Federal
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April 10, 2024
IRS Floats Alternative For Hydrogen Credit Emissions Value
The Internal Revenue Service released guidance Wednesday that would allow hydrogen producers to pursue another method to value their emissions output — which is critical in qualifying for the clean hydrogen production tax credit — if they can't get the information using the Argonne National Laboratory model.
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April 10, 2024
Senate Finance Panel Schedules Hearing On IRS Budget
The Senate Finance Committee will convene next week to discuss the Internal Revenue Service's budget for 2025, the committee said Wednesday.
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April 10, 2024
IRS Fixes Heading For Apprenticeship Credits, Deductions
The Internal Revenue Service issued a correction notice Wednesday to fix a heading related to increased tax relief for meeting certain wage and apprenticeship requirements.
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April 10, 2024
Ex-Trump Finance Chief Weisselberg Jailed For Perjury
A New York state judge on Wednesday sentenced former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg to five months in jail for lying under oath in the attorney general's civil fraud case against Donald Trump and his business associates, imprisoning a close ally of the former president on the eve of his hush-money trial.
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April 09, 2024
Treasury Proposes Long-Awaited Stock Buyback Tax Rules
The U.S. Treasury Department proposed a pair of long-awaited rules Tuesday that detail the calculation and reporting of a new excise tax assessed to publicly traded corporations that recently bought back their own shares of stock on the open market.
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April 09, 2024
Healthcare Co. Can't Sue Ex-Exec For Causing Canada Tax Hit
A Colorado federal judge shot down a pharmacy automation company's suit alleging its former chief commercial officer cost it nearly CA$1.2 million ($907,000) in Canadian taxes by not telling his employer he had moved out of the country, saying the company hasn't shown it suffered any damage as a result.
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April 09, 2024
10th Circ. Won't Allow Church To Skirt IRS Summons
The Tenth Circuit rejected a Kansas church's request to quash an Internal Revenue Service's third-party summons into the organization's bank records because the church does not hold the financial information and therefore is not subject to church tax inquiry restrictions, according to an opinion released Tuesday.
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April 09, 2024
Man's Unusual Filing Methods Led To Liability, 4th Circ. Told
The Fourth Circuit should uphold a U.S. Tax Court decision allowing the IRS to collect the tax liability of a technology consultant who for years used unusual filing methods, the government argued Tuesday, saying the court correctly noted he contributed to any confusion over his bill.
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April 09, 2024
Tax Court Rejects Pa. Man's Worked-For-Free Claim
A Pennsylvania man who claimed he worked for free is liable to pay more than $15,000 in unpaid income taxes, according to a ruling transcript published Tuesday by the U.S. Tax Court.
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April 09, 2024
Fund Managers Want Ga. Attys' Tax Shelter Fraud Suit Tossed
A fund manager accused of misleading investors into an illegal tax shelter want a Georgia federal court to throw out the proposed class action against them, claiming the facts alleged in an updated complaint still aren't specific enough for court.
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April 08, 2024
Tax Court Upholds $11M In Foreign Reporting Penalties
The U.S. Tax Court on Monday mostly upheld $11 million in foreign reporting penalties against a man who admitted he hid money overseas, but the court declined to overturn its ruling that the IRS lacks authority to assess certain foreign reporting penalties.
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April 08, 2024
Tax Court OKs Accuracy Penalties After 11th Circ. Reversal
A Florida man found to owe more than $9 million in taxes is liable to pay accuracy-related penalties, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday, after the Eleventh Circuit reversed a previous decision shielding him from the fines.
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April 08, 2024
CPAs Want Treasury To Delay Beneficial Ownership Registry
The U.S. Department of the Treasury should delay enforcement of beneficial ownership information reporting requirements while courts hear cases challenging the Corporate Transparency Act, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and 54 state CPA societies said.
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April 08, 2024
IRS Aptly Denied Man's Payment Proposal, Tax Court Says
The U.S. Tax Court sided with the Internal Revenue Service on Monday in finding there had been no abuse of discretion when the agency rejected a "partial pay" installment agreement from a Pennsylvania man.
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April 08, 2024
Tax Court Declines To Stop Clock For Woman's Petition
A Virginia woman who failed to timely dispute a collection action could not prove she was entitled to equitable tolling, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday.
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April 08, 2024
Ex-IRS Criminal Investigations Head Joins Crypto Data Firm
A newly retired chief of the Internal Revenue Service's law enforcement arm is taking his skills to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, where he'll help federal agencies and crypto firms leverage Chainalysis' data and solutions to combat financial crime.
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April 08, 2024
FTC Defends In-House Judges' Role In H&R Block Case
H&R Block wrongly claimed that the Federal Trade Commission's administrative law judges should be disqualified from overseeing an administrative proceeding accusing the tax preparation company of deceptive advertising, FTC lawyers told the agency, arguing the judges don't have illegal job protections.
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April 08, 2024
Mo. Atty Loses Last-Ditch Bid To Dodge NC Tax Fraud Trial
A St. Louis attorney lost a last-minute attempt to escape his upcoming tax fraud trial based on claims that the prosecution was never properly authorized, with a North Carolina federal judge finding that the government did mislead the court but nonetheless had the right stamp of approval.
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April 08, 2024
Jackson Hewitt Preparers Want First OK On $10.8M Deal
Former Jackson Hewitt Inc. workers have reached a $10.8 million settlement with their former employer over claims the company's franchisees entered into an anti-competitive no-poach agreement despite the provision being removed from the company's franchise agreements, according to a Friday motion.
