Federal
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February 09, 2023
IRS Too Slow On State Rebate Guidance, Advocate Says
The IRS' failure to issue timely guidance on the federal tax treatment of special state tax payments has put taxpayers in an uncomfortable position, National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins said Thursday, because they have to wait to file or file now and risk reporting the payments inaccurately.
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February 09, 2023
DC Circ. Skeptical Of Claim That ACA Penalties Aren't Taxes
The D.C. Circuit questioned a phone retailer's argument challenging $1.1 million in taxes for failing to offer employees health insurance, with the court saying Thursday that Congress warned of such a levy by calling the penalty a tax in the Affordable Care Act.
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February 08, 2023
CPAs Urge Equalization Of Health Insurance Deductions
Congress should provide the same tax treatment for health insurance tax deductions for employees and for the self-employed, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants said in a collection of legislative proposals announced Wednesday.
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February 08, 2023
US, Biz Owner Seek To Resolve $4M FBAR Case Without Trial
A $4.3 million fight over a business owner's failure to report her foreign bank accounts may be resolved without a trial as the U.S. government and the owner have asked a California federal court for summary judgment, according to a joint memorandum.
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February 08, 2023
Court Urged To Keep Suit Over IRS Crypto Doc Seizure Alive
A New Hampshire federal court shouldn't toss a man's suit disputing the Internal Revenue Service's procurement of his records relating to his cryptocurrency transactions, he said, arguing that he's made viable constitutional challenges to the agency's acquisition of the documents.
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February 08, 2023
Talks Hit Impasse In Former Mobil Oil Exec's $6.4M Tax Case
Talks to settle a former Mobil Oil Corp. executive's $6.4 million income tax case have come to a halt, a mediator told a Florida federal court Wednesday.
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February 08, 2023
Senate Committee Schedules Hearing For IRS Nominee
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing Feb. 15 about President Joe Biden's nomination of former acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Daniel Werfel to lead the agency, the committee announced Wednesday.
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February 08, 2023
IRS To Issue Benefit Plan Opinions This Month, Agency Says
The Internal Revenue Service plans to start issuing opinions late this month on preapproved defined benefit plans modified and submitted to the IRS during a six-year amendment period, the agency said Wednesday.
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February 08, 2023
IRS Chief Counsel Seeks To Hire More Attorneys
The Internal Revenue Service's Office of Chief Counsel wants to hire more attorneys to help tackle noncompliance, the agency said Wednesday.
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February 08, 2023
Tax Pros Must Be Cautious After Justices Boot Privilege Case
Tax practitioners are facing a legal minefield and must tread carefully regarding communications that contain both legal and nonlegal advice following the U.S. Supreme Court's sudden dismissal of a case that asked the justices to decide whether such dual-purpose communications are privileged.
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February 08, 2023
Couple Asks 6th Circ. To Clarify Tax On Crypto Staking
A couple who obtained cryptocurrency tokens through a process known as staking asked the Sixth Circuit to determine whether the IRS must wait until such currency is sold before taxing it, saying a lower court wrongly refused to decide the matter.
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February 07, 2023
Biden Calls For Tax On Wealthy In State Of The Union
President Joe Biden called on Congress to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans, significantly increase the tax on corporate stock buybacks and make permanent the expanded child tax credit during his third State of the Union address Tuesday night.
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February 07, 2023
Partner's $6.5M Income May Be Taxable In US, Tax Court Says
The U.S. Tax Court rejected a woman's arguments contending that around $6.5 million in proceeds from a partnership interest sale is non-U.S. sourced income, finding Tuesday that the proceeds are income from inventory property that can potentially be sourced to the U.S. and taxed.
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February 07, 2023
US Vows Transparency On EV Credits, Finance Ministers Say
Finance ministers from France and Germany said Tuesday that they reached an agreement with senior U.S. trade and economic officials to provide full transparency on the scope of green energy tax credits used in the automobile industry.
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February 07, 2023
IRS Systems Modernization Plans Lacked Disposition Details
Two-thirds of IRS plans for ongoing modernization of legacy information technology systems that should have specified the planned disposition of the systems had failed to do so as of August, the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday.
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February 07, 2023
House Tax Chair Demands To See IRS Spending Plan
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith pressed acting IRS Commissioner Douglas O'Donnell on Tuesday for a copy of the agency's plan for spending the nearly $80 billion funding increase it's due to receive.
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February 07, 2023
Watchdog Urges Release Of IRS' Communications With FTX
A watchdog group asked a D.C. federal court Tuesday to force the IRS to release emails and other communication between former Commissioner Chuck Rettig and former FTX executives, saying the agency broke public records law by refusing to comply with its request.
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February 07, 2023
IRS Seeks Input On Form For Tax Withholding Exemption
The Internal Revenue Service asked for feedback Tuesday on a form for seeking a tax withholding exemption on a nonresident alien's self-employment income.
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February 07, 2023
Kraken Ignoring IRS' Crypto Investigation Summons, US Says
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken Inc. hasn't complied with a court-approved IRS summons seeking records on customer identities and transactions and should be forced to furnish the records, the U.S. told a California federal court.
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February 07, 2023
Former Mortgage Co. Owner Ordered To Pay $2M In Taxes
The former owner of a Florida mortgage company must pay nearly $2 million in back taxes after she failed to respond to a government lawsuit seeking to collect the decade-old debt, a federal judge ordered Tuesday.
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February 06, 2023
Pomerantz To Lead Avalara Shareholder Suit Over $8.4B Deal
A Seattle federal judge on Friday appointed Pomerantz LLP lead counsel in a proposed class action accusing tax software company Avalara Inc. executives of misleading shareholders about its financial health in a bid to convince them to approve Vista Equity Partners' $8.4 billion acquisition of the company.
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February 06, 2023
House Panel's Republicans Push Renewal Of TCJA Tax Cuts
Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee began making their case Monday to rural Americans for renewing the 2017 Trump administration tax cuts during the panel's first full committee hearing, held in Petersburg, West Virginia.
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February 06, 2023
IRS Proposes New Service Industry Tip Reporting Program
The Internal Revenue Service is proposing a new voluntary tip reporting program for employers in all service industries other than gambling in a plan meant to promote compliance and accurate reporting, the agency said Monday.
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February 06, 2023
Trump Seeks To Revive Bid To Toss NY $250M Tax Fraud Suit
Former President Donald Trump, some of his children and Trump Organization executives have appealed a New York state judge's order that threw out their bid to dismiss New York Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million tax fraud suit against them.
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February 06, 2023
Attys Fight Yacht Donor's Malpractice Suit Over $4.6M Tax Bill
A New York federal court should toss a woman's malpractice lawsuit accusing two attorneys of giving shoddy legal advice relating to a yacht donation that led to a $4.6 million tax bill, the attorneys said, arguing the case was brought more than three years too late.
Expert Analysis
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How 2021 Appropriations Law Changes Employer Benefits
The Consolidated Appropriations Act signed into law in December makes a surprising number of changes to rules for employer-sponsored health and welfare benefits that will likely have a significant impact, especially the provisions concerning flexible spending accounts, say Eric Schillinger and Anne Hall at Hall Benefits Law.
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How Rebooted Paycheck Protection Program Works: Part 2
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys at Cozen O'Connor analyze key provisions of the U.S. Small Business Administration's two new interim final rules regulating first-draw and second-draw loans under the reinstituted Paycheck Protection Program.
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How Rebooted Paycheck Protection Program Works: Part 1
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys at Cozen O'Connor provide an overview of the recently reinstituted Paycheck Protection Program's provisions for new borrowers to receive loans and existing borrowers to receive additional funding, and the U.S. Small Business Administration's startup of the program.
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How To Reliably Value Income-Producing Real Estate
Amid the pandemic-fueled surge in tax appeals and loan workouts, using the income approach to calculate the present worth of a property's future income provides the most reliable indication of value and does not rely on subjective adjustments, say Mark Dunec at FTI Consulting and Anthony DellaPelle at McKirdy Riskin.
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What New AML Law Means For Correspondent Banking
In light of the National Defense Authorization Act’s recent overhaul of the Bank Secrecy Act and related anti-money laundering laws, foreign banks maintaining correspondent bank accounts in the U.S. should be aware of law enforcement's expanded authority to access bank records for their transactions, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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Addressing The Security Risks Of University Foreign Funding
Higher education institutions that accept foreign funding should address serious concomitant security risks by identifying specific sources and establishing compliance procedures that promote transparency, protect data and research, and account for U.S. national security interests, say attorneys at Manatt.
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Tips For Forming A Real Estate Fund
Multi-asset real estate funds may provide investors with opportunities to deploy capital during the pandemic-induced market downturn, but several structural questions should be considered before raising a fund, say Matt Ertman and Max Brunner at Allen Matkins.
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2 Cases Highlight Superpriority Lien Risks For Lenders
Two recent decisions from a New York state court and a Nevada federal court reaffirm the importance of lenders paying off superpriority liens, which may extinguish their mortgages or deeds of trust if not swiftly addressed, say Michael O'Donnell and Michael Crowley at Riker Danzig.
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4 Steps For Public Cos. Subject To New Executive Pay Rules
To comply with recently finalized Internal Revenue Service regulations implementing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's $1 million cap on compensation deductions, employee benefit and tax executives at public companies should understand who their covered employees are and identify compensation agreements subject to the rules, say Samuel Krause and Teresa Abney at Crowell & Moring.
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IRS Continuity Safe Harbor Will Aid Renewable Projects
Recent Internal Revenue Service guidance expanding the continuity safe harbor to protect tax credit eligibility for qualified offshore and federal land renewable energy projects will provide certainty for developers who often face significant construction and permitting delays, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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A Benefits Attorney's Role In Corporate Transactions: Part 2
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
In the context of a corporate transaction, employee benefits and compensation attorneys may need to consider the treatment of benefit plans, integration issues, the purchase agreement and agreements that extend beyond the closing, says Michelle Capezza at Epstein Becker.
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A Benefits Attorney's Role In Corporate Transactions: Part 1
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Employee benefits and executive compensation attorneys must consider a spate of issues in the context of a corporate transaction, including the due diligence process and identification of plan-related liabilities, says Michelle Capezza at Epstein Becker.
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How Biden Administration Can Crack Down On Ransomware
By using the novel prosecutorial tactic known as access theory, President-elect Joe Biden can initiate a 2021 offensive to stop ransomware, says John Stark at John Reed Stark Consulting.