Federal
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April 30, 2024
Ex-Mass. Pol Can't Sink Fraud Case With 'Imaginative' Attacks
A Boston federal judge on Tuesday rejected what he called an "imaginative and novel" effort by a former Massachusetts politician to dismiss charges of lying to get COVID-19 relief funds and underreporting income on his taxes.
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April 30, 2024
Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Schedules May Meeting
The Internal Revenue Service's Taxpayer Advocacy Panel has scheduled its next meeting for May 23, the agency said Tuesday.
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April 30, 2024
IRS Tax Prep Assistance Grants Open May 1
The Internal Revenue Service will begin accepting applications for certain tax preparation assistance grants May 1, the agency said Tuesday.
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April 29, 2024
Hunter Biden Threatens To Sue Fox News For 'Revenge Porn'
An attorney representing Hunter Biden threatened Fox News with a lawsuit over allegations it violated New York's "revenge porn" law by publishing nude pictures of him taken off his notorious laptop, according a letter obtained Monday by Law360.
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April 29, 2024
Drop In Giving Fuels Push To Restore Above-Line Deduction
Advocates for nonprofits want Congress to revive an above-the-line charitable contribution deduction this year in order to reverse a continuing drop in donations, but prospects for enactment appear limited until an end-of-year tax package.
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April 29, 2024
Ex-COO Of Mo. Charity Gets 3 Years For Bribing Officials
The former chief operating officer of a Missouri-based healthcare charity was sentenced to three years in prison Monday after admitting she and her husband, the charity's ex-chief financial officer, conspired to bribe elected officials in Arkansas, according to Missouri federal court documents.
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April 29, 2024
Court Can Make Widow Pull $2.5M From Swiss Bank, US Says
A Colorado federal court can force a widow to send $2.5 million from a Swiss bank to the U.S. to repay her late husband's penalties and interest for failing to report his foreign accounts, the U.S. told the court.
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April 29, 2024
AICPA Seeks Clarity On IRS' 401(k) Proposal
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants asked the Internal Revenue Service to clarify regulations impacting the treatment of employees under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code, according to a letter made public Monday.
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April 29, 2024
IRS Rightly Denied Md. Woman's Meeting Request, Court Says
A Maryland woman's request for a face-to-face meeting with the Internal Revenue Service was properly rejected after she failed to meet the proper prerequisites, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday.
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April 29, 2024
11th Circ. Should Nix Tax Court Judges' Shield, Widow Says
The widow of a supermarket butcher told the Eleventh Circuit that the U.S. Tax Court not only wrongly upheld tax liabilities against her stemming from her husband's tax filings but also erroneously affirmed unconstitutional job protections for its judges.
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April 29, 2024
IRS Botching Noncompliant Biofuel Credit Claims, TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service must take additional steps to address noncompliant claims for biodiesel-related tax credits that resulted in the agency wrongly issuing more than $30 million in credits, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a report released Monday.
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April 29, 2024
IRS To Open $6B 2nd Round Of Advanced Energy Tax Credits
The IRS will start taking applications May 28 from project owners seeking to get part of a $6 billion second round of tax credits for developments that will support the clean energy industry, such as solar glass manufacturing and metal recycling facilities, the agency said Monday.
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April 29, 2024
Justices Pass On Claim That IRS Targeted Atty For Web Post
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied an attorney's request for review of a ruling that allowed the Internal Revenue Service to obtain his bank account information, declining to hear his argument that the agency targeted him based on a tax analysis he posted online.
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April 29, 2024
IRS Issues Reference Price For Production Credit
The reference price for the nonconventional source production credit in calendar year 2023 — which applies to tax year 2024 — is $76.10, the Internal Revenue Service said Monday.
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April 29, 2024
US Expatriations Plummet In 1st Quarter, IRS Says
The number of people who expatriated from the U.S. fell nearly 70% during the first quarter of 2024 compared with the previous quarter, the Internal Revenue Service said in a notice published Monday.
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April 26, 2024
10th Circ. Says Colo. Tax Ballot Law Doesn't Compel Speech
A Colorado law requiring that financial impacts be included in the titles of some tax-related ballot initiatives does not cause "improperly compelled" speech, the Tenth Circuit said Friday, rejecting a conservative group's bid to block the law.
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April 26, 2024
FedEx Calls Gov't Arguments On Tax Credits Contradictory
The federal government advanced contradictory arguments in FedEx's $84.6 million foreign tax credits dispute with the Internal Revenue Service, the package delivery giant said in a filing in Tennessee federal court.
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April 26, 2024
Ex-Mass. Trooper Handed 5 Years For No-Work OT, Tax Fraud
A former Massachusetts state trooper convicted of stealing overtime pay, lying on his taxes and cheating to get student aid for his son was sentenced Friday by a federal judge to five years in prison for his leadership role in the sprawling overtime fraud scheme.
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April 26, 2024
IRS To Decide Soon On Renewal Of E-File Pilot Program
The Internal Revenue Service expects to decide on the future of its free e-filing pilot program this spring after gathering additional feedback, Commissioner Daniel Werfel said Friday.
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April 26, 2024
Gov't Wants Ex-Boston Celtic Imprisoned For Health Plan Scheme
Prosecutors asked a Manhattan federal judge to sentence former Boston Celtics player Glen "Big Baby" Davis to roughly three years in prison after he was convicted of scheming with a group of ex-pros to submit fraudulent invoices to the NBA's healthcare plan.
