To Records Blocked In DOGE, Treasury Suit
A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Thursday approved a consent order blocking Elon Musk and additional Department of Government Efficiency employees from accessing the federal government's payment systems, although a "special government employee" will have limited access as the Treasury Department and suing plaintiffs spar over a preliminary injunction.
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February 06, 2025
Family Says Tax Shelter Creator To Blame In $81M IRS Case
Counsel for members of a wealthy extended family accused of shorting the IRS nearly $81 million by knowingly participating in an unlawful tax shelter told a Manhattan federal judge Thursday that the creator of the so-called Son-of-Boss scheme is to blame.
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February 06, 2025
Metals Dealer Says Partners Lost $12M In Attys' Tax Scam
A precious metals dealer and his partners said they were fleeced of $12 million by attorneys who directed them to form a partnership and take illegal tax deductions for intellectual property, according to a complaint filed in Colorado federal court.
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February 06, 2025
Trump's Federal Worker Buyout Plan Put On Hold
A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday put on hold the Trump administration's "deferred resignation" program for federal employees, delaying the deadline for workers to accept the offer until Monday while the court weighs the legality of the move.
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February 06, 2025
6th Circ. Won't Reconsider Gold Broker's $3M Tax Bill
A Tennessee gold and silver broker found liable for $3 million in tax deficiencies after he presented fatuous arguments in the Sixth Circuit that he wasn't subject to income taxes will not have his case reheard by the appellate court, the court said Thursday.
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February 05, 2025
Key IRS Workers Can't Do 'Resign' Deal Until After Tax Season
Internal Revenue Service workers were notified Wednesday that employees working in positions considered necessary to the tax filing season can't accept President Donald Trump's resignation offer until mid-May.
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February 05, 2025
Israeli Law Firm Allowed To Amend Suit Against GILTI Regs
A D.C. federal court on Wednesday let the owner of an Israeli law firm amend his challenge of regulations for the U.S. tax on global intangible low-taxed income, a provision of the 2017 tax overhaul.
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February 05, 2025
US Bill Aims To Ax Tax Incentives For Multinational Cos.
Congress should repeal and replace federal tax measures that allow multinational corporations to reduce taxable income in the United States, including by holding assets abroad, according to two Democratic lawmakers who reintroduced a bill to that effect Wednesday.
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February 05, 2025
Dems Seek Further Review Of Treasury And DOGE
Democrats are not satisfied with the answers they've received from the U.S. Department of Treasury on access granted to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to the federal payment system and are looking at other avenues to scrutinize his activity.
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February 05, 2025
Goldstein, Saying He's Mired In Debt, Asks To Redo Bail Terms
Prominent U.S. Supreme Court attorney and SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein has a negative net worth of more than $3.3 million and is mired in debt to his attorneys, he said in a filing Wednesday seeking to modify the conditions of his release ahead of a trial on federal criminal tax evasion charges.
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February 05, 2025
Ex-Animal Hospital Owners Blame CPA For Taxes Paid Late
A couple who owed $2.8 million in taxes after selling their veterinary hospital told an Idaho federal court that they missed the payment deadline because their accountant stopped responding to them after promising to finish their return, prompting them to hire a private investigator.
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February 04, 2025
External Revenue Service Could Help Solve Unpaid Duty Issue
President Donald Trump's call for a new agency designed to collect trade revenue, billed as the External Revenue Service, may be more than a flashy concept and could tackle lingering inefficiencies associated with duty collection, experts say.
Expert Analysis
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What's Ahead As Transparency Act Comes To A Crossroads
Synthesizing the contrasting federal district and appellate court rulings on the Corporate Transparency Act’s validity reveals several main areas of debate that will likely remain at issue as challenges to the law continue winding through the courts, say attorneys at Farella Braun.
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Final Hydrogen Tax Credit Regs Add Flexibility For Producers
The recently released final regulations implementing the Inflation Reduction Act's clean hydrogen production tax credit offer taxpayers greater flexibility, reducing risk and creating more certainty for investments in the industry, thus diminishing — but not eliminating — the risk of legal challenges to the regulations, say attorneys at Steptoe.
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5 Evolving Concerns For Family Offices In 2025
Complex regulatory changes and emerging operational risks will force family offices to stay on their toes in 2025, with timely action particularly necessary to address several tax and reporting developments that may affect their investments and business operations, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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7 Ways 2nd Trump Administration May Affect Partner Hiring
President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely have a number of downstream effects on partner hiring in the legal industry, from accelerated hiring timelines to increased vetting of prospective employees, say recruiters at Macrae.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Custodian Selection
Several recent rulings make clear that the proportionality of additional proposed custodians will depend on whether the custodians have unique relevant documents, and producing parties should consider whether information already in the record will show that they have relevant documents that otherwise might not be produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
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A Look At PCAOB's Record-Breaking Enforcement In 2024
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in 2024 brought more enforcement actions against auditors and imposed increasingly higher monetary penalties, showing that it was not afraid to exercise its power to fine and reprimand firms, a trend that will likely continue in 2025, say attorneys at Briglia Hundley.
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Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation
Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.
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An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025
As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.
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Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer
From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.
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A New Tax On Employers Could Help Curb Illegal Immigration
To better enforce the law against hiring immigrants unauthorized to work in the U.S., Congress should enact a punitive excise tax on compensation paid to such immigrants and amend the False Claims Act to allow qui tam actions against employers for failure to pay such tax, says Ajay Gupta at Moore Tax Law Group.
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Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team
In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.
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Justices May Find Gov't Can Keep Fraudulent Transfer Benefit
Based on the justices' questions at the recently argued U.S. v. Miller, the Supreme Court appears prepared to hold that the U.S. — unlike any other creditor — is permitted to retain the benefits of a fraudulent transfer to the detriment of other bankruptcy creditors, says Kevin Morse at Clark Hill.
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Tax Court Should Update Framework For Defining Insurance
The U.S. Tax Court's unnecessary determination in Royalty Management Insurance v. Commissioner that a fraudulent transaction did not contain the hallmarks of a legitimate insurance transaction applies an outdated analysis that threatens the captive insurance sector and illustrates the need for a more modern framework to define true insurance, says Matthew Queen at the Queen Firm.