Federal

  • November 07, 2025

    State Tax Rules Flagged To DOJ In Interstate Commerce Probe

    Tax attorneys and business groups are using a federal effort that aims to reduce interstate commerce burdens to highlight litigation over state taxes and call for codifying U.S. Supreme Court precedent on the commerce clause.

  • November 07, 2025

    Calif. Cannabis Co. Fights $10M IRS Bill In Tax Court

    A California company that manages cannabis operators challenged $10 million in taxes and penalties in the U.S. Tax Court, arguing the Internal Revenue Service stripped it of business deductions by incorrectly determining it trafficked in a controlled substance.

  • November 07, 2025

    Donor Wants Tax Court To Reinstate Easement Deductions

    An Oklahoma donor asked the U.S. Tax Court to reinstate deductions of $12 million and $13 million he claimed through partnership entities on a pair of charitable conservation easement donations, asserting the Internal Revenue Service disallowed the tax breaks without adequate explanation.

  • November 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Sides With Calif. In Tribal Cigarette Tax Fight

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday backed California in a dispute it brought to enforce cigarette taxes against a tobacco company owned and operated by a federally recognized Native American tribe, holding that the tribal leader defendants can't claim sovereign or qualified immunity exempts them from the federal tax law.

  • November 07, 2025

    Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin

    The Internal Revenue Service on Friday released its weekly internal revenue bulletin, which included proposed regulations that would remove rules that allow revenue officials to look through the corporate owners of real estate investment entities to determine whether they are domestically controlled.

  • November 07, 2025

    DOJ Backs Trump In NY False-Records Conviction Appeal

    The U.S. Department of Justice is throwing its support behind President Donald Trump's effort to overturn his New York criminal conviction for falsifying business records, filing a proposed amicus brief on Friday citing the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 2024 decision "defining the contours of a president's federal constitutional immunity from criminal prosecution."

  • November 07, 2025

    Wyden, Warren Flag IRS CEO's Fiserv Tenure In Probe

    Two Senate Finance Committee members said they are investigating Internal Revenue Service CEO Frank Bisignano's conduct in his previous position as Fiserv Inc.'s CEO, saying the financial setbacks the company has faced this year raise questions about his ability to serve as a key IRS official.

  • November 07, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Cravath, Paul Weiss

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, consumer products giant Kimberly-Clark acquires Tylenol maker Kenvue, shale producers SM Energy and Civitas Resources announce a merger, and power management company Eaton buys Boyd Corp.'s thermal business.

  • November 06, 2025

    Goldstein Loses Bid To Trim Tax Charges Before Trial

    A Maryland federal judge Thursday handed SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein a series of losses on pre-trial motions aimed at trimming the 22 federal tax charges he'll face at trial next year, ruling that many of the motions involved factual disputes fit for trial and keeping the government's case intact.

  • November 06, 2025

    Tax Court OKs Disallowance Of Unverified Litigation Fees

    The IRS correctly determined that a woman who'd been at odds with her various attorneys — having filed breach of contract suits against two separate legal teams — inadequately justified her claimed $28,000 deduction for legal expenses, the U.S. Tax Court said Thursday.

  • November 06, 2025

    Whistleblower Entitled To Award For $31M Tip, DC Circ. Told

    The U.S. Tax Court wrongly denied a whistleblower award to a woman who said she helped the Internal Revenue Service assess more than $31 million in corporate income, her supporter told the D.C. Circuit, saying the court allowed the agency to omit relevant information it was required to provide.

  • November 06, 2025

    IRS Microcaptive Reporting Rules Suit Can Move Forward

    A global tax services provider can move forward with its suit against the IRS to vacate tax reporting rules for microcaptive insurance companies, a Texas federal court said, finding the company had a stake in the challenge and a right to bring the case.