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April 26, 2024
4 More Indicted In Alleged Abusive Trust Tax Scheme
A federal grand jury in Denver indicted four more people in connection with what prosecutors call a conspiracy to defraud the government in a multistate scheme to promote abusive tax shelters using sham trusts to hide business income and illegally deduct personal expenses such as family weddings.
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April 26, 2024
Abbott Labs' $417M IRS Bill Isn't Wrong, Tax Court Told
The Internal Revenue Service denied allegations by Abbott Laboratories that it incorrectly increased the global healthcare giant's income, resulting in a $417 million tax bill, in answering Abbott's lawsuit filed with the U.S. Tax Court.
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April 26, 2024
Ex-Moody's GC Cops To Tax-Filing Fail On $54M Paycheck
The former general counsel for Moody's Corp. has pled guilty to willfully failing to file federal income tax returns for four years in which he collected $54 million in income, federal prosecutors announced Friday.
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April 26, 2024
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service issued its weekly bulletin Friday, which included the waiver of certain corporate alternative minimum tax penalties.
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April 25, 2024
Justices Could Throw Cold Water On Old Tax Reg Challenges
A pending U.S. Supreme Court decision on when people can challenge federal regulations could put the breaks on lawsuits against old tax regulations just after the U.S. Tax Court invalidated a 1986 conservation easement rule.
Expert Analysis
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Crypto Coverage After FTX Fall: Crime And Custody Coverage
Cryptocurrency firm FTX's recent implosion provides a case study for potential crypto exposure under traditional insurance policies, and suggests carriers should ask some basic underwriting questions, including whether a company engages in transactions involving cryptocurrencies or holds digital assets in custody, says Anjali Das at Wilson Elser.
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US-India Advance Pricing Resolutions Should Reassure Cos.
The United States' and India's tax authorities' recent resolution of a significant number of pending advance pricing agreements should reduce taxpayer uncertainty, reassure companies of the nations' good working relationship and improve India's investment environment, say Miller Williams and Caroline Setliffe at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Reimagining Benefits For A World Without Noncompetes
Though the Federal Trade Commission's recently proposed noncompete ban is still in its infancy, companies should begin considering whether they would need to retool their payment and benefits packages to comply, while still protecting their competitive edge, say Melissa Ostrower and Alec Nealon at Jackson Lewis.
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A Closer Look At Rep. Santos' Claims And Potential Charges
Skadden partner and former federal prosecutor Maria Cruz Melendez discusses Rep. George Santos' legal exposure following his alleged misrepresentations and the possible scope of investigations into his conduct — noting that if history is any indication, the congressman could face prison time if convicted.
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Stock Buyback Excise Tax Guidance A Mixed Bag For SPACs
Recent IRS guidance on the new stock repurchase excise tax includes a welcome exception for publicly traded special-purpose acquisition companies but does not exclude redemptions in connection with a de-SPAC transaction, and further guidance is needed to clarify ambiguities around the exception's application, say Olga Bogush and Evgeny Magidenko at ArentFox Schiff.
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Crypto Coverage After FTX Fall: Accountant And Atty Liability
The recent fall of cryptocurrency firm FTX highlights complexities regarding accounting and tax reporting for digital assets, and reveals lawyers’ potential liability exposure when providing services to crypto firms — as a result, insurers may face unintended vulnerabilities related to this nebulous landscape, say Anjali Das and Farzana Ahmed at Wilson Elser.
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The Forces Defining Sales Tax Policy And Compliance In 2023
In the coming year, expect to see tax policymakers grapple with the complexity of state and local tax compliance, cryptocurrency, metaverse transactions, and more, says Scott Peterson at Avalara.
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Inflation Reduction Act's Methane Tax May Be Unenforceable
Recent legislation directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to impose a first-ever direct charge on methane emissions from oil and gas operations — but two fundamental problems with the formula for calculating this tax could make it impossible for the EPA to implement, say Poe Leggette and Bailey Bridges at BakerHostetler.
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Atty-Client Privilege Arguments Give Justices A Moving Target
Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case regarding the scope of the attorney-client privilege appeared to raise more questions about multipurpose counsel communications than they answered, as the parties presented shifting iterations of a predictable, easily applied test for evaluating the communications' purpose, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.
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Industry Takeaways From IRS Guidance On EV Tax Credits
The IRS and U.S. Department of the Treasury’s recently issued documents on tax credit eligibility for clean vehicle purchases showcases three important points for the electric vehicle industry, including emphasis on the importance of in-service dates, guidance on how leased vehicles could be evaluated, and insight into manufacturing requirements, says Levi McAllister at Morgan Lewis.
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States Must Align Distribution Age Rules With Secure 2.0
To prevent unintended escheatment of retirement benefits, states will need to undertake legislative efforts to amend unclaimed property standards that conflict with the Secure 2.0 Act's required minimum distribution age increases, says Michael Giovannini at Alston & Bird.
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The IRS' APA Rulemaking Journey: There And Back Again
Attorneys at Dentons examine recent challenges in which taxpayers successfully argued Internal Revenue Service rulemaking was invalid under the Administrative Procedure Act, how tax exceptionalism and U.S. Supreme Court regulatory deference prompted such challenges, and similar challenges the agency will likely face following this line of cases.
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Tax Court Ruling Should Allay Post-Boechler Concerns
An unusually long U.S. Tax Court ruling in Hallmark Research Collective v. Commissioner, confirming that deficiency deadlines are jurisdictional, should reassure practitioners concerned about the statutory time limit implications of last year's U.S. Supreme Court Boechler v. Commissioner ruling and reaffirm the vital role of the Tax Court itself, says James Creech at Baker Tilly.