Federal
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March 07, 2024
Jailed Reality Star Slammed For Raising 'Irrelevant' Evidence
Less than a month ahead of trial, a Georgia Department of Revenue employee suing imprisoned former reality television star Michael "Todd" Chrisley has asked a Georgia federal judge to stop Chrisley from bringing in evidence she says is "irrelevant" to the defamation case she brought against him.
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March 07, 2024
Nonprofits Can E-File 2023 Extensions Later This Month
Tax-exempt organizations will be able to electronically file applications for extensions on returns including Form 990 starting March 17, when an Internal Revenue Service delay that impeded the filings ends, an agency official said Thursday.
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March 07, 2024
Disability Payments Are Gross Income, Tax Court Rules
More than $1,500 in disability payments received by a Texas couple must be included in their gross income, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Thursday.
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March 07, 2024
Tax Tipster Who Reported Family Loses DC Circ. Award Fight
A man who reported his siblings for tax fraud and received a whistleblower award wasn't entitled to more money, the D.C. Circuit ruled, saying the IRS was correct in reducing the amount after concluding the man, a manager in the family business, likely participated in the fraud.
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March 07, 2024
IRS Seeks Suggestions For Next Priority Guidance Plan
The Internal Revenue Service is soliciting public suggestions for its 2024-25 priority guidance plan, the agency announced Thursday.
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March 07, 2024
Feds Look To Bar Advice-Of-Counsel Defense From Tax Trial
Federal prosecutors have sought to prevent two attorneys and an insurance agent from relying on advice-of-counsel defenses in their upcoming tax fraud trial, telling a North Carolina federal judge the trio failed to give the court an adequate heads-up about their intended defense.
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March 07, 2024
IRS Halts Penalties On Dyed Diesel After Texas Wildfires
The Internal Revenue Service will momentarily stop imposing penalties on the sale or highway use of dyed diesel fuel in parts of Texas in response to wildfires, the agency said.
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March 07, 2024
IRS' Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Schedules April Meeting
The Internal Revenue Service's Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Joint Committee scheduled its next public meeting for April 22, the agency said Thursday.
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March 07, 2024
Biden Urges Higher Taxes On Wealthy Companies, Individuals
President Joe Biden, in his Thursday night State of the Union address, urged Congress to make the U.S. tax code fairer by enacting higher rates on wealthy corporations and individuals and extending tax relief to working families.
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March 06, 2024
Software Execs Tried To Save Co. With Trust Taxes, Jury Told
Prosecutors and defense attorneys on Wednesday painted competing pictures of two former software executives at the start of their tax fraud trial in North Carolina, with the government characterizing the pair as liars and cheaters while the defense claimed they were merely trying to right the ship as their business floundered.
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March 06, 2024
Impending Corp. Spinoff Guidance Could Refine Tax-Free Test
Tax attorneys are watching to see if eagerly awaited corporate spinoff guidance will help determine whether transactions qualify for tax-free status with more clarity than current regulations, and without controversial bright-line rules that were floated several years ago.
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March 06, 2024
Startup Investors' Attys Want $1.5M In Fees On Disclosure Suit
Lawyers for a class of investors have asked a New York federal court to approve their attorney fees of $1.5 million for a $4.5 million settlement with a Chinese analytics startup over claims the company misrepresented its tax liability before its initial public offering.
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March 06, 2024
IRS Targeted Atty In Bank Records Suit, Justices Told
The Internal Revenue Service violated an attorney's free speech rights by targeting him based on a tax analysis he posted online, he argued in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider overturning a ruling allowing the agency to obtain his bank account information.
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March 06, 2024
First Woman To Be Permanent Top IRS Atty Begins Tenure
The first woman to permanently serve as chief counsel of the Internal Revenue Service began her tenure Wednesday.
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March 05, 2024
Goal Is Still For A Mandatory Amount B, Treasury Official Says
Negotiators at the OECD made it optional for countries to adopt new simplified and streamlined transfer pricing rules, known as Amount B, but the goal is still for the framework to be mandatory, a U.S. Treasury Department official said Tuesday.
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March 05, 2024
Pillar 1 Would Have Cost US Gov't $1.4B In 2021, Study Says
U.S. tax revenue would have been reduced by $1.4 billion in 2021 under a proposed system to reallocate a share of tax payments to where large multinational corporations have customers but lack a physical presence, the Joint Committee on Taxation said Tuesday.
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March 05, 2024
Appraiser Withholding Docs In $57M Case, Gov't Tells Court
A Florida federal court should force an appraiser to hand over documents the IRS says it needs for an investigation into a partnership's $57 million tax deduction for a conservation easement donation, the U.S. argued in a petition Tuesday, saying the appraiser has refused to comply with a summons.
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March 05, 2024
Biz Owner Gets 10 Months For Evading Tax On Foreign Income
The owner of a manufacturing company was sentenced in California federal court to 10 months in prison for avoiding taxes on almost $4.5 million in income by failing to report his foreign sales to the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
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March 05, 2024
Retiree's Bid For $284K FBAR Refund Thrown Out
Federal district courts lack jurisdiction to refund penalties for failing to report foreign accounts, which means a Georgia man must refile in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to try to recover $284,000 that he was penalized, a Georgia federal court said in dismissing his case.
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March 05, 2024
Treasury Finalizes Direct Pay Rules For Energy Tax Credits
The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Tuesday finalized regulations governing direct payments of several clean energy tax credits provided by the Inflation Reduction Act but said it was still mulling how to address so-called chaining of payments and co-ownership arrangements.
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March 04, 2024
Former DOJ Assistant Chief Joins Bird Marella
The assistant chief in the fraud section of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division joined Bird Marella Rhow Lincenberg Drooks & Nessim LLP, the firm announced Tuesday.
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March 04, 2024
Corporate Transparency Act Unconstitutional, Ala. Judge Says
An Alabama federal judge has found that the Corporate Transparency Act is unconstitutional, dealing a blow to proponents of the anti-money laundering law, who anticipate the ruling will be appealed to the Eleventh Circuit.
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March 04, 2024
TCJA To Reduce Corporate Tax Revenue By 40%, Study Says
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is expected to reduce corporate tax revenue by about 40% over a decade after increased investment in the U.S. is accounted for, according to a study published Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
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March 04, 2024
Former IRS Commissioner Joins Chamberlain Hrdlicka
Former IRS Commissioner Charles "Chuck" Rettig joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Aughtry as a shareholder in Los Angeles, following in the footsteps of his former acting chief of staff, whom the firm hired last year.
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March 04, 2024
Justices Won't Review $10M Tax On Gulfstream Heirs
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review the Internal Revenue Service's imposition of personal liability for $10 million in unpaid estate taxes on the survivors of Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.'s founder, letting stand a Ninth Circuit ruling.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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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.