Federal

  • May 02, 2024

    Nixon Peabody Adds Two Community Finance Attys In DC

    Nixon Peabody LLP has hired two partners, who will focus their practices on helping nonprofits and other clients understand and obtain tax credits for a range of community development projects, to its community development finance practice in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Thursday.

  • May 02, 2024

    Feds Want Prison For Ex-Public Defender For Tax Fraud

    A former chief public defender in Minneapolis who in seeking leniency said he resigned in disgrace amid accusations that he failed to pay taxes for years on his private law firm should nonetheless spend eight months in prison after pleading guilty, prosecutors told a Minnesota federal court.

  • May 02, 2024

    Former Mich. Speaker, Wife Arraigned On Embezzling Charges

    A former speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives and his wife pled not guilty on Thursday to multiple financial crimes and received the judge's blessing to travel out of state to attend the Kentucky Derby, in their first court appearance since the charges were announced.  

  • May 01, 2024

    Senate Dems Reintroduce Bill To Tax And Regulate Cannabis

    Senate Democrats on Wednesday reintroduced a cannabis legalization bill that would remove the drug entirely from the ambit of the Controlled Substances Act and impose a tax-and-regulate scheme akin to what is currently in place for alcohol and tobacco.

  • May 01, 2024

    IRS Updates PLR Procedure For Stock Spin-Off Transactions

    The Internal Revenue Service issued updated procedures Wednesday for requesting private letter rulings pertaining to spin-off transactions, including what representations and analysis must accompany the requests.

  • May 01, 2024

    No Relief For Fla. Adviser Convicted In $80M Trading Scam

    The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday affirmed the conviction of a Florida investment adviser who bilked more than $80 million from the hundreds of people he persuaded to invest in a fraudulent company, after concluding he was not in custody when he made statements to the police.

  • May 01, 2024

    Family Trust Asks Justices To Review $16.2M Tax Row

    A family trust established by grandparents for their five grandchildren asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Third Circuit ruling finding the trust was the nominee of an adult son with $16.2 million in tax liabilities, saying the decision stands to upset estate planning norms.

  • May 01, 2024

    7th Circ. Affirms Research Tax Credit Limit For Scoreboard Co.

    A scoreboard maker can't include an executive's compensation in its research tax credit claims, a Seventh Circuit panel ruled, agreeing with the U.S. Tax Court that there was no proof to show how much time he spent on research relevant for the credit.

  • May 01, 2024

    Think Tank Says 'Distortive' DSTs Not The Right Way Forward

    As jurisdictions around the world continue to struggle with how to adequately tax the increasingly digital economy, they should look to expand their consumption taxes, not enact digital services taxes, the Tax Foundation said.

  • May 01, 2024

    Ex-NFL Star Romanowski Files For Ch. 11 Amid $15M Tax Suit

    Ex NFL star and Super Bowl champion Bill Romanowski has filed for Chapter 11 protection in California after being slapped with a $15.5 million income tax suit.

  • May 01, 2024

    Liberty Global Defends $109M Tax Refund Bid In 10th Circ.

    Telecommunications giant Liberty Global urged the Tenth Circuit to revive the company's $109 million tax refund bid, arguing a lower court rejected the claim by wrongly disregarding intercompany transactions that are permitted under legislation involving the repatriation of foreign profits.

  • May 01, 2024

    Metal Biz Owner Cops To Tax Fraud On $2.8M Income

    The owner of a metal fabrication company admitted to neglecting to report nearly $3 million in business income to the IRS, Connecticut federal prosecutors announced.

  • May 01, 2024

    Billionaire Energy Co. Founder Sues Booz Allen Over IRS Leak

    Energy Transfer co-founder Kelcy Warren accused government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton of failing to supervise an employee who stole Warren's private tax information and that of thousands of other wealthy people while on assignment at the IRS, according to a complaint in Maryland federal court.

  • May 01, 2024

    Overtime Theft Scheme Earns Ex-Mass. Trooper 3 Years

    The former second-in-command of a Massachusetts state police traffic safety unit was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a widespread conspiracy to steal federally funded overtime through no-work shifts.

  • May 01, 2024

    Tax Credit Transfer Regs Show IRS Caution In Rulemaking

    The IRS and Treasury's final rules on the sale and transfer of green energy credits maintained a strict reading of the statute while making few changes, a sign of caution by regulators amid judicial scrutiny of the government's rulemaking authority.

  • May 01, 2024

    Celeb Charity Says Law Firm Partner Went Rogue, Leaked Info

    The nonprofit responsible for handling more than $8 million donated to NFL safety Damar Hamlin following his on-field cardiac arrest has lodged a suit in Illinois federal court against its former counsel, claiming a lawyer leaked private documents to the press as retribution for his firing after publicizing faulty information.

  • April 30, 2024

    Ex-Autonomy VP Says CEO Lynch Told Him To Lie To Investors

    A former Autonomy business development executive testified Tuesday that CEO Mike Lynch directed him to lie to a hedge fund investor about prepaid royalty deals that boosted the company's upfront revenue numbers, saying at Lynch's criminal fraud trial that it was hard to say no to the "big boss."

  • April 30, 2024

    'Bitcoin Jesus' Dodged Nearly $50M In Taxes, Feds Say

    The U.S. has charged an early bitcoin investor dubbed "Bitcoin Jesus" over allegations that he dodged approximately $48 million in taxes by filing false tax returns and concealing how much of the cryptocurrency he owned, according to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday.

  • April 30, 2024

    TCJA Expiration Would Lead To Tax Hikes, GOP Reps. Say

    House Ways and Means Committee Republicans pressed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday on whether President Joe Biden would support the extension of the 2017 tax law's expiring provisions, saying allowing them to end would cause tax hikes for low- and middle-income taxpayers.

  • April 30, 2024

    Crypto Exec Denies $2B Laundering Charges, Is Out On Bail

    The CEO of crypto mixer Samourai Wallet has pled not guilty to charges he helped facilitate over $2 billion in illegal transactions and was released on $1 million bail after surrendering to federal authorities voluntarily.

  • April 30, 2024

    Yellen Says US Pushing To Protect R&D Credit Under Pillar 2

    U.S. Treasury Department negotiators are continuing to advocate for more favorable treatment of the country's research and development tax credit under the Pillar Two global minimum tax rules, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday.

  • April 30, 2024

    IRS Issues Automatic Changes To Tax Code Procedures

    The Internal Revenue Service issued Tuesday its annual list of automatic changes to Internal Revenue Code procedures, including provisions for gross income, trade or business expenses and capital expenditures, among others.

  • April 30, 2024

    IRS Rejects Arizona's Effort To Exempt State Tax Rebates

    The state of Arizona can't sue the federal government to litigate the personal claims of its taxpayers, the Internal Revenue Service told a federal court in an effort to dismiss a bid by the state to exempt state tax rebates from federal income taxes.

  • April 30, 2024

    Attys, Broker Can't Escape $4M Tax Fraud Convictions

    A North Carolina federal judge has denied acquittal requests from two tax attorneys and an insurance agent who were convicted for their roles in a $4 million tax avoidance scheme, saying he agreed with federal prosecutors who argued there was sufficient evidence for the underlying charges.

  • April 30, 2024

    Feds Endorse Easing Marijuana Status In Big Policy Shift

    Federal drug enforcers will recommend loosening restrictions on cannabis for the first time since the drug was made federally illegal decades ago, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Why Biz Groups Disagree On Ending Chevron Deference

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    Two amicus briefs filed in advance of last month's U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo highlight contrasting views on whether the doctrine of Chevron deference promotes or undermines the stable regulatory environment that businesses require, say Wyatt Kendall and Sydney Brogden at Morris Manning.

  • US-Chile Tax Treaty May Encourage Cross-Border Investment

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    Provisions in the recently effective U.S.-Chile bilateral income tax treaty should encourage business between the two countries, as they reduce U.S. withholding tax on investment income for Chilean taxpayers, exempt certain U.S. taxpayers from Chilean capital gains tax, and clarify U.S. foreign tax credit rules, say attorneys at Kramer Levin.

  • A Look Ahead For The Electric Vehicle Charging Industry

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    This will likely be an eventful year for the electric vehicle market as government efforts to accelerate their adoption inevitably clash with backlash from supporters of the petroleum industry, say Rue Phillips at SkillFusion and Enid Joffe at Green Paradigm Consulting.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • Planning A Defense As IRS Kicks Off Sports Losses Campaign

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    Sports team owners and partnerships face potential examination under the Internal Revenue Service’s recently announced sports industry losses campaign, and should be preparing to explain what drove their reported losses and assembling documentation to support their tax return positions and accounting methods, say Sheri Dillon and Jennifer Breen at Morgan Lewis.

  • What New Calif. Strike Force Means For White Collar Crimes

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    The recently announced Central District of California strike force targeting complex corporate and securities fraud — following the Northern District of California's model — combines experienced prosecutorial leadership and partnerships with federal agencies like the IRS and FBI, and could result in an uptick in the number of cases and speed of proceedings, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout

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    While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift

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    As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.

  • As Promised, IRS Is Coming For Crypto Tax Evaders

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    The IRS is fulfilling its promise to crack down on those who have neglected to pay taxes on cryptocurrency earnings, as demonstrated by recently imposed prison sentences, enforcement initiatives and meetings with international counterparts — suggesting a few key takeaways for taxpayer compliance, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • 5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money

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    As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.

  • The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52

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    Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.

  • Parsing Treasury's Proposed Clean Hydrogen Tax Credit Rules

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    Regulations recently proposed by the IRS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury concerning two types of tax credits for clean hydrogen production facilities should resolve many of the most pressing questions around qualification for the credits — albeit in a relatively stringent manner, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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