Federal
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January 19, 2023
Firm's Bid To Nix $1.5M Alter Ego Levy Is Too Early, Feds Say
A Maryland federal court should reject a law firm's premature bid for summary judgment in its suit challenging an IRS levy that froze $1.5 million of its funds to collect taxes owed by what the government claims is the firm's alter ego, the U.S. government argued.
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January 19, 2023
10th Circ. Revives Fraud Penalty For Tax Evasion Convict
An ex-prisoner who was visited by an IRS agent while serving time for tax evasion in Colorado cannot avoid fraud penalties on the grounds that the agent's penalty proposal lacked the required supervisory approval, the Tenth Circuit said Thursday, reversing a U.S. Tax Court decision.
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January 19, 2023
Tax Group Of The Year: Eversheds Sutherland
Eversheds Sutherland secured several significant tax victories in 2022, including convincing a judge to side with Comcast and Verizon to invalidate Maryland's first-in-the-nation digital advertising tax and winning Sirius XM a $2.5 million Texas franchise tax refund, earning it a spot on Law360's 2022 Tax Groups of the Year.
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January 19, 2023
IRS Grants Extensions To Storm Victims In Ga., Ala.
Taxpayers impacted by storms in some counties in Georgia and Alabama now have until May 15 to submit some returns and payments, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday.
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January 19, 2023
FinCEN To Raise Bank Secrecy Penalties
The U.S. Treasury Department Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced final rules that will increase civil monetary penalties for violating the Bank Secrecy Act to account for inflation.
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January 18, 2023
Accountant Agrees To Pay $3.5M In Easement Case Plea Deal
A Florida accountant pled guilty Wednesday to illegally selling tax deductions to his clients in the form of conservation easements and agreed to pay nearly $3.5 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service in a New Jersey federal court.
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January 18, 2023
Groups Tell Biden Not To Back Down To EU Trade Threats
Five groups sent a letter to the Biden administration on Wednesday saying it shouldn't back down to European Union trade threats and should implement the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 as intended and without delays or changes that could undermine historic clean energy investments.
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January 18, 2023
Full Business Meal Deduction Expired In 2022, JCT Says
Several tax provisions expired at the end of last year, including the full deduction for business meals provided by a restaurant, according to a report released Wednesday by the Joint Committee on Taxation.
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January 18, 2023
IRS Seeks Input On Superfund Tax List Addition
The Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday announced a requested addition to the list of taxable substances for purposes of the Superfund chemical tax and asked for feedback on the addition.
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January 18, 2023
Any US Plans For Global Minimum Tax On Ice, For Now
Legislative opportunities for the U.S. to conform with new international minimum tax rules aren't likely to emerge for a few years, when the expiration of domestic tax cuts may coincide with the foreign taxation of U.S. multinationals under the global regime.
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January 18, 2023
Youth Nonprofit's Ex-CEO Admits Stealing, Lying On Taxes
The ousted CEO of a shuttered Hollywood nonprofit that aimed to alleviate child poverty in hard-pressed Los Angeles neighborhoods pled guilty to embezzling from the organization, misusing $600,000 in federal grants, and hiding income by lying on his tax returns.
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January 18, 2023
11th Circ. Rejects Virus Defense, Upholds Ban On Tax Preparer
A Georgia tax return preparer can't get around an injunction barring him from the industry after the Eleventh Circuit found that the pandemic wasn't a sufficient excuse for his months-late response to a suit from the federal government.
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January 18, 2023
Court Warns Liberty Global It Won't Dismiss $283M Tax Suit
Multinational telecommunications company Liberty Global is likely to fail in its effort seeking dismissal of a $283 million suit by the federal government alleging that the company tried to avoid paying U.S. tax on income, a Colorado federal court said.
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January 18, 2023
Tax Group Of The Year: Akerman
Akerman LLP's tax practice group has been involved in major decisions across the country over the past year, including successfully arguing that Massachusetts couldn't tax the capital gains of a company domiciled in another state and that a Target subsidiary isn't liable for Florida income tax, earning the firm a spot among Law360's 2022 Tax Groups of the Year.
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January 18, 2023
IRS Sets 2023 First-Year Vehicle Deduction Limit At $20.2K
The depreciation deduction limit for passenger vehicles eligible for an additional deduction and placed in service in 2023 is $20,200 for the first tax year, the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.
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January 18, 2023
IRS Appoints 9 Members To Advisory Council
The Internal Revenue Service appointed nine members to its advisory council to serve three-year terms starting this month, the agency said Wednesday.
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January 17, 2023
9th Circ. Won't Revive Fired IRS Worker's Bias Suit
The Ninth Circuit refused Tuesday to reinstate a former Internal Revenue Service employee's age and national origin bias suit, saying she failed to persuade the court that discrimination played a role when she was fired for violating internal policy.
