Federal
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March 09, 2023
5th Circ. Denies $838K Tax Refund Tied To Fraud Restitution
The Fifth Circuit affirmed that a former psychiatrist who admitted to defrauding Medicare can't get an $838,000 tax refund after paying restitution.
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March 09, 2023
Yellen To Appear Before Senate Finance Committee Next Week
The Senate Finance Committee will discuss President Joe Biden's budget for 2024 with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen next week, the committee's chairman said Thursday.
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March 09, 2023
Fed. Circ. Blocks $50K Refund For Man Who Paid Ex's Bill
The Federal Circuit nixed a lower court's decision to refund a divorced man $50,000 for taxes he paid on his ex-wife's behalf, saying Thursday that the lower court had mistakenly allowed him to bring a refund lawsuit when he was not actually the taxpayer.
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March 09, 2023
IRS Updates Penalty Index For Employer Health Penalties
The Internal Revenue Service released guidance Thursday that provided indexing adjustment amounts for 2024 used in calculating employer health coverage penalties.
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March 09, 2023
Senate Confirms Biden's Pick For IRS Commissioner
The Senate confirmed former acting IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel to lead the agency Thursday, clearing the path for him to begin a term that will end in November 2027.
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March 08, 2023
Absence Of Confirmed Tax Heads Could Hinder Major Projects
Neither the IRS Office of Chief Counsel nor the U.S. Department of Justice's Tax Division has presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed leaders currently in charge, making it difficult for either to take on significant tax projects.
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March 08, 2023
Tax Court Can't Review Man's Whistleblower Award Denial
The U.S. Tax Court on Wednesday dismissed a Mississippi man's case seeking review of the denial of his whistleblower claim for 30% of the revenue collected by an Internal Revenue Service offshore voluntary disclosure program.
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March 08, 2023
3rd Circ. Rules Horse Breeders Can't Claim Tax Losses
Two New Jersey men can't claim tax losses for their horse breeding business because they didn't run the operation with the intent to make a profit, as indicated by their loss of millions of dollars, the Third Circuit found Wednesday, affirming a U.S. Tax Court opinion.
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March 08, 2023
Judge Orders Russian Gas Exec To Air Records In Tax Case
A Russian gas company executive accused of hiding $93 million in overseas accounts must immediately hand over his Swiss bank records, a Florida federal magistrate judge ordered Wednesday, saying the executive is refusing to comply with a subpoena less than two weeks before his tax evasion trial.
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March 08, 2023
Judge Allows IRS Summons On Insurer In Tax Shelter Probe
The IRS can proceed with a summons for policy documents, marketing materials and other records from a captive insurance company the agency suspects has promoted abusive tax shelters, a Florida federal court ruled Wednesday.
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March 08, 2023
Kyocera Urges Court To Keep Its $9M Tax Refund Suit Alive
A South Carolina federal court should reject the U.S. government's bid to end an $8.9 million tax refund lawsuit from electronic parts maker Kyocera, the business said, arguing that the government is looking to deny it "any opportunity for a meaningful review of its claims."
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March 08, 2023
IRS Corrects Rules Allowing COVID Relief Credits Recapture
The Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday that it was correcting temporary rules allowing the agency to recoup erroneous refunds of COVID-19 relief tax credits for employers.
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March 08, 2023
Tax Court Says Credit Card Debt Cancellation Was Income
A California man's canceled credit card debt counted as income because he didn't show that he was insolvent or that the canceled debt should otherwise not be considered income, the U.S. Tax Court said Wednesday.
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March 07, 2023
IRS Appeals Officials Deny Settlement Policy For Int'l Penalties
Despite speculation of an imposed settlement range, the IRS Independent Office of Appeals doesn't have mandated settlement ranges for penalties involving some international related tax returns, appeals officials said Tuesday.
