Federal

Int'l Tax In September: Facebook Ruling, BEAT Bill And More

Molly Moses
Contributing Editor

September kicked off with the announcement of tariffs on semiconductors and ended with the U.S. Tax Court's long-awaited ruling on a computational dispute involving Facebook, with Siemens USA's trial and a bill that would change the U.S. base erosion and anti-abuse tax in the middle. Here, Law360 looks at some of the biggest international tax developments of the past month.

2nd Circ. Forges Own Path In Limited Partner Tax Ruling

Kat Lucero

The Second Circuit's decision limiting a self-employment tax break for limited partners with significant managerial roles reached a conclusion similar to that of a recent Fifth Circuit ruling, but practitioners said notable differences between them create a split requiring resolution by the IRS, the U.S. Supreme Court or Congress.

3 Takeaways From Siemens' Trial Over $3.5B Tax Deduction

Molly Moses
Contributing Editor

Internal conflict at the IRS over a penalty, the recent court victory for another Siemens entity and the company's detailed tax planning are key factors the U.S. Tax Court will have to consider in deciding Siemens USA's case over a $3.5 billion deduction claimed for 2018.

Why Importers Should Assess IEEPA Refund Claims Now

Businesses that wait for direction from U.S. Customs and Border Protection or the courts before seeking refunds of their finally liquidated International Economic Emergency Procedure Act duties in court may find them out of reach as the earliest potential limitation deadlines are approaching, says Samuel Finkelstein at LMD Trade Law.

FinCEN Exemption Raises Statutory, Administrative Questions

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recently rolled-out broad exemption for U.S. companies from Corporate Transparency Act reporting may face administrative law and statutory challenges, so businesses should still preserve ownership records and monitor litigation and congressional action, says David McCarville at Fennemore.

IRS Automatic Penalty Relief Needs More Transparency

The IRS’ transition from manual first-time abate waivers to automatic penalty relief directly addresses genuine inequities, but its algorithmic framework creates an opaque black box that strips taxpayers of procedural visibility and complicates due process, says Colette Karam at Spencer West.

AI Meeting Recaps Pose New Discovery And Privilege Risks

The New York City Bar Association’s recent ethics opinion, cautioning attorneys not to record nonclient conversations with artificial intelligence tools, reflects an emerging view that AI meeting recaps are now a distinct business record category, meaning counsel should set meeting-level controls and apply framework-level updates, says William Wright at Faegre Drinker.

Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

Md. Digital Tax Ruling Is A Road Map For Future Challenges

Three Maryland Tax Court rulings that recently struck down the state's digital advertising tax suggest constitutional and statutory vulnerabilities that could be used to challenge newly enacted digital services laws or legislation being considered by other states, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

IRS Notice Helps Bridge Carbon Capture Reporting Gap

Recent guidance that extends a safe harbor for taxpayers claiming Section 45Q carbon capture credits provides a temporary reporting method that may keep viable projects moving while the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Environmental Protection Agency address future reporting standards, says Peter Lowy at Nelson Mullins.

Attorneys Using AI May Have Ethical Duty To Redact Docs

The trajectory of legal ethics guidance in recent years strongly suggests that as redaction technology becomes more accessible, the failure to use it when uploading highly confidential materials into artificial intelligence tools will become increasingly difficult to defend as reasonable, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.

Md. Court Got Ad Tax Similarity Analysis Wrong

Decisions striking Maryland’s digital advertising tax are fundamentally flawed because the Maryland Tax Court found similarity between digital ads and other ads without considering deep market distinctions, says Darien Shanske at UC Davis School of Law.

Planning For The Impact Of FinCEN's CTA Rollback

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recent rollback of Corporate Transparency Act reporting obligations should reduce compliance costs, but its plans to revisit customer due diligence rules should prompt companies and financial institutions to reassess state beneficial ownership programs, say attorneys at Sidley.

What DOJ Fraud Division Rule Resolves, And What It Doesn't

The U.S. Department of Justice’s recently published final rule answers many outstanding questions about the newly created National Fraud Enforcement Division, but overlapping mandates could result in parallel investigations and diverging viewpoints between multiple sets of prosecutors, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

ERC Filing Deadlines Raise Tax Adviser Liability Risk

To minimize their risk, employee retention credit providers and tax advisers should understand that agreements to extend clients’ two-year deadline for challenging disallowances are not effective until the IRS countersigns, and implement an action plan to track filing deadlines and consider other proactive steps, says Michael Williams at CFOMW.