Federal
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April 16, 2024
Ex-Mich. Speaker, Wife Charged With Embezzlement
Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield was charged Tuesday with criminally misusing money from his nonprofit to pay for family trips and designer clothing while in office, as the state attorney general called on lawmakers to beef up Michigan's "worthless" campaign finance laws.
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April 16, 2024
Veteran's Signature On IRS Doc Not Forged, Tax Court Finds
U.S. Air Force veteran and his wife failed to convince the U.S. Tax Court on Tuesday that their signatures were forged on an agreement to pay federal income taxes while working in Australia for defense contractor Raytheon.
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April 16, 2024
GOP Senators Call IRS' E-File Program Too Costly
Senate Republicans continued to criticize the Internal Revenue Service's free tax filing pilot program during a Finance Committee hearing Tuesday, saying the program has not followed best practices and will be costly to implement long term.
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April 16, 2024
IRS Publishes 2024 Average Residence Purchase Price Data
The Internal Revenue Service published data Tuesday on the average purchase price for U.S. residences in different areas, which is used to determine whether bond interest can be excluded from gross income.
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April 16, 2024
IRS Extends Excise Tax Relief For Min. Plan Distribution
Plans that fail to make certain required minimum distributions in 2024 will not be assessed an excise tax under changes made to retirement plan legislation, the Internal Revenue Service said in guidance released Tuesday.
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April 16, 2024
3 Key Takeaways From The IRS' Latest Pricing Pact Snapshot
The IRS finalized a record number of advance pricing agreements in 2023, signaling the agency's increased effectiveness at completing accords at a time when its approach to transfer pricing litigation could fuel corporate taxpayers' urgency for seeking APAs. Here, Law360 breaks down three key takeaways from the agency’s latest APA report.
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April 16, 2024
Ex-Prisoner Not Properly Notified Of Tax Bill, Court Says
A man who was awarded a $201,000 settlement for a prison injury that left him nearly blind in one eye was not properly notified by the IRS that he had failed to pay taxes on the award, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Tuesday.
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April 16, 2024
Estate Asks 9th Circ. For Rehearing Over Tax Bill
The estate of a woman whose trust transferred $1.06 million to her son before she died is asking the Ninth Circuit to rethink its decision upholding $38,000 in federal estate taxes, arguing that the U.S. Tax Court lacked authority to determine the deficiency in the first place.
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April 16, 2024
Retrial For Feds' Conduct Denied In $12M Tax Fraud Case
An Atlanta man convicted of running a $12 million tax refund fraud scheme isn't entitled to a new trial even though federal prosecutors withheld evidence that the man said minimized his role in the crime, a federal judge ruled.
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April 16, 2024
Moving Co. Execs Found Guilty In $7.7M Payroll Tax Scheme
The former president of a moving company and its head bookkeeper conspired to evade more than $7.7 million in federal payroll taxes, a New York federal jury has found.
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April 16, 2024
Work-Life Referral Services Don't Count As Income, IRS Says
Work-life referral services, which employers provide to help employees with personal, family or work challenges, shouldn't be included in workers' gross income, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.
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April 16, 2024
Applicable Federal Interest Rates To Rise In May
Applicable federal rates for income tax purposes will rise in May, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.
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April 15, 2024
Tax Attys, Broker Peddled 'Financial Fantasy,' NC Jury Told
A North Carolina federal jury on Monday heard a series of secret recordings at the start of a tax fraud trial in which an insurance agent and a St. Louis attorney unwittingly pitched an undercover IRS agent on a way to decrease taxable income — or what the government characterized as a "financial fantasy."
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April 15, 2024
Exxon Seeks $1.8B Tax Refund As Qatar Deal Trial Opens
Exxon Mobil Corp. argued Monday in Texas federal court that its deal with Qatar to extract natural gas from the country's coast was a partnership, rather than a lease agreement, saying at the start of a trial that it's entitled to get $1.8 billion in tax benefits back from the IRS.
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April 15, 2024
House OKs Ending Exemption For Terrorist-Supporting Orgs
The House passed legislation Monday that would authorize the Internal Revenue Service to suspend the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit organization found by the U.S. Treasury secretary to support foreign terrorism.
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April 15, 2024
8th Circ. Urged To Revive IRS' Pricing For Medtronic
The U.S. government urged the Eighth Circuit on Monday to side with the IRS' method for pricing the intangible property that medical device maker Medtronic licensed to a Puerto Rican affiliate, arguing it's the only way to determine arm's-length royalty rates.
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April 15, 2024
Donor Fund Regs Could Imperil Nonprofit-Sponsored Projects
So-called fiscal sponsorship funds set up at established nonprofits to help new projects start charitable work could be unexpectedly threatened by proposed IRS and Treasury rules on donor-advised funds that could subject such arrangements to burdensome taxes, experts say.
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April 15, 2024
IRS Boasts Better Service, Direct File Progress On Tax Day
The IRS achieved an 88% level of service this year on its phone lines and maintained an average call wait time of three minutes while answering more than a million more calls than last year's filing season, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Monday.
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April 15, 2024
Tax Court Finds Woman Liable Despite Divorce Decree
A Connecticut woman is jointly and severably liable for tax liabilities despite a divorce decree that calls for them to be her ex-husband's responsibility, according to a transcript released Monday by the U.S. Tax Court.