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March 07, 2023
Biden Eyes Higher Medicare Taxes On Wealthy
President Joe Biden will propose increasing the net investment income tax rate from 3.8% to 5% to help the Medicare program remain solvent for another 25 years, according to a preview of the president's fiscal 2024 budget released Tuesday.
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March 07, 2023
Wyden Pushes Renters Tax Credit, Expanded Housing Credit
The low-income housing tax credit would expand and a renters tax credit would be established under legislation introduced Tuesday by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., with the intent to increase affordable housing supply and expand opportunities for homeownership.
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March 07, 2023
7th Circ. Rejects Shipbuilder's $1.1M Research Credit
A shipbuilding company can't claim a $1.1 million research tax credit for its building of 11 vessels after the Seventh Circuit found Tuesday that the company didn't provide enough information to prove there was a sufficient amount of experimentation to justify entitlement to the credits.
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March 07, 2023
Official Says Treasury Pushing Regs For Consolidated Groups
The U.S. Department of the Treasury is advancing several regulations for corporations filing consolidated tax returns, including guidance that would fix existing obsolete rules, an official said Tuesday.
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March 07, 2023
Tax Court Denies Md. Man Innocent Spouse Relief
A Maryland man can't get innocent spouse relief from a liability stemming from the tax returns he jointly filed with his ex-wife for 2017, the U.S. Tax Court said Tuesday.
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March 07, 2023
11th Circ. Won't Toss $26.5M Easement Deduction Case
The Eleventh Circuit rejected on Tuesday an IRS request to dismiss a partnership's challenge to the agency's block of its $26.5 million conservation easement deduction, despite the agency's claim that the case was "indistinguishable" from another the circuit had tossed.
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March 07, 2023
IRS Weighing Carveouts For Stock Buyback Tax, Official Says
The Internal Revenue Service is considering whether preferred stocks and other special classes of stocks will need carveouts or exemptions from the new excise tax for stock buybacks that took effect this year, an agency official said Tuesday.
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March 07, 2023
IRS Can't Sue Over Mistaken $491K Refund, Man Tells 9th Circ.
A man who mistakenly received a payment from the Internal Revenue Service of nearly half a million dollars told the Ninth Circuit that the government missed its chance to get the money back, saying the statute of limitations for the case has expired.
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March 07, 2023
Vineyard Owner Owes $238K In FBAR Penalties, Court Says
A vineyard owner is liable for just over $238,000 in foreign bank account reporting violation penalties for 2012 and 2013, a California federal court said.
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March 07, 2023
IRS Corrects Employee Health Coverage Statement Rules
The Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday that it was correcting final rules dealing with reporting minimum essential coverage for health insurance tax laws that included an extension for applicable large employers to provide statements about health insurance offers to full-time employees.
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March 07, 2023
Treasury Asks 11th Circ. To Revisit Lifting Tax Cut Limit
The full Eleventh Circuit should review a decision to allow 13 states to eschew a limit on tax cuts attached to federal coronavirus funds because the decision misapplied a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the U.S. Department of the Treasury argued in a request for a rehearing.
Expert Analysis
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What The Inflation Reduction Act Has To Do With Crypto
The recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act’s $80 billion supplemental funding allotment for the IRS could have unexpectedly significant implications for the cryptocurrency market, which may find itself the target of ramped-up tax audits and enforcement, says cybersecurity consultant John Reed Stark.
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Unpacking The New Stock Buyback Tax And Its Exceptions
Xenia Garofalo and Kyle Colonna at Eversheds Sutherland discuss provisions of the recently enacted tax on corporate stock repurchases, how its exceptions may be applied and what companies should consider when evaluating the cost of new or existing programs.
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Health Issues To Watch In Inflation Act, Other Policy Initiatives
The newly signed Inflation Reduction Act includes a number of significant drug pricing reforms, and the future holds a wider array of health issues that may be addressed in pending legislation when Congress returns in September, says Miranda Franco at Holland & Knight.
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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.