Federal

  • May 09, 2023

    Ex-IRS Worker Gets 4½ Years For Tax Prep Fraud

    A former Internal Revenue Service worker convicted of falsifying tax returns for clients of her tax-preparation business was sentenced to four years six months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $192,000 in restitution, according to a California federal court.

  • May 09, 2023

    Treasury Urged To Waive Residency Rules For Charger Credit

    Treasury should do away with residency requirements for a tax credit for electric vehicle refueling property under the Inflation Reduction Act, a clean energy industry trade group told the agency, arguing the requirements can undermine efforts to expand electric vehicle use. 

  • May 08, 2023

    DOJ To Subpoena Santander Unit For Argentine Tax Court

    The U.S. Department of Justice can subpoena a Banco Santander unit on behalf of Argentina's National Tax Court, which is pursuing a tax case against an energy company, a Florida federal judge said Monday.

  • May 08, 2023

    Ivins Phillips Adds Former Treasury Official From Steptoe

    A former assistant secretary for tax policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury has left Steptoe & Johnson LLP and joined Ivins Phillips & Barker as a partner, his new firm announced Monday.

  • May 08, 2023

    NY's $12M Tax On Verizon Violates ITFA, Judge Says

    New York's imposition of gross receipts tax on certain Verizon services, although allowed by state statute, is preempted by the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act and the company is not liable for more than $12 million in additional tax, according to a determination obtained Monday by Law360.

  • May 08, 2023

    Ex-Fiancee Gets 4 Months For $12M Tax Refund Scheme

    The ex-fiancee of a man convicted of a $12 million tax refund scheme was sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay part of a nearly $2.6 million restitution order for her role in the plot, a Georgia federal court said Monday.

  • May 08, 2023

    IRS Urged To Enhance Knowledge-Sharing Efficacy Metrics

    The Internal Revenue Service should add additional performance measures to its method for evaluating the effectiveness of the agency's program for sharing and accessing institutional knowledge, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a report released Monday.

  • May 08, 2023

    3rd Circ. Upholds Sentence For Intended $325M Tax Schemes

    A Philadelphia man's seven-year prison sentence for helping run tax fraud schemes that involved more than $325 million in bogus claims over a decade was upheld Monday by the Third Circuit, which said it didn't matter that the schemes mostly flopped.

  • May 08, 2023

    11th Circ. Nixes Review Of Biz Secretary's Tax Penalty Liability

    The Eleventh Circuit won't revisit its decision to uphold a Florida jury's determination that a corporate secretary is on the hook for tax penalties due to the failure of her father's air-condition company to properly pay employment taxes, according to an order.

  • May 08, 2023

    US Lowers Penalties In FBAR Suit After High Court Ruling

    The U.S. government is seeking over $23,000 in penalties, down from $80,000, from a Florida man it said failed to report his foreign bank accounts, according to an amended complaint filed Monday reflecting a U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting the government's ability to levy those fines.

  • May 06, 2023

    Sharp Use Of IRS Service Funds Could Yield More, Chief Says

    The Inflation Reduction Act provided the Internal Revenue Service with a funding boost of just $3.18 billion for taxpayer services compared with $45.6 billion for enforcement, but effective use of the service money could help the agency make the case for more, the agency's commissioner said Saturday.

  • May 06, 2023

    Timberland-Related Biz's Income Includes $1.4B, 1st Circ. Told

    The Internal Revenue Service correctly added $1.4 billion in taxable income to a company associated with apparel maker Timberland after the company exchanged its intangible assets for stock in a foreign entity, the U.S. told the First Circuit.

  • May 08, 2023

    2nd Circ. Rejects Claims To Fraudster's Seized Sub Shops

    In a published decision on Friday, the Second Circuit found a trial court rightly tossed challenges from a trust and another firm that claimed interests in a New York sub shop chain the government seized following its CEO's conviction on wire fraud and tax evasion charges.

  • May 05, 2023

    State Sales Tax Thresholds Post-Wayfair Still Far From Settled

    State economic nexus thresholds for sales and use taxes remain in flux nearly five years after the U.S. Supreme Court's Wayfair decision, illustrating the steep learning curve that states and businesses have had to navigate to handle taxes on remote sales.

  • May 05, 2023

    NY Woman Ducked $33M In Income Taxes, Penalties, Feds Say

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury filed suit in federal court on Friday against a New York woman who it says owes more than $33 million in unpaid federal income taxes and associated fraud penalties.

  • May 05, 2023

    IRS Eyes Treaty Updates To Reflect Tax Law Changes

    The Internal Revenue Service is grappling with possible changes to tax treaties with several nations to reflect the impact of recently passed tax legislation, a senior IRS official said Friday.

  • May 05, 2023

    GAO Expects To Issue New Large Partnership Audit Report

    The Government Accountability Office is revisiting a 2014 report that found the Internal Revenue Service struggled to audit large partnerships and plans to release a report this summer on the issue, an official with the office said Friday.

  • May 05, 2023

    US, Ex-Prosecutors Deride Adviser's Suit Over FBAR Fines

    An Arizona federal court should toss an investment adviser's case against the Internal Revenue Service and two former prosecutors involving his potential bill for $2.2 million in foreign account reporting penalties, the U.S. and the ex-prosecutors argued Friday.

  • May 05, 2023

    Tax Court Approves Frivolous Return Penalty, Adds Another

    A woman owes a $5,000 frivolous return penalty for 2012 but not 2013, a U.S. Tax Court judge ruled Friday, while adding a $7,500 penalty of his own because she "perpetuated frivolous arguments.''