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April 15, 2024
AICPA Calls For Clearer Forms For Tax-Exempt Orgs
The Internal Revenue Service ought to clarify filing requirements for forms in order to simplify the filing process for tax-exempt organizations, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants said in a letter made public Monday.
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April 15, 2024
'Magician' Tax Preparer Arrested On $100M Fraud Charges
The owner of a New York tax preparation business who was known as "the magician" was arrested Monday on charges that he caused more than $100 million in tax losses to the government over a decade, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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April 15, 2024
Madoff Victims Can't Claim Theft Deduction, Tax Court Rules
A New York couple who fell victim to Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme were properly denied a theft loss deduction because they did not own the assets that were stolen, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday.
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April 15, 2024
9th Circ. To Hear Hunter Biden Appeal In Criminal Tax Case
The Ninth Circuit will hear Hunter Biden's argument that a California federal judge wrongly rejected requests by his defense team to toss a criminal tax case that Biden has claimed is politically motivated and vindictive, according to a notice filed Monday.
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April 15, 2024
IRS Waives Penalties For Not Paying Corp. Minimum Tax
The Internal Revenue Service is waiving penalties for failure to make estimated quarterly payments of the corporate alternative minimum tax through at least April 15, the agency said Monday.
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April 15, 2024
IRS Improves Adherence To FOIA Rules, TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service "generally followed" Freedom of Information Act protocols for redacting taxpayer information from October 2022 to March 2023 — a considerable improvement from past reports, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Monday.
Expert Analysis
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Inflation Reduction Act A Boon To Hydrogen, Carbon Capture
The Inflation Reduction Act's tax credits and direct payments, extension of existing renewable electricity subsidies, and other benefits will accelerate hydrogen and carbon capture projects across the U.S. — and will likely draw capital into the country that would otherwise have gone to projects elsewhere, say attorneys at Shearman.
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What The Inflation Reduction Act Has To Do With Crypto
The recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act’s $80 billion supplemental funding allotment for the IRS could have unexpectedly significant implications for the cryptocurrency market, which may find itself the target of ramped-up tax audits and enforcement, says cybersecurity consultant John Reed Stark.
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Unpacking The New Stock Buyback Tax And Its Exceptions
Xenia Garofalo and Kyle Colonna at Eversheds Sutherland discuss provisions of the recently enacted tax on corporate stock repurchases, how its exceptions may be applied and what companies should consider when evaluating the cost of new or existing programs.
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Health Issues To Watch In Inflation Act, Other Policy Initiatives
The newly signed Inflation Reduction Act includes a number of significant drug pricing reforms, and the future holds a wider array of health issues that may be addressed in pending legislation when Congress returns in September, says Miranda Franco at Holland & Knight.
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How New Markets Tax Credit Can Help Pandemic Recovery
The New Markets Tax Credit program, designed to spur private investment in low-income, nonmetropolitan and distressed communities, is one potential remedy that can help alleviate the pandemic's negative impact on especially vulnerable areas, says Julia Fendler at Butler Snow.
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Senate Cannabis Bill May Give Some Cos. A Competitive Edge
Though the recently introduced Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act is unlikely to pass, it provides a bellwether for federal legalization, with a robust regulatory framework that would offer large food and beverage companies a structural advantage and poise multistate cannabis operators for further growth, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Lessons For Federal Lawmakers As Calif. Alters Cannabis Tax
California recently eliminated a cultivation tax that had for years burdened the state’s licensed cannabis market, providing important lessons for federal lawmakers on cumbersome regulations and unduly high taxes as they debate legalization, says Raza Lawrence at Zuber Lawler.
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Tips On Qualified Small Business Stock Exclusions
While awaiting more Internal Revenue Service guidance on the maze of requirements a taxpayer must satisfy for the qualified small business stock exclusion, there are steps proactive taxpayers can take to ensure their ability to establish their qualifications if they are audited, says Stephen Josey at Kostelanetz & Fink.
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Inside The OECD Transfer Pricing Documentation Guidance
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's recently modified documentation guidelines can assist tax administrations in developing requirements for transfer pricing risk assessments and evaluations, and help multinational entity taxpayers demonstrate satisfaction of the arm's-length principle, says Neil Aragones at Lexis Tax.
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Superfund Tax Is Back: Implications For Chemical Industry
In light of the Internal Revenue Service's recently issued guidance on the reinstated Superfund tax, manufacturers, producers and importers should review their existing agreements that involve taxable chemicals and substances to determine who will be commercially responsible for the tax, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Tech Co.'s Suit May Create Hurdles For Research Tax Credits
The recently filed U.S. Tax Court case Perficient v. Commissioner — challenging standards under research credit regulations that determine whether research is funded by any grant or contract — could make it difficult to substantiate research tax credits, say Dennis St. Martin and Kevin Benton at Grant Thornton.
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Expected Retirement Law Changes May Spark ERISA Suits
As Congress is poised to pass bipartisan retirement legislation that could bring collective investment trusts and 403(b) plans together and may form a new wave of litigation under the Employee Retirement Security Act, it is helpful to review the important roles that they have played in prior waves of ERISA excessive fee cases, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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A Close Look At The Decentralized Effort To Tax Digital Assets
Clarity on taxation is one of the biggest hurdles to mass adoption of cryptocurrency, and although digital asset innovation has consistently outpaced worldwide government regulation, recent efforts in the U.S. and elsewhere hint at an emerging standard, says Joshua Smeltzer at Gray Reed.