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January 17, 2023
Couple Must Pay Tax On Canceled Debt, Tax Court Says
A California couple have to pay tax on debt that was canceled relating to properties they lost to foreclosure after the U.S. Tax Court found they couldn't prove that they were insolvent and must recognize the canceled debt as income.
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January 17, 2023
GAO Urges IRS To Put Referral Info In 'Dirty Dozen' Postings
The Internal Revenue Service should add information on referring promoters of potentially abusive tax schemes back into its news releases for the "Dirty Dozen" list of tax schemes, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said Tuesday.
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January 17, 2023
Diabetic Engineer Must Pay Distribution Taxes, Tax Court Says
A California software engineer who argued that being diabetic was a disability that allowed him to skirt taxes for taking an early retirement-account distribution must report the distribution as income and pay the additional 10% tax, the U.S. Tax Court decided Tuesday.
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January 17, 2023
Pension Plan Segment Rates Rise In Jan.
Segment rates for calculating pension plan funding rose in January, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.
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January 17, 2023
Citgo Parent's $642M Tax Refund Bid Gets Dismissed
A Texas federal judge dismissed a bid Tuesday from Citgo's parent company for $641.6 million in tax refunds after the company agreed to drop the case because of a Fifth Circuit decision siding with the U.S. in a similar dispute.
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January 17, 2023
Tax Changes Would Up US Competitiveness, Tech Group Says
A new investment tax credit for manufacturers and the rollback of new amortization rules for research and development costs were among measures recommended to the U.S. government Tuesday by a technology trade association, which said the changes would make the U.S. more competitive.
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January 17, 2023
IRS Funding Boost Spending Plan On Track, TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service is on track to deliver the spending plan for the Inflation Reduction Act's nearly $80 billion funding boost to the Treasury Department by the Feb. 17 deadline, according to a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report released Monday.
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January 17, 2023
Multiple Applicable Federal Rates To Drop In February
Multiple applicable federal rates for income tax purposes will decline in February, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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LeClairRyan Bankruptcy Highlights Pass-Through Tax Issue
A Virginia bankruptcy court's recent ruling in the case of defunct law firm LeClairRyan shows there may be serious tax consequences for pass-through entity partners who give up their ownership interest without following operating agreement exit provisions and updating bankruptcy court filings, say Edward Schnitzer and Hannah Travaglini at Montgomery McCracken.
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Tax, Social Services And The Need For An IRS Overhaul
Revamping the Internal Revenue Service should start with visibly improving taxpayer experiences to help pave the way for other fundamental changes needed to address the recent drop in audit numbers, personnel losses, burdens of its increasing expansion into social services and other problems, says Rice University fellow Joyce Beebe.
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Key Legal And Regulatory Trends In Oil And Gas Transactions
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys involved in oil and gas transactions must be aware of important legal and regulatory trends that have emerged recently, including issues surrounding hydraulic fracturing, climate change, pipeline tariffs and a resurgence of regulation under the Biden administration, say Justin Hoffman and Thomas Blackwell at Baker Botts.
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Employer Considerations For Leave Donation Programs
As the battle for talent continues and workers return to the office, companies may consider allowing employees to donate accrued leave time to a shared bank, but employers should first review these programs' complex design issues to comply with state laws and avoid tax consequences, says Rebecca Hudson at Holland & Hart.
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Crypto Cos. Should Prep For More IRS John Doe Summonses
In anticipation of new reporting requirements that will go into effect in 2024, cryptocurrency exchanges and custodians should inform themselves on the John Doe summons, a unique mechanism that allows the IRS to obtain expansive information about cryptocurrency transactions, say Shivani Poddar and Andrew Heighington at Herrick Feinstein.
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Employer Travel Benefits Options For Abortion Care Post-Roe
Given the likelihood that Roe v. Wade will be overturned, and with the proliferation of state legislation restricting abortion access, employers may want to consider the legal implications of several options to expand travel reimbursement benefits for employees who seek abortion services, say Danita Merlau and Ben Conley at Seyfarth.
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Global Tax Chiefs Should Look To US Whistleblower Programs
As the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement develops its international whistleblower program to address tax evasion and money laundering schemes in new areas like cryptocurrency, it should take lessons from highly successful U.S. programs on which features to include and pitfalls to avoid, say Neil Getnick and Nico Gurian at Getnick & Getnick.
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Crypto Investors May Face Increasing State FCA Tax Liability
Cryptocurrency investors who fail to report the state tax consequences of transactions are poised to encounter increased civil or criminal legal exposure as a growing number of states bring tax fraud under the purview of their whistleblower statutes, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.
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Justices' Boechler Ruling May Spell Tax Exceptionalism's End
By basing its decision on cases outside the tax arena, the U.S. Supreme Court treated Boechler v. Commissioner as an administrative law case rather than a tax case and stripped away the traditional lines of tax exceptionalism, says James Creech at Baker Tilly.