Federal

Expert Analysis

• Steps For Universities As DOJ Shifts Foreign Influence Policy

  

  Notwithstanding Wednesday's U.S. Department of Justice announcement terminating the initiative targeting Chinese influence and raising the bar for criminal prosecutions, universities should ensure their compliance controls meet new disclosure standards and that they can efficiently respond to inquiries about employees' foreign connections, say attorneys at Covington.

• How Gold Coin Tax Ruling May Apply To IRA Crypto Holdings

  

  The U.S. Tax Court’s recent decision in McNulty v. Commissioner, affirming that a self-directed individual retirement account owner received taxable distributions in taking possession of her IRA’s gold coins, may have troublesome applications for retirement accounts with cryptocurrency holdings, says Luke Bailey at Clark Hill.

• Why I'll Miss Arguing Before Justice Breyer

  

  Carter Phillips at Sidley shares some of his fondest memories of retiring Justice Stephen Breyer both inside and out of the courtroom, and explains why he thinks the justice’s multipronged questions during U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments were everything an advocate could ask for.

• Corporate Reporting Considerations As Tax Meets ESG

  

  With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing season upon us amid increasing pressure for greater transparency around effective tax rates and tax strategies, multinational companies must decide how they will approach voluntary tax reporting and prepare their responses if they want to control the narrative, say Michael Lebovitz and Jenny Austin at Mayer Brown.

• How To Navigate Equity Rollovers In A Tight M&A Market

  

  As heavy competition for acquisition targets allows buyers to be more flexible in fulfilling their desire for management to roll equity and invest with them, businesses should be mindful that equity rollover transactions, which take many forms, also require thorough review as part of the overall transaction assessment, says Joshua Klein at Neal Gerber.

• 11th Circ. Ruling Moves Circuits Closer To Tax Procedure Split

  

  The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in the conservation easement case Hewitt v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, holding a long-standing tax regulation procedurally flawed under the Administrative Procedure Act, is unusual and may presage a circuit split over the APA's applicability in tax cases, say Maria Jones and Samuel Lapin at Miller & Chevalier.

• How Justices May Interpret Statutory Time Bar In Tax Context

  

  In Boechler PC v. Commissioner, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on whether a tax court filing deadline acts as a jurisdictional limitation, and whether to broaden a jurisprudential trend that requires Congress to clearly state its intent if statutory time periods are to limit jurisdiction, say Saul Mezei and Terrell Ussing at Gibson Dunn.

• Money Laundering Regs Too Unwieldy To Police Art Market

  

  As the arts and antiquities trade awaits the U.S. Department of the Treasury's new money laundering regulations — which apply the Bank Secrecy Act to the arts for the first time — whether they are reasonable, optimal or practical remains in question, says Alexandra Darraby at The Art Law Firm.

• Why US Businesses May Stop Accepting Cryptocurrency

  

  New reporting requirements from the IRS and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network could be game changers that dramatically curtail U.S. businesses that accept cryptocurrency, says cybersecurity consultant John Reed Stark.

• The Highs And Lows Of Tax Controversy In 2021

  

  Lawrence Hill at Steptoe & Johnson reviews the ups and downs of tax controversy practice in 2021, including the continued effects of the pandemic, troubling decisions on attorney-client privilege and an IRS comeback on transfer pricing.

• A Look At Tax Treatment Of Noncompetes In M&A: Part 2

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  Covenants that restrict a seller of business assets from competing against the purchasing party can be prone to challenges because the allocation of value to intangible assets is a subjective exercise with significant tax implications that may affect the merits of the deal, says Peter Miller at LexisNexis.

• A Look At Tax Treatment Of Noncompetes In M&A: Part 1

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  In negotiating to consummate a deal, parties must pay attention to the tax consequences of covenants that restrict a seller of business assets from competing against the purchasing party, says Peter Miller at LexisNexis.

• How Budget Bill Could Affect Employer Health, Benefit Plans

  

  Following the House's recent passage of President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion spending bill — the Build Back Better Act — employers should carefully consider several of the proposal’s health care and benefits provisions, which could pose immediate compliance challenges if the act is signed into law this year, say Anne Hall and Tim Kennedy at Hall Benefits Law.