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April 08, 2024
EU Expansion Question Shines Light On Tax Voting Procedure
The question of whether the European Union should expand beyond its current 27 member countries is putting the spotlight on the bloc's voting practices, raising concerns that the current unanimity requirement for tax policy changes would become unmanageable with a larger group.
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April 05, 2024
Chrisley Must Pay $755K For Slandering Ga. Tax Worker
Former reality star and convicted fraudster Michael "Todd" Chrisley must pay $755,000 in damages after a federal jury found this week that he slandered a Georgia Department of Revenue employee who played a bit role in his criminal investigation.
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April 05, 2024
Arizona Loses Bid To Bar Federal Tax On One-Time Rebates
A federal court declined Friday to bar federal taxation of Arizona's one-time state tax rebates issued last year, rejecting the state's move for a preliminary injunction against the Internal Revenue Service.
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April 05, 2024
Homeowners' Energy Efficient Rebates Not Income, IRS Says
The U.S. Department of Energy rebates awarded to taxpayers who bought an energy efficient home or retrofitted their current residence to reduce energy consumption won't need to be reported in the property owner's gross income, the IRS announced Friday.
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April 05, 2024
Green Energy Co. Duped Investors Out Of $40M, Suit Says
A proposed class of investors has hit a purported Chicago green energy outfit and its executives with a federal suit claiming they used promises of extravagant returns to get the plaintiffs to invest but never created any energy or produced the returns they promised.
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April 05, 2024
Judge Won't Recuse Herself From Doctor's NBA Fraud Trial
A Manhattan federal judge has refused to step away from the case of a Seattle doctor accused of participating in a scheme to defraud the National Basketball Association's health plan, saying there was "no basis" for his bid to oust her after he took issue with the trial schedule and what he described as systemic barriers.
Expert Analysis
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How New Markets Tax Credit Can Help Pandemic Recovery
The New Markets Tax Credit program, designed to spur private investment in low-income, nonmetropolitan and distressed communities, is one potential remedy that can help alleviate the pandemic's negative impact on especially vulnerable areas, says Julia Fendler at Butler Snow.
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Senate Cannabis Bill May Give Some Cos. A Competitive Edge
Though the recently introduced Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act is unlikely to pass, it provides a bellwether for federal legalization, with a robust regulatory framework that would offer large food and beverage companies a structural advantage and poise multistate cannabis operators for further growth, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Lessons For Federal Lawmakers As Calif. Alters Cannabis Tax
California recently eliminated a cultivation tax that had for years burdened the state’s licensed cannabis market, providing important lessons for federal lawmakers on cumbersome regulations and unduly high taxes as they debate legalization, says Raza Lawrence at Zuber Lawler.
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Tips On Qualified Small Business Stock Exclusions
While awaiting more Internal Revenue Service guidance on the maze of requirements a taxpayer must satisfy for the qualified small business stock exclusion, there are steps proactive taxpayers can take to ensure their ability to establish their qualifications if they are audited, says Stephen Josey at Kostelanetz & Fink.
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Inside The OECD Transfer Pricing Documentation Guidance
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's recently modified documentation guidelines can assist tax administrations in developing requirements for transfer pricing risk assessments and evaluations, and help multinational entity taxpayers demonstrate satisfaction of the arm's-length principle, says Neil Aragones at Lexis Tax.
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Superfund Tax Is Back: Implications For Chemical Industry
In light of the Internal Revenue Service's recently issued guidance on the reinstated Superfund tax, manufacturers, producers and importers should review their existing agreements that involve taxable chemicals and substances to determine who will be commercially responsible for the tax, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Tech Co.'s Suit May Create Hurdles For Research Tax Credits
The recently filed U.S. Tax Court case Perficient v. Commissioner — challenging standards under research credit regulations that determine whether research is funded by any grant or contract — could make it difficult to substantiate research tax credits, say Dennis St. Martin and Kevin Benton at Grant Thornton.
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Expected Retirement Law Changes May Spark ERISA Suits
As Congress is poised to pass bipartisan retirement legislation that could bring collective investment trusts and 403(b) plans together and may form a new wave of litigation under the Employee Retirement Security Act, it is helpful to review the important roles that they have played in prior waves of ERISA excessive fee cases, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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A Close Look At The Decentralized Effort To Tax Digital Assets
Clarity on taxation is one of the biggest hurdles to mass adoption of cryptocurrency, and although digital asset innovation has consistently outpaced worldwide government regulation, recent efforts in the U.S. and elsewhere hint at an emerging standard, says Joshua Smeltzer at Gray Reed.
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Lessons From The SEC's Largest-Ever Audit Firm Penalty
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent $100 million settlement over professional test cheating with Ernst & Young — the largest ever in an audit firm case — points to important ramifications for any entity responding to an SEC inquiry, say attorneys at Cleary.
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Navigating The IRS Pre-Audit Retirement Plan Pilot Program
The Internal Revenue Service launched a Pre-Examination Compliance Pilot program for retirement plans last month that gives sponsors and administrators 90 days to self-correct errors and avoid audits, and while several details are unclear, there are important steps to take at this time, say attorneys at Ice Miller.
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Key Takeaways From IRS Reversal On FDII Stance
The Internal Revenue Service's recent memo regarding allocation of deferred compensation expenses for purposes of foreign-derived intangible income is a departure from the agency's previous position and may have implications beyond the context of deferred compensation, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.
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How To Address Research Expenditures Amid Uncertainty
Taxpayers need to prepare for the significant technical and compliance challenges of following Internal Revenue Code Section 174's new rules for experimentation expenditure capitalization and amortization, notwithstanding the rules' unresolved legislative future, say tax advisers at Grant Thornton.