  • May 05, 2023

    Russian Co.'s Ex-CFO Could Face Retrial On Tax Charges

    The former chief financial officer of a Russian gas company who is trying to overturn his convictions for foreign tax crimes has two weeks to respond to federal prosecutors who are pressing instead for a partial mistrial and possible retrial, a Florida federal judge ordered.

  • May 05, 2023

    US, Mexico Agree On Manufacturing Framework, Official Says

    U.S. and Mexican tax authorities agreed on a working framework for a renewed agreement regarding the tax treatment of U.S.-owned manufacturers in Mexico known as maquiladoras, an Internal Revenue Service official said Friday.

  • May 05, 2023

    IRS Seeks Comments On Trust Distribution Reporting Form

    The Internal Revenue Service wants comments on a form for reporting some trust distributions, the agency said Friday.

  • May 05, 2023

    IRS Revokes Ruling On Reporting Corp. Homeowner Grants

    The IRS revoked a private letter ruling that had concluded that a municipal corporation had information reporting requirements for grants it provided to homeowners, saying in a ruling released Friday that the conclusion "is not in accord with the current views of the IRS."

  • May 05, 2023

    Low-Income Clinic Grant Application Window Opens Monday

    The window for submitting low-income taxpayer clinic grant applications for 2024 starts Monday and ends in June, the Internal Revenue Service said Friday.

  • May 05, 2023

    Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin

    The Internal Revenue Service on Friday released its weekly bulletin, which included an announcement of revocations of tax-exempt status.

Expert Analysis

  • How Budget Bill Could Affect Employer Health, Benefit Plans

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    Following the House's recent passage of President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion spending bill — the Build Back Better Act — employers should carefully consider several of the proposal’s health care and benefits provisions, which could pose immediate compliance challenges if the act is signed into law this year, say Anne Hall and Tim Kennedy at Hall Benefits Law.

  • 3 Forces That Will Define Sales Tax Compliance In 2022

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    As we head into 2022, it's likely that many of the legal and cultural shifts we saw this year — such as increased adoption of economic nexus and marketplace facilitator laws, growth in state budgets and continuation of remote work — will define sales tax compliance in the new year, says Liz Armbruester at Avalara.

  • When And How To Depose Fact Witnesses Remotely In 2022

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    Tim Tryniecki and Thomas Mudd at MG+M offer a series of practice tips for successfully conducting remote depositions of often-inexperienced fact witnesses, as the virtual court proceedings sparked by COVID-19 look set to become a part of the legal landscape next year.

  • EU, US Carbon Import Tax Proposals: What Cos. Must Know

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    With the European Union working on a carbon border adjustment mechanism, and congressional Democrats formulating their own carbon import tax plans, U.S. businesses — especially those in emissions-intensive, trade-exposed industry sectors — could face adverse trade effects, supply chain problems and increased transactional costs, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Navigating CARES Act Social Security Tax Deferral Payments

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    Attorneys at Morgan Lewis examine Internal Revenue Service guidance on payment of employer-share social security tax deferrals due Jan. 3 under the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act, and offer tips for avoiding costly underpayment and late deposit penalties.

  • Tech Improvements That Can Help Gov't Tackle FOIA Backlog

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    Government agencies can implement effective technological solutions that will help them address the growing backlog of Freedom of Information Act requests, and avoid costly noncompliance litigation, by taking steps to identify agency-specific needs, develop cohesive strategies and obtain leadership buy-in, say Ken Koch and Erica Spector at KPMG.

  • IRS Memo Helps Clarify Research Credit Filing Requirements

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    A recently published Internal Revenue Service chief counsel memorandum offers long-awaited guidance about information requirements for taxpayers seeking research credit refunds and provides helpful notice of the agency’s litigating position where credits are denied, say Deborah Roth and Brian Coddington at Source Advisors.

  • Questions To Ask If Doing Business In A Corruption Hot Spot

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    Businesses facing new scrutiny after the U.S. Department of Justice's recently announced task force for combating human trafficking in Central America, the release of the Pandora Papers and continuing fallout from 2019's Panama Papers, should address compliance risks by having employees ask three questions about every transaction, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • New DOJ Corporate Crime Approach May Deter Self-Reporting

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    Deputy U.S. Attorney General Lisa Monaco's recent unveiling of a tougher white collar enforcement approach at the U.S. Department of Justice — focusing on corporate recidivism and compliance monitors — could result in companies being less willing to self-report wrongdoing or enter into resolutions with the government, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Infrastructure Bill May Limit Cryptocurrency Loss Deductions

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    If enacted, provisions in ​President Joe Biden's ​​infrastructure bill would broaden a rule meant to prevent the harvesting of tax losses​, causing every cryptocurrency investor ​who wants to deduct a loss to consider whether it is worth cashing out to fiat currency and waiting 30 days before reinvesting to take a loss deduction, says Andrew Leahey at Hunter Creek Consulting.

  • The Infrastructure Bill Should Not Target Cryptocurrency

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    Congress should excise a provision in the pending infrastructure bill that would require anyone who accepts $10,000 in cryptocurrency for goods or services to report the transferring party's personal information to the Internal Revenue Service — this would be unnecessary, ill-advised and possibly unconstitutional, says James Burnham at Jones Day.

  • Opportunity Zone Regulations Require More Fine Tuning

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    Problems with the latest revisions to the qualified opportunity zone investment rules reinforce a recurring theme of regulatory hiccups that may prevent investors and communities from actualizing the program's potential benefits, unless we have more guidance, says Mitchell Goldberg at Berger Singerman.

  • Preserving Disgorgement Tax Deductibility In SEC Settlements

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently added language to its enforcement orders that could affect a settling party's ability to deduct certain disgorgement payments, but proper planning can help them satisfy Internal Revenue Service prerequisites, say attorneys at Sidley.

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