Federal
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May 22, 2024
IRS Didn't Honor Partnership's Audit Election, Tax Court Says
The U.S. Tax Court invalidated a tax liability determination by the IRS for an Ohio partnership for 2016, saying in a ruling Wednesday that the partnership had made a valid election to undergo a special audit process and the agency had failed to honor it.
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May 22, 2024
Bipartisan Bill Would Make US Presidents' Tax Returns Public
Presidents and vice presidents would be required to disclose their tax returns for the two years preceding their time in office under legislation introduced Wednesday by House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer.
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May 22, 2024
Judge Not Entitled To Deduct Expenses, Tax Court Says
A part-time administrative law judge for the state of California can't deduct $25,000 in unreimbursed employee business expenses because his wages are not considered the sort of fees that would allow it, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Wednesday.
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May 22, 2024
IRS Opens $6B Advanced Energy Tax Credit Allocation Portal
The application portal is open through June 21 for manufacturers seeking a share of a second-round $6 billion tax-credit allocation for their development projects that support the clean energy industry, the Internal Revenue Service announced Wednesday.
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May 22, 2024
IRS Again Delays Reporting Rules for Certain BEAT Payments
The Internal Revenue Service is deferring until 2027 the applicability date of requirements for reporting certain intercompany payments that are exempt from the base erosion and anti-abuse tax, the agency announced Wednesday.
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May 22, 2024
IRS Misses 10% Improper Payment Goal Again, TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service again failed to reduce the rate at which it makes incorrect payments to 10% in 2023, a goal set by 2019 legislation, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Wednesday.
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May 22, 2024
'Ghost' Prepper, Feds Agree To Shut Down Tax Businesses
A Connecticut businessman accused by the federal government of "ghost preparing" his customers' taxes and inflating their refunds by putting false information on their IRS paperwork has agreed to shut down his businesses in a cashless settlement.
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May 22, 2024
BofA Deserves Tax Refunds On Merger Interest, 4th Circ. Told
The IRS should not have been allowed to keep the interest paid on 23 years' worth of tax underpayments by seven companies that merged into Bank of America, the company told the Fourth Circuit, arguing that the underpayments should be offset by overpayments under merger law.
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May 22, 2024
IRS Again Delaying Dividend Anti-Abuse Regs
The Internal Revenue Service is again extending the transition period for rules that govern certain financial transactions that could avoid withholding on dividend payments to foreign taxpayers, it announced Wednesday.
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May 21, 2024
FTC Noncompete Ban Raises Stakes For Nonprofit Hospitals
The Federal Trade Commission seems eager to apply its employee noncompete ban to healthcare, with a key target in mind: nonprofit healthcare providers that, in the agency's view, act more like for-profit businesses.
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May 21, 2024
House Sends Disaster Tax Relief Bill To Senate
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation Tuesday that would exclude disaster relief payments from a taxpayer's gross income, sending the bill to the Senate.
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May 21, 2024
Nixing Green Energy Tax Perks Would Be Tough For Trump
Former President Donald Trump has vowed to scrap Democrats' signature 2022 climate law should he get reelected in November, but following through on that campaign promise could prove difficult amid bipartisan support for many of the law's clean energy tax incentives and a potentially divided Congress.
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May 21, 2024
Wyden Expands Pharma Tax Investigation With Pfizer Inquiry
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden asked Pfizer to provide details on its tax practices to explain how the drug company has consistently paid tax rates that are significantly lower than the corporate tax rate in a letter released by the committee Tuesday.
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May 21, 2024
Option Agreement In $6.9M Sale Not A Sham, Tax Court Says
A Delaware gravel company and related companies that sold a freeway pit for $6.9 million under an option agreement, and then used it to enter into a like-kind exchange for another property, deferring the tax, was not a tax-avoidance sham, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Tuesday.
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May 21, 2024
CohnReznick Adds PwC Partner To International Tax Practice
CohnReznick has a new principal in its international tax practice who previously served as a partner at PwC, the firm announced.
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May 21, 2024
Decision On Direct File Future Is Close, