Federal
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March 14, 2024
8th Circ. Questions IRS Ax Of Engineering Co.'s R&D Credit
Eighth Circuit judges probed claims by the IRS that a Minnesota engineering company didn't qualify for $276,000 in research and development tax credits, asking during oral arguments whether the agency may have overlooked the inherently specialized nature of the company's engineering work.
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March 14, 2024
Tax Court Judge John O. Colvin, Ex-Chief, Dead At 77
John O. Colvin, a senior judge of the U.S. Tax Court, has died, the court announced in a news release Thursday.
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March 14, 2024
IRS' Signals On Economic Substance Doctrine Draw Scrutiny
The Internal Revenue Service's recent legal success asserting a doctrine to invalidate transactions in tax law enforcement matters may embolden the government to broaden that argument's reach, and lawyers are concerned it doesn't properly apply to transfer pricing matters.
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March 13, 2024
Siemens Asks Tax Court To Toss $1.2B IRS Bill
A U.S. subsidiary of German technology company Siemens is pushing the U.S. Tax Court to throw out $1.16 billion in tax deficiencies and penalties the IRS has imposed, saying the agency relied on invalid rules in denying a deduction.
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March 13, 2024
Tax Court Calls CPA's Deduction Testimony 'Contradictory'
A California certified public accountant cannot deduct nearly $600,000 in assorted expenses — including more than $437,000 in net operating losses — after providing "contradictory" testimony and failing to present credible evidence, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Wednesday.
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March 13, 2024
Actuary Board Looks To End In-Person Learning Requirement
The Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries has proposed eliminating a requirement that continuing education programs be attended in person, the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.
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March 13, 2024
Deputy To Take Over As IRS Criminal Investigation Chief
The deputy chief of the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation division will take the helm of the division when its current chief steps down April 6, the agency said Wednesday.
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March 13, 2024
2nd Circ. Affirms Barring Of Man's Appeal In Small Tax Case
The Second Circuit rejected a taxpayer's attempt to resurrect his dispute over a tax deficiency Wednesday, affirming that a statute prohibits appeals of U.S. Tax Court decisions in certain cases involving low dollar amounts.
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March 13, 2024
6th Circ. Told Woman Helped Life Partner Avoid $3M In Taxes
The federal government justifiably sold off the property of a woman who paid for it with money from her dead long-term life partner, the U.S. government told the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday, saying the purchase helped her partner skirt more than $3 million in tax liabilities.
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March 13, 2024
JCT Indicates Pillar 1 Is Bad Deal For US, GOP Lawmakers Say
An analysis of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Pillar One taxing rights overhaul by congressional scorekeepers makes clear the plan should not receive U.S. support because it would disadvantage U.S. multinationals and federal tax revenue, Republican leaders of Congress' taxwriting committees said Wednesday.
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March 13, 2024
Longtime Stradley Ronon Tax Partner Joins Grant Thornton
Following more than a quarter-century practicing law with Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP, longtime tax attorney Chris Scarpa decided to change career paths, joining accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP.
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March 13, 2024
Ex-Super Bowl Champ Owes $15M Tax After Default, US Says
A California federal court should issue a default judgment for $15.5 million in federal income taxes against four-time Super Bowl champion Bill Romanowski and his wife, the U.S. government argued, saying the couple has failed to participate in a collection case against them.
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March 13, 2024
IRS Art Appraisal Panel Schedules April Meeting
The Internal Revenue Service committee that appraises art for tax purposes will hold its next meeting April 17, the agency said Wednesday.
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March 12, 2024
IRS Mulling Partnership Foreign Currency Rules, Official Says
The Internal Revenue Service will likely propose rules that would provide additional guidance to partnerships for determining taxable income or loss with respect to certain affiliates that conduct business in a foreign currency, an agency official said Tuesday.
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March 12, 2024
NC Software Execs Convicted Of Payroll Tax Crimes
Two former software executives in North Carolina were convicted Tuesday of failing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in employment taxes, but were absolved of charges that they lied on their individual tax returns, bringing to a close their five-day trial in Charlotte's federal courthouse.
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March 12, 2024
IRS Fully Opens Direct E-File Pilot Program In 12 States
The Internal Revenue Service's free electronic tax-return filing pilot program is now open to all 19 million eligible taxpayers in the 12 states where people can participate, agency Commissioner Daniel Werfel told reporters Tuesday.
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March 12, 2024
Calif. Man Agrees To Pay Nearly $500K In FBAR Penalties
A California man agreed to pay almost $500,000 in penalties, late fees and interest for failing to report his bank accounts in the Bahamas on his tax forms, according to a stipulated order entered by a California federal court.
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March 12, 2024
Wis. Firm Must Comply With IRS Search, Tax Court Says
A Wisconsin engineering firm must prove it is eligible for $240,000 in research tax credits by accommodating a broadened discovery initiated by the Internal Revenue Service, not just a sampling of the firm's data, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Tuesday.
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March 12, 2024
GOP's Crapo Wants Quick Resolution Of Tax Relief Package
The Senate Finance Committee's top Republican tax writer said Tuesday that he wants to quickly resolve sticking points in pending bipartisan tax legislation that contains key incentives for families and businesses in order to advance a bill that would boost U.S. manufacturing.
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March 12, 2024
Businessman Hid $20M In Swiss Accounts, US Says
A Brazilian-American businessman hid $20 million from the Internal Revenue Service over 35 years using accounts at Swiss banks including UBS and Credit Suisse, the U.S. government said in a criminal complaint that accuses him of conspiring to defraud the U.S. and lying to authorities.
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March 12, 2024
US, Turkey Extend Digital Services Tax Deal
Turkey will continue to apply its digital services tax as negotiations over the Pillar One international profit reallocation agreement continue, the country said Tuesday in a joint statement with the U.S. government
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March 11, 2024
'I Made A Huge Mistake,' Software Exec Says In Tax Fraud Trial
Two former software executives in North Carolina took the stand Monday in the government's tax fraud trial against them, where they portrayed a company in extreme distress as hundreds of thousands of dollars in employment taxes went unpaid and their personal lives crumbled.
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March 11, 2024
FedEx Says Gov't Can't Redo $85M Foreign Tax Credit Case
The U.S. government is trying to relitigate a Tennessee federal court's decision that sided with FedEx in a foreign tax credit dispute, the company said in asking the court to rule that it's entitled to a refund of nearly $85 million.
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March 11, 2024
Electronics Co. Disputes $187M Income Tax Bill From IRS
The Internal Revenue Service erroneously increased the income tax liability of an audio electronics company by $187 million, the business argued in a U.S. Tax Court petition.
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March 11, 2024
Biden Proposes Increased Wealth Taxes In $7.3T Budget Plan
The White House unveiled its $7.3 trillion budget plan for fiscal 2025 on Monday, proposing higher taxes on wealthy corporations and individuals, expanding tax relief for Americans making under $400,000 per year and cutting the federal deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade.
Expert Analysis
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Tax, Social Services And The Need For An IRS Overhaul
Revamping the Internal Revenue Service should start with visibly improving taxpayer experiences to help pave the way for other fundamental changes needed to address the recent drop in audit numbers, personnel losses, burdens of its increasing expansion into social services and other problems, says Rice University fellow Joyce Beebe.
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Key Legal And Regulatory Trends In Oil And Gas Transactions
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys involved in oil and gas transactions must be aware of important legal and regulatory trends that have emerged recently, including issues surrounding hydraulic fracturing, climate change, pipeline tariffs and a resurgence of regulation under the Biden administration, say Justin Hoffman and Thomas Blackwell at Baker Botts.
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Employer Considerations For Leave Donation Programs
As the battle for talent continues and workers return to the office, companies may consider allowing employees to donate accrued leave time to a shared bank, but employers should first review these programs' complex design issues to comply with state laws and avoid tax consequences, says Rebecca Hudson at Holland & Hart.
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Crypto Cos. Should Prep For More IRS John Doe Summonses
In anticipation of new reporting requirements that will go into effect in 2024, cryptocurrency exchanges and custodians should inform themselves on the John Doe summons, a unique mechanism that allows the IRS to obtain expansive information about cryptocurrency transactions, say Shivani Poddar and Andrew Heighington at Herrick Feinstein.
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Employer Travel Benefits Options For Abortion Care Post-Roe
Given the likelihood that Roe v. Wade will be overturned, and with the proliferation of state legislation restricting abortion access, employers may want to consider the legal implications of several options to expand travel reimbursement benefits for employees who seek abortion services, say Danita Merlau and Ben Conley at Seyfarth.
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Global Tax Chiefs Should Look To US Whistleblower Programs
As the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement develops its international whistleblower program to address tax evasion and money laundering schemes in new areas like cryptocurrency, it should take lessons from highly successful U.S. programs on which features to include and pitfalls to avoid, say Neil Getnick and Nico Gurian at Getnick & Getnick.
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Crypto Investors May Face Increasing State FCA Tax Liability
Cryptocurrency investors who fail to report the state tax consequences of transactions are poised to encounter increased civil or criminal legal exposure as a growing number of states bring tax fraud under the purview of their whistleblower statutes, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.
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Justices' Boechler Ruling May Spell Tax Exceptionalism's End
By basing its decision on cases outside the tax arena, the U.S. Supreme Court treated Boechler v. Commissioner as an administrative law case rather than a tax case and stripped away the traditional lines of tax exceptionalism, says James Creech at Baker Tilly.
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MORE Act's Possible Impact On State-Licensed Cannabis Cos.
The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, recently passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, would dramatically alter the federal legal landscape for state-licensed cannabis businesses in both positive and negative ways — from opening new marketing avenues to compounding tax burdens, say attorneys at the Law Offices of Omar Figueroa.
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3 Contract Considerations For Renewable Fuels Trade
As renewable fuels continue to develop and contracts for their sale and purchase become more common in the energy industry, companies should think about negotiating several key issues when entering into offtake agreements for feedstock purchase transactions, says Nneka Obiokoye at Holland & Knight.
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What Microcaptive Reporting Ruling May Mean For The IRS
In CIC v. Internal Revenue Service, a Tennessee federal court’s decision to set aside an IRS requirement to disclose microcaptive insurance arrangements may be a step toward evidentiary standards to show that the potential for abuse in a lawful transaction is sufficient to support heightened disclosure requirements, says Samuel Lauricia at Weston Hurd.
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Avoiding Surprise Taxation Of Employment Settlements
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Sandra Cohen at Cohen & Buckmann discusses how to avoid unwelcome tax-related payments in connection with settling an employment claim, as the extra cost can significantly decrease the perceived value of an offer and push the parties further apart.
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US Should Leverage Tax Rules To Deter Business With Russia
The U.S. should further restrict the flow of resources available for the Putin regime's war in Ukraine by denying U.S. businesses that operate in Russia or Belarus foreign tax credits and global intangible low-taxed income preferences, and by terminating its tax treaty with Russia, says Reuven Avi-Yonah at University of Michigan Law School.