Federal
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April 17, 2024
Utility Energy Subsidies Not Eligible For Credits, IRS Says
A taxpayer may not claim certain clean energy credits for the amount of a subsidy provided by a public utility for the purchase or installation of energy conservation measures, the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.
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April 17, 2024
Tax Court Rejects NJ Lawyer's Protest Of IRS Collection
The Internal Revenue Service didn't abuse its discretion when it denied a New Jersey lawyer's request for collection alternatives, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Wednesday.
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April 17, 2024
9th Circ. Tosses $3.9M Tax Foreclosure Appeal As Premature
The Ninth Circuit dismissed a man's challenge to a court order that he believed allowed the government to foreclose on his property to pay his son's tax liabilities of more than $3.9 million, saying Wednesday that the appeal was premature because the order wasn't final.
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April 17, 2024
Judge Delays Trial Over $20M Allegedly Hidden From IRS
A Florida federal judge agreed Wednesday to delay the trial of a Brazilian-American businessman accused of hiding $20 million from the Internal Revenue Service by using Swiss bank accounts, but told the defendant the new deadlines are firm.
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April 17, 2024
Loeb & Loeb Adds 2 Corporate Partners From Morrison Cohen
Loeb & Loeb LLP has announced the latest in a string of corporate hires from Morrison Cohen LLP's ranks, touting two new partners with domestic and international experience with strategic transactions.
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April 17, 2024
4th Circ. Affirms No Shield From IRS For Home In Bankruptcy
A North Carolina man who filed for bankruptcy protection and owes federal tax debt cannot shield the house he owns with his wife from the Internal Revenue Service, which is pursuing the asset as a creditor in the proceedings, the Fourth Circuit affirmed Wednesday.
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April 17, 2024
Financial Planner Gets Prison For Tax Shelter Fraud Scheme
A Cleveland financial planner who colluded with a Florida attorney to promote an illegal tax scheme using fake charitable donations to score deductions for his company's high-income clients was sentenced Tuesday to 20 months in prison for his part in the fraud.
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April 17, 2024
IRS Finds Success Against 'Ghost Employers,' TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service has successfully prosecuted 33 cases against employers who issue W-2 forms to workers but fail to remit payroll taxes, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Wednesday.
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April 16, 2024
Corp. Transparency Act A Valid Use Of Powers, 11th Circ. Told
The U.S. Department of Treasury told the Eleventh Circuit that a federal district court erred in finding the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional, saying the lower court misunderstood the law's scope and relation to efforts to curb financial crime.
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April 16, 2024
Nothing 'Sinister' About Attys, Broker's Tax Plan, NC Jury Told
Two St. Louis attorneys and a North Carolina insurance agent on Tuesday tried to poke holes in an undercover IRS agent's investigation of what the government has characterized as a criminal tax avoidance scheme, which defense counsel sought to paint for the jury as a legal interpretation of federal tax law.
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April 16, 2024
Biden Pushes For Permanent Premium Tax Credit Expansion
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that should he be reelected one of his first actions would be to seek to make permanent the expansions that were made to the health insurance premium tax credit to increase eligibility and lower premiums.
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April 16, 2024
Ex-Mich. Speaker, Wife Charged With Embezzlement
Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield was charged Tuesday with criminally misusing money from his nonprofit to pay for family trips and designer clothing while in office, as the state attorney general called on lawmakers to beef up Michigan's "worthless" campaign finance laws.
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April 16, 2024
Veteran's Signature On IRS Doc Not Forged, Tax Court Finds
U.S. Air Force veteran and his wife failed to convince the U.S. Tax Court on Tuesday that their signatures were forged on an agreement to pay federal income taxes while working in Australia for defense contractor Raytheon.
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April 16, 2024
GOP Senators Call IRS' E-File Program Too Costly
Senate Republicans continued to criticize the Internal Revenue Service's free tax filing pilot program during a Finance Committee hearing Tuesday, saying the program has not followed best practices and will be costly to implement long term.
