Federal
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April 04, 2024
IRS Pushes Back Tax Deadlines After Maine Storms
Certain Maine taxpayers will have additional time to file tax returns and make payments following storms and flooding in parts of the state, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday.
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April 04, 2024
Ex-IRS Agent Caused $42.5M In Tax Loss As Preparer, US Says
A tax preparer who once worked for the Internal Revenue Service should be permanently barred from preparing federal returns because he caused an estimated $42.5 million in tax losses by scheming to underestimate his clients' liabilities, the government told a Washington federal court.
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April 04, 2024
Beyoncé's $3M Tax Trial Postponed
The trial scheduled for May in Beyoncé's challenge to a $3 million tax deficiency has been delayed, according to an order Thursday by the U.S. Tax Court.
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April 04, 2024
Project Owners Eager To Sell Energy Tax Credits, Report Says
Project owners are pursuing new financing strategies that would support the early sale of their clean energy tax credits as more projects in their initial development stage this year seek to capitalize on the incentives as early as possible, a report released Thursday said.
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April 03, 2024
NJ Tax Preparer Accused Of $150M COVID Relief Fraud
A New Jersey tax preparer has been indicted over what prosecutors are calling a yearslong scheme in which he filed more than 1,600 bogus tax forms seeking over $150 million in COVID-19-related employment tax credits for his clients and his own businesses that they weren't eligible for, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
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April 03, 2024
IRS Says $28M In Fines Against Microsemi Adhered To Rules
The Internal Revenue Service is again pressing the U.S. Tax Court to rule that it followed supervisory approval requirements when it imposed nearly $28 million in penalties against semiconductor manufacturer Microsemi in a transfer pricing dispute.
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April 03, 2024
McDermott Adds Ex-Baker McKenzie Tax Pro In Chicago
The former chair of Baker McKenzie's Chicago tax practice group has joined McDermott Will & Emery LLP and will work as a partner in the firm's Chicago office, McDermott said Wednesday.
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April 03, 2024
Construction Co. Owner Pleads Guilty In Payroll Tax Case
A construction company owner admitted to not paying more than $800,000 in employer and employee payroll taxes, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
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April 03, 2024
Aflac Matriarch's Estate Tells Tax Court IRS Can't Bill $9.8M
The Internal Revenue Service improperly issued an assessment of almost $9.8 million against the estate of a matriarch of the family who founded insurance company Aflac, the estate told the U.S. Tax Court.
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April 03, 2024
Salesman Admits Lying To IRS In Tax Preparer's Refund Scam
A timeshare salesman who benefited from a scheme that inflated tax refunds pled guilty to obstruction after lying to Internal Revenue Service agents who sought to collect his 2015 tax refund.
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April 03, 2024
Fed. Circ. Backs Firing IRS Agent Who Golfed On Agency Time
A former senior appraiser for the Internal Revenue Service was appropriately fired for golfing on company time, a federal appeals court affirmed Wednesday.
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April 02, 2024
Hunter Biden Can't Toss 'Vindictive' Criminal Tax Charges
Hunter Biden lost his bid to end his criminal tax case over claims his prosecution is vindictive and politically motivated, among other arguments, after a California federal judge ruled Monday that Biden "filed his motion without any evidence" and merely "cites portions of various internet news sources, social media posts and legal blogs."
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April 02, 2024
Ex-Fuddruckers Franchisee Can't Use NOLs, 11th Circ. Affirms
The U.S. Tax Court correctly ruled that the former owner of failing Fuddruckers franchises cannot deduct $1.8 million in carryover net operating losses because she did not show enough evidence she was entitled to the deductions, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed Tuesday.
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April 02, 2024
Challenges To IRS' Regs On SALT Cap Workarounds Tossed
The Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Department won't face challenges from three states and a village in New York to final regulations barring workarounds to the cap on state and local tax deductions due to a New York federal judge's decision.
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April 02, 2024
Feds Seek Use Of 'Intertwined' Evidence In NC Tax Fraud Trial
Federal prosecutors have asked a North Carolina district court to permit tangential evidence in a tax fraud trial, saying that the evidence is "inextricably intertwined with the charged conduct" of two St. Louis attorneys and a North Carolina insurance agent.
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April 02, 2024
NJ Business Owner Charged With Tax Evasion, Failure To File
A New Jersey fireproofing and painting business owner has been charged with 12 counts of failure to file tax returns and six counts of tax evasion, New Jersey federal prosecutors said.
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April 02, 2024
COVID Delay Makes Ohio Pair's Filing Timely, Tax Court Says
The petition of an Ohio couple was timely filed because they were entitled to a 60-day postponement during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Tuesday.
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April 02, 2024
Estate Owes $38K Tax Deficiency, 9th Circ. Affirms
The estate of a woman whose trust transferred $1.06 million to her son before she died owes $38,000 in federal estate taxes because some transfers were loans to prop up his architecture practice, the Ninth Circuit affirmed.
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April 01, 2024
US Support For Pillar 1 Still In Question After House Inquiry
U.S. lawmakers signaled that they think technical and other issues remain in the OECD's Pillar One taxing rights overhaul during a recent House subcommittee meeting, casting further doubt on the plan's implementation as the timeline to finalize it has slipped.