  • November 06, 2025

    No $22M Break For Real Estate Partnership, 6th Circ. Affirms

    An Ohio real estate partnership cannot claim a $22 million charitable tax deduction on a 2016 preservation easement, the Sixth Circuit found, affirming the U.S. Tax Court and Internal Revenue Service's conclusions that the partnership grossly misstated the value of the donated historic building.

  • November 06, 2025

    Tax Court Says IRS Took Too Long To Ax Easement Deduction

    The Internal Revenue Service failed to timely disallow a charitable deduction related to a company's conservation easement donation, the U.S. Tax Court said, throwing out a partnership adjustment by the agency.

  • November 06, 2025

    2nd Circ. Orders New Look At Trump's Hush Money Case

    In a published opinion, the Second Circuit on Thursday ordered a federal district judge to take a fresh look at President Donald Trump's attempt to move his New York hush money conviction to federal court, citing the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 presidential immunity ruling as grounds for reconsidering the case.

  • November 05, 2025

    Judge Questions Transfer Of Eaton's $14B Foreign Asset

    A U.S. Tax Court judge questioned a former Eaton Corp. official Wednesday about the company's decision to restructure the ownership of a valuable foreign subsidiary when it inverted in 2012, noting that the move placed a $14 billion asset out of the U.S. company's reach.

  • November 05, 2025

    IRS Direct File Will Not Be Offered In 2026, States Confirm

    State revenue agencies confirmed Wednesday that the Internal Revenue Service has informed them that its free online tax preparation tool, Direct File, will not be offered for the 2026 filing season and potentially other years.

  • November 05, 2025

    IRS Layoffs Include Over 500 Exam Employees, Docs Show

    The federal workers laid off during the government shutdown include more than 500 people in the exam and collections section of the IRS responsible for enforcing tax laws, a federal employee told a California federal court in a lawsuit over the firings.

  • November 05, 2025

    Docs Show IRS Improperly Shared Data With ICE, Groups Say

    Documents submitted by the U.S. government to a D.C. federal court show the IRS violated taxpayer privacy laws by sharing individuals' addresses with ICE despite its requests lacking required information and by accepting an unreasonable explanation about why the information was requested, several groups said.

  • November 05, 2025

    Ex-Mashpee Tribal Leader Gets 3.5 Years For Casino Bribes

    The former chair of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on Wednesday was sentenced to a 42-month prison term for orchestrating a bribery scheme tied to the tribe's $1 billion casino project, as a Massachusetts federal judge chastised him for characterizing his yearslong conduct as "mistakes."

  • November 05, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Skeptical Of Family Trusts' Tax Fraud Case

    The Federal Circuit seemed skeptical Wednesday of an $80 million tax challenge by a group of family trusts that claimed they were unfairly stuck with tax liabilities after being duped into selling assets to a fraudster who then engaged in abusive tax shelter transactions behind their backs.

  • November 05, 2025

    Justices Skeptical About Trump's Emergency Tariff Authority

    Several U.S. Supreme Court justices asked the government to defend why well-established judicial doctrines shouldn't limit President Donald Trump's tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act during oral arguments Wednesday, casting doubt on whether they believe the law provides that kind of authority.

  • November 05, 2025

    IRS Provides Penalty Relief For 2025 Tips, OT Reporting

    The Internal Revenue Service will treat the 2025 tax year as a transition period for enforcement and administration of the information reporting requirements for the new deductions for tips and overtime, according to guidance released Wednesday.

  • November 04, 2025

    Malawi Asks Judge To Undo Halt Of Gem Export Tax Probe

    Malawi asked a Washington federal judge to reconsider his recent decision to bar the country from pursuing discovery against a gemstone company that it alleges partnered with a mining outfit to dodge billions of dollars in taxes and export royalties.

  • November 04, 2025

    Former Eaton CFO Says Bond Investors Needed Reassurance

    Eaton Corp.'s former chief financial officer chronicled on Tuesday the company's efforts to finance its 2012 acquisition of Ireland-based Cooper Industries, describing an atmosphere of leery bond investors after the Great Recession of 2008, on the second day of the company's U.S. Tax Court trial.