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April 16, 2024
IRS Publishes 2024 Average Residence Purchase Price Data
The Internal Revenue Service published data Tuesday on the average purchase price for U.S. residences in different areas, which is used to determine whether bond interest can be excluded from gross income.
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April 16, 2024
IRS Extends Excise Tax Relief For Min. Plan Distribution
Plans that fail to make certain required minimum distributions in 2024 will not be assessed an excise tax under changes made to retirement plan legislation, the Internal Revenue Service said in guidance released Tuesday.
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April 16, 2024
3 Key Takeaways From The IRS' Latest Pricing Pact Snapshot
The IRS finalized a record number of advance pricing agreements in 2023, signaling the agency's increased effectiveness at completing accords at a time when its approach to transfer pricing litigation could fuel corporate taxpayers' urgency for seeking APAs. Here, Law360 breaks down three key takeaways from the agency’s latest APA report.
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April 16, 2024
Ex-Prisoner Not Properly Notified Of Tax Bill, Court Says
A man who was awarded a $201,000 settlement for a prison injury that left him nearly blind in one eye was not properly notified by the IRS that he had failed to pay taxes on the award, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Tuesday.
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April 16, 2024
Estate Asks 9th Circ. For Rehearing Over Tax Bill
The estate of a woman whose trust transferred $1.06 million to her son before she died is asking the Ninth Circuit to rethink its decision upholding $38,000 in federal estate taxes, arguing that the U.S. Tax Court lacked authority to determine the deficiency in the first place.
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April 16, 2024
Retrial For Feds' Conduct Denied In $12M Tax Fraud Case
An Atlanta man convicted of running a $12 million tax refund fraud scheme isn't entitled to a new trial even though federal prosecutors withheld evidence that the man said minimized his role in the crime, a federal judge ruled.
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April 16, 2024
Moving Co. Execs Found Guilty In $7.7M Payroll Tax Scheme
The former president of a moving company and its head bookkeeper conspired to evade more than $7.7 million in federal payroll taxes, a New York federal jury has found.
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April 16, 2024
Work-Life Referral Services Don't Count As Income, IRS Says
Work-life referral services, which employers provide to help employees with personal, family or work challenges, shouldn't be included in workers' gross income, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.
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April 16, 2024
Applicable Federal Interest Rates To Rise In May
Applicable federal rates for income tax purposes will rise in May, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.
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April 15, 2024
Tax Attys, Broker Peddled 'Financial Fantasy,' NC Jury Told
A North Carolina federal jury on Monday heard a series of secret recordings at the start of a tax fraud trial in which an insurance agent and a St. Louis attorney unwittingly pitched an undercover IRS agent on a way to decrease taxable income — or what the government characterized as a "financial fantasy."
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April 15, 2024
Exxon Seeks $1.8B Tax Refund As Qatar Deal Trial Opens
Exxon Mobil Corp. argued Monday in Texas federal court that its deal with Qatar to extract natural gas from the country's coast was a partnership, rather than a lease agreement, saying at the start of a trial that it's entitled to get $1.8 billion in tax benefits back from the IRS.
Expert Analysis
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How Inflation Reduction Act Will Lift Offshore Wind Projects
The Inflation Reduction Act should promote the development of offshore wind energy in multiple ways — including by improving the planning and permitting process for transmission infrastructure, expanding potential lease areas and making beneficial changes to the tax credits available for renewable energy developers, say attorneys at Day Pitney.
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CORRECTED: New Tax Credits For Renewables Should Offer Investors Relief
The Inflation Reduction Act's changes to tax credits for renewable energy projects should finally liberate tax equity investors from the restraints of the complex and onerous federal anti-abuse regime, says Kay Hobart at Parker Poe. Correction: Because of an editing error, a previous version of this article incorrectly characterized tax enforcement regimes in North Carolina and other states. This error has been corrected.
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Inflation Reduction Act A Boon To Hydrogen, Carbon Capture
The Inflation Reduction Act's tax credits and direct payments, extension of existing renewable electricity subsidies, and other benefits will accelerate hydrogen and carbon capture projects across the U.S. — and will likely draw capital into the country that would otherwise have gone to projects elsewhere, say attorneys at Shearman.
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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.