Federal

Expert Analysis

• Tax-Exempt Orgs, Beware This 403(b) Plan Compliance Pitfall

  

  A recent Internal Revenue Service publication puts 403(b) retirement plan sponsors on notice about a contribution aggregation compliance failure often identified in audits of government and tax-exempt entities, but risk can be minimized by ensuring plan documents and communications address the issue directly, say Greg Needles and Michael Gorman at Morgan Lewis.

• Pandora Papers Reveal Need For Greater Tax Enforcement

  

  The recent Pandora Papers leak is a reminder of the importance of transparency laws and proper funding for enforcement efforts against tax evasion as bad actors increasingly operate in the shadows, says Daren Firestone and Kevin Crenny at Levy Firestone.

• Telehealth Providers Must Beware Of Fraud As Industry Grows

  

  A recent fraud charge against a telehealth executive highlights the rise we're seeing in telefraud scams during the industry's pandemic growth, and there are some steps that all health providers should take to stay clear of potentially illegal arrangements, says LaTawnda Moore at Dinsmore.

• Parsing New Int'l Tax Reporting Rules For Pass-Throughs

  

  Attorneys at Grant Thornton unpack the Internal Revenue Service’s new pass-through entity reporting requirements for international tax matters and the accompanying guidance for penalty relief, and suggest how companies should prepare for what may be the most significant change to the partnership compliance function in decades.

• A Look At Global Tax Enforcement Developments: Part 2

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  Sean Craig at LexisNexis examines recent investigations by the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement and their impact on U.S. taxpayers, as well as the growing significance of transfer pricing disputes and policies for future enforcement.

• A Look At Global Tax Enforcement Developments: Part 1

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  Sean Craig at LexisNexis looks at how international initiatives, such as the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement, are addressing cryptocurrency-related tax evasion, and how the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing demands for governmental welfare programs are driving global tax policy.

• What The Judiciary's Font Recommendations Can Teach Us

  

  The D.C. Circuit's recent soft prohibition on Garamond and the ensuing debates about courts' font preferences should serve as a helpful reminder of a larger point — every departure from convention in legal writing carries some level of risk, says Spencer Short at Stradley Ronon.

• 2 Income Tax Loopholes Congress Should Close

  

  To raise revenue for proposed infrastructure improvements and make the tax law fairer, the Biden administration and Congress should close an income tax loophole that allows an asset owner to bypass capital gains tax upon death and another that essentially allows taxpayers to make tax‑free gifts to grantor trusts, says Richard Kinyon at Shartsis Friese.

• High Points Of IRS' New Employee Retention Credit Guidance

  

  Dana Fried at CohnReznick examines recent IRS guidance on the employee retention credit, which includes a helpful new rule enabling more employers to qualify for the credit by allowing them to exclude some pandemic relief from gross receipts, but its exclusion of related individuals' wages from qualified wages for certain corporate owners is disappointing.

• Prepare For More Audits Of Tax Info And Withholding Filings

  

  Financial institutions and other corporate taxpayers should focus compliance efforts on tax information reporting and withholding, given recent indications from the Biden administration that the IRS will increase enforcement, and the administration's need to fund its infrastructure plan and other costly initiatives, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

• 9th Circ. Adds Pressure To Reject Substance Over Form

  

  The Ninth Circuit’s recent decision rejecting taxes on a family's Roth IRA payments that were made through a foreign sales corporation represents a refreshing trend among federal appeals courts to reject substance-over-form principles and instead look to congressional intent, say Lawrence Hill and Caitlin Tharp at Steptoe & Johnson.

• How Tax Code Changes Affect State AG Settlement Talks

  

  Meghan Stoppel and Gianna Puccinelli at Cozen O'Connor discuss how newly implemented tax code regulations that allow companies to deduct some payments made to resolve a government investigation or prosecution will change settlement negotiations with state attorneys general.

• NFTs May Come With Rewards, But Also Legal Risks

  

  While some buyers of nonfungible tokens are experiencing enormous returns on their investments, those just entering the market should proceed with caution, and be sure to understand the risks related to contracts, taxation, intellectual property and money laundering regulations, says Anne-Laure Alléhaut at Patterson Belknap.