Federal
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January 31, 2023
BankUnited Says It's Owed $39.8M Tax Refund On Acquisition
BankUnited told a Florida federal court it is owed a $39.8 million tax refund stemming from its acquisition of a failed bank, arguing it can deduct $1.1 billion for its involvement in the transaction.
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January 31, 2023
Ex-Tech CEO Gets Almost 3 Years For Tax Evasion
A former Florida tech CEO who pled guilty to tax evasion and causing a $600,000 tax loss was sentenced to almost three years in prison, just shy of federal prosecutors' demand for a full sentence, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday.
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January 31, 2023
IRS Seeks Comments On Accounting Period Change Form
The Internal Revenue Service asked Tuesday for comments on a form that must be submitted to apply for certain annual accounting period changes.
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January 30, 2023
New ACA Birth Control Exemptions Cover Faith, Not Morality
The Biden administration on Monday proposed tightening the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate to eliminate a moral exemption that the Trump administration crafted and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld, eliciting both praise and outcry in the long-running saga's latest chapter.
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January 30, 2023
Couple's Mileage Log Lacked Credibility, Tax Court Says
A South Carolina couple cannot deduct driving expenses for a side business because their mileage logs showed discrepancies and their explanations of the discrepancies lacked credibility, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday.
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January 30, 2023
Seychelles Co. Fights To Keep $22M Award Alive
The Republic of Guinea's move to throw out a $22 million award against it is another attempt to relitigate a dispute it lost, a Seychelles-based consultant told a U.S. federal court.
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January 30, 2023
IRS Seeks Input On Tuition Payment Form
The Internal Revenue Service said Monday that it wants feedback on several forms, including one that certain educational institutions use to report tuition payments.
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January 30, 2023
Trump Drops Deutsche Bank Suit Over Financial Docs
Former President Donald Trump is voluntarily dropping his suit against two House committees that had sought his financial records from Deutsche Bank, telling a New York federal court that the newly Republican-led House hasn't reissued the subpoenas seeking the records.
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January 30, 2023
V&E Hires Include Former Co-Chair Of Cooley's Tax Practice
Vinson & Elkins LLP announced Monday that it is bolstering its tax controversy and litigation practice with the hires of two former Cooley LLP partners, including the former co-chair of Cooley's tax practice, who will now co-head V&E's practice.
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January 30, 2023
IRS Controls Over Purchase Cards Effective, TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service is largely effective at preventing employees from abusing government purchase cards, with only eight confirmed reportable violations from April 2022 through September 2022, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a report released Monday.
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January 30, 2023
Mellon Estate Pushes For $69M Tax Refund After Settlement
Executors of the estate of Pittsburgh billionaire and newspaper publisher Richard Mellon Scaife asked a Pennsylvania federal court to force the IRS to refund nearly $69 million in estate taxes, saying a $200 million settlement with Scaife's children retroactively reduced the estate's value.
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January 30, 2023
Interest Expense Deduction Cap May Sting More This Year
U.S. companies grappling with rising interest rates may face related tax complications under a measure that restricts deductions for interest paid on borrowed funds, in part because of a tightened cap that remained intact under Congress' recent spending bill.
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January 27, 2023
Int'l Details In Trump's Taxes Revive Constitutional Questions
The disclosure of former President Donald Trump's tax returns showing the extent of foreign taxes paid and holdings overseas during his presidency has revived questions about the constitutionality of his foreign business interests.
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January 27, 2023
Ex-IRS Worker Found Guilty Of Tax Crimes, Identity Theft
A California federal jury convicted a former IRS customer representative on more than a dozen counts of identity theft and tax crimes after prosecutors said she directed trumped-up refunds for her personal clients into her own bank account, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.
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January 27, 2023
Longtime Fugitive Cops To $2.5M Fraud Schemes
A former San Diego resident has pled guilty in three separate cases to charges of bail jumping, tax evasion and defrauding investors after spending more than two decades as a fugitive.
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January 27, 2023
Pot Co. Loses Bid To Void IRS Summonses At 10th Circ.
A Colorado marijuana dispensary lost its appeal to quash Internal Revenue Service summonses seeking financial records from a state regulator under a 10th Circuit decision Friday that disregarded Justice Clarence Thomas' criticism of federal regulation of cannabis.
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January 27, 2023
IRS Changes Real Estate Alternative Cost Method Rules
Some real estate developers can use an abridged form when applying to use the alternative cost method when determining the basis of improved units for 2023 and onward, the Internal Revenue Service said in updated rules released Friday.
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January 27, 2023
IRS Says Loss Or Deduction Wouldn't Trigger Foreign Use
A loss or deduction based on timing difference liabilities alone would not be considered a dual consolidated loss with a foreign use, the Internal Revenue Service said in a private letter ruling released Friday.
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January 27, 2023
GOP States Sue DOL Over Socially Conscious Investing Rule
A coalition of 25 Republican state attorneys general sued the U.S. Department of Labor seeking to kill a recently finalized rule governing how retirement plan managers can consider such things as climate change and social justice when making investment decisions, arguing the agency exceeded its authority.
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January 27, 2023
IRS Says Drug Co. Must Capitalize Voucher Costs
A pharmaceutical company that buys a voucher for expedited drug application review from another company must capitalize the costs to do so, the Internal Revenue Service's Office of Chief Counsel said in a memorandum released Friday.
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January 27, 2023
Taxation With Representation: Gibson Dunn, Davis Polk
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Xylem Inc. agreed to buy Evoqua, Matador Resources Co. agreed to acquire Advance Energy Partners, Jungheinrich is acquiring Storage Solutions, and Emerson Electric Co. said it's "pleased to see engagement" in its bid to purchase National Instruments.
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January 27, 2023
JCT Outlines Dynamic Scoring Revenue Estimate For Tax Bills
The Joint Committee on Taxation will use dynamic scoring to estimate revenues for bills with gross budget effects of more than $66 billion during the current Congress, according to a report on the committee's revenue estimating process released Friday.
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January 27, 2023
Tax Court Is Right To Drop Whistleblower Case, IRS Says
The U.S. Tax Court correctly dismissed a whistleblower's challenge to an Internal Revenue Service rejection of his award application, the agency told the D.C. Circuit, arguing the Tax Court lacks authority to weigh in on agency decisions to pursue whistleblower tips.
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January 27, 2023
IRS Seeks Comments On Late Real Estate Election Rules
The Internal Revenue Service asked for comments on rules allowing late elections regarding real estate interests.
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January 27, 2023
No Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin Articles For Jan. 30
The Internal Revenue Service released its weekly bulletin, which said there were no articles to be published for Jan. 30.
Expert Analysis
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New R&E Capitalization A Costly Change For Companies
Unless modified by legislation in the coming weeks, radical new capitalization rules for research and experimentation costs mean companies should brace for the loss of a major tax break starting with their 2022 tax returns, says Nancy Dollar at Hanson Bridgett.
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Congress Is Right To Advance Comprehensive Retirement Bill
As 2022 comes to a close, Congress' move to include the Secure 2.0 Act, a comprehensive retirement bill, in its omnibus spending package will bring retirees and those nearing retirement more peace of mind regarding their 401(k)s, IRAs and pensions, while reducing red tape for employers, says Andy Banducci at the ERISA Industry Committee.
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10 Pre-Deal Considerations In Cross-Border M&A Transactions
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Sergio Galvis and Benjamin Kent at Sullivan & Cromwell discuss steps that can be taken to preemptively address important issues that acquirers of foreign businesses encounter in cross-border M&A transactions, including tax planning and political risk.
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Clean Hydrogen Developers Should Track Incentives, Risks
Clean hydrogen project developers and investors should be aware of new funding opportunities from the U.S. Department of Energy and tax benefits under the Inflation Reduction Act, but must also guard against risks associated with new and evolving technologies, say Pamela Wu and Kirstin Gibbs at Morgan Lewis.
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IRS Starts Clock On Energy Projects' Labor Rule Exemption
A U.S. Department of the Treasury notice published this week started the 60-day clock for clean energy projects seeking to be grandfathered from having to meet new labor requirements to qualify for enhanced tax credits, and uncertainty about how the provisions will apply should be incentive for some investors to begin construction soon, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Foreign Tax Credit Proposal Is Some Help, But More Is Needed
New foreign tax credit regulations proposed by the U.S. Treasury Department provided some measure of relief on cost recovery and royalty withholding, two of the most troublesome aspects of the 2021 final foreign tax credit regulations, but the final regulations are still harmful to many taxpayers, making litigation inevitable, say attorneys at Fenwick.
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Anticipating The New Congress' Private Sector Investigations
With Republicans claiming a new majority in the House of Representatives in the upcoming Congress, corporates and individuals should expect a sea change in Congress' investigative priorities and areas of focus — and private sector entities can take prudential steps in the near term to best prepare for and mitigate risk, say attorneys at Latham.
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Tax Equity Requires Reinstating The Home Office Deduction
Congress should restore the home office deduction for W-2 workers in the interest of tax equity because permanently remote workers now bear the cost of creating quiet, dedicated work spaces, a pandemic-related shift unforeseen when the deduction was eliminated by 2017's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, say James Mahon and Samantha Lesser at Becker.
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Keys To IRA Tax Breaks For US Green Energy, EV Production
The Inflation Reduction Act includes three powerful tax incentives for domestic production of renewable energy projects and electric vehicles — but there are key questions that investors and manufacturers must ask when evaluating whether they can take advantage of these incentives, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Crypto Case Failed To Clarify Taxation Of Staking Rewards
A Tennessee federal court's recent dismissal of Jarrett v. U.S. — after the IRS issued a refund for taxes paid on cryptocurrency and mooted a greater question about the tax treatment of staking rewards — leaves the crypto industry in need of guidance on the IRS’ position, say attorneys at Cadwalader.
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How The IRS May Define 'Clean Hydrogen'
The Internal Revenue Service is still taking comments on how to define "clean hydrogen" for purposes of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, but developers can look to the IRA's legislative history — as well as the European Union's struggle to define "green hydrogen" — as guideposts, says Ben Reiter at Nixon Peabody.
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What To Expect From The Post-Midterms Lame-Duck Session
Depending on the results of the midterm elections, the upcoming lame-duck session may be the last chance for Congress to enact meaningful legislation for the next several years, so organizations must push through legislative priorities now, lest they are forced to restart their efforts in a much different environment next year, says James Brandell at Dykema.
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IRS' Tax Gap Statistics Don't Paint A Full Compliance Picture
The Internal Revenue Service's recent report indicating a widening tax gap sheds important light on tax compliance, underlines key pressure points and provides insights into how tax administration could be improved; but tax gap estimates also have their limits, says Joyce Beebe at Rice University.