Expert Analysis

  • A Cold War-Era History Lesson On Due Process

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    The landmark Harry Bridges case from the mid-20th century Red Scare offers important insights on why lawyers must be free of government reprisal, no matter who their client is, says Peter Afrasiabi at One LLP.

  • How BigLaw Executive Orders May Affect Smaller Firms

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    Because of the types of cases they take on, solo practitioners, small law firms and public interest attorneys may find themselves more dramatically affected by the collective impact of recent government action involving the legal industry than even the BigLaw firms named in the executive orders, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Lawsuits Shouldn't Be Shadow Assets For Foreign Capital

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    Third-party litigation financing amplifies inefficiencies from litigation and facilitates national exposure to foreign influence in the U.S. justice system, so full disclosure of financing arrangements should be required as a matter of institutional integrity, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • How To Accelerate Your Post-Attorney Career Transition

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    Professionals seeking to transition to nonattorney careers may encounter skepticism as nontraditional candidates, but there are opportunities for thought leadership and to leverage speaking and writing to accelerate a post-attorney career transition, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Evgeny Efremkin at Toronto Metropolitan University.

  • Tariffs And FCA Create Perfect Storm For Importers

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    The Trump administration's aggressive tariff policies pose a high risk to certain importation practices that are particularly likely to trigger False Claims Act enforcement, say attorneys at Jeffer Mangels.

  • US Reassessment Of OECD Tax Deal Is Right Move

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    The wholesale U.S. reevaluation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's global tax deal ordered by President Donald Trump is a positive step that could ultimately create a more durable international tax system, says Anne Gordon at the National Foreign Trade Council.

  • Measuring And Mitigating Harm From Discriminatory Taxes

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    In response to new tariffs and other recent "America First Trade Policy" pronouncements, corporations should assess and take steps to minimize their potential exposure to discriminatory and reciprocal tax measures that are likely to come, say economists at Charles River Associates.

  • Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Leadership To BigLaw

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    The move from government service to private practice can feel like changing one’s identity, but as someone who has left the U.S. Department of Justice twice, I’ve learned that a successful transition requires patience, effort and the realization that the rewards of practicing law don’t come from one particular position, says Richard Donoghue at Pillsbury.

  • How The CRE Industry Is Adapting To Tariff Uncertainty

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    Amid uncertainty about pending tariffs and their potential ripple effects, including higher material costs, supply chain delays and tighter margins, commercial real estate industry players are focusing on strategic planning and risk mitigation, says Daniel Diaz Leyva at Day Pitney.

  • Law Firm Executive Orders Create A Legal Ethics Minefield

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    Recent executive orders targeting BigLaw firms create ethical dilemmas — and raise the specter of civil or criminal liability — for the government attorneys tasked with implementing them and for the law firms that choose to make agreements with the administration, say attorneys at Buchalter.

  • Trade Policy Shifts Raise Hurdles For Gov't And Cos. Alike

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    The persistent tension between the Trump administration's fast-moving and aggressive trade policies and the compliance-heavy nature of the trade industry creates implementation challenges for both the business community and the government, says Sara Schoenfeld at Kamerman.

  • Firms Must Embrace Alternative Billing Models Or Fall Behind

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    As artificial intelligence tools eliminate inefficiencies and the Big Four accounting firms enter the legal market, law firms that pivot from the entrenched billable hour model to outcomes-based pricing will see a distinct competitive advantage, says attorney William Brewer.

  • How Attorneys Can Master The Art Of On-Camera Presence

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    As attorneys are increasingly presented with on-camera opportunities, they can adapt their traditional legal skills for video contexts — such as virtual client meetings, marketing content or media interviews — by understanding the medium and making intentional adjustments, says Kerry Barrett.

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