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April 01, 2024
Adviser Gets 4 Years For Fraud, Filing False Tax Returns
An Indiana investment adviser was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay $6.4 million in restitution for stealing $4.7 million from a client and filing false returns, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
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April 01, 2024
Justices Won't Review Mortgage Vehicles' Tax Break
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to take up a case from a group of whistleblowers who pressed for an Internal Revenue Service review of tax-exempt status for real estate mortgage investment conduits.
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April 01, 2024
Feds Back Guilty Verdict After Software Execs' Tax Fraud Trial
Federal prosecutors on Monday defended a jury verdict finding two former software executives in North Carolina guilty of failing to pay employment taxes, saying sufficient evidence supported their convictions.
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April 01, 2024
BakerHostetler Adds Partner To Tax Practice Group
BakerHostetler's Washington office has added a partner from Morris Manning and Martin LLP to join its tax practice group, Baker said in a statement Monday.
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April 01, 2024
Baker Donelson Adds EY Tax Pro To Houston Office
A former EY senior manager has joined Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC's tax group in Houston as counsel, the firm announced.
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April 01, 2024
Jailed Atty Pleads Not Guilty To Witness Tampering In Tax Case
A Chicago-area lawyer facing more than a dozen criminal tax fraud charges pled not guilty Monday to superseding charges that he tried scripting a bookkeeper's anticipated testimony, but he'll have to wait to learn whether he'll remain jailed until his upcoming retrial.
Expert Analysis
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9th Circ. Ruling Legitimizes Classwide Injury In Predominance
The Ninth Circuit's recent ruling that vacated class certification in Van v. LLR makes clear that the question of injury is highly relevant to the predominance analysis, and underscores the importance of making a persuasive argument that injury is individualized within the class, say attorneys at Skadden.
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IRS' Cost Method Update Is Favorable For RE Developers
The Internal Revenue Service's recent update to its alternative cost method will allow real estate developers to accelerate their cost recovery of improvements in certain circumstances and make it easier for practitioners to satisfy the method's tax compliance requirements, says Benjamin Oklan at Weil.
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The Key Issues Keeping Transfer Pricing A Top Tax Concern
Several challenges preventing a global economic reemergence from the pandemic era are making practitioners reevaluate commonly used transfer pricing models, and embrace new technologies and ways of doing business, say Farnaz Amini and Sophia Castro Jurado at Marcum.
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Cannabis Cos. Must Heed Growing Federal Investigatory Risks
As state-regulated cannabis markets expand rapidly, so too does government oversight, and industry participants must plan ahead to avoid potential liabilities related to workplace health and safety requirements, tax audits, securities regulations and foreign bribery laws, say Alicia Corona and Amy Rubenstein at Dentons.
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5 Ways Taxpayers Can Spot Employee Retention Credit Scams
On Monday, the Internal Revenue Service added the employee retention credit to its list of prevalent tax scams because of ERC promoters seeking to take advantage of employers, but taxpayers who may qualify for the credit can protect themselves by recognizing certain red flags, say attorneys at Potomac Law and Stout Risius.
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Could The Supreme Court Legalize Marijuana Federally?
Amid slow legislative and executive movement on cannabis reform, it’s worth examining whether the U.S. Supreme Court could provide a pathway to federal cannabis legalization — a decision that would surely require strange bedfellows given the court’s current ideological makeup, say Whitt Steineker and Mason Kruse at Bradley Arant.
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Tax Pitfalls To Avoid In Employment Litigation Settlements
Downsizing companies should keep certain questions in mind when settling claims with departing employees to ensure they understand associated tax withholding and reporting obligations, and avoid costly interest and penalties down the road, says Matthew Meltzer at Flaster Greenberg.
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Key Considerations For Taxpayers Deducting Crypto Losses
While a recent Internal Revenue Service memorandum is helpful in providing insight into how the agency is considering guidance related to cryptocurrency, questions remain with respect to whether a taxpayer can claim a tax deduction for cryptocurrency losses, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Justices' MoneyGram Opinion Could Spur State Legislation
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision that federal law governs the escheatment of over $250 million in unclaimed MoneyGram checks provides clarity for some issuers, but aspects of related common law remain uncertain and states may take the opportunity to pass multistate escheatment legislation, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.
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Justices Leave Questions Open On Dual-Purpose Atty Advice
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury on grounds that certiorari was improvidently granted leaves unresolved a circuit split over the proper test for deciding when attorney-client privilege protects a lawyer's advice that has multiple purposes, say Susan Combs and Richard Kiely at Holland & Hart.
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Employee Retention Tax Credit: Gray Areas And Red Flags
The subjective nature of the pandemic-prompted employee retention credit, coupled with a lack of Internal Revenue Service guidance, have created fertile ground for opportunists, so businesses seeking this tax benefit should be mindful of tax advisers who would involve them in fraudulent ERC claims, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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High Court Ax Of Atty-Client Privilege Case Deepens Split
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury as improvidently granted maintains a three-way circuit split on the application of attorney-client privilege to multipurpose communications, although the justices have at least shown a desire to address it, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.
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Clean Energy Tax Credits' Wage, Apprentice Rules: Key Points
The Inflation Reduction Act's complicated prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements for clean energy facility construction tax credits recently took effect — and the learning curve will be more difficult for taxpayers who are not already familiar with such programs, say attorneys at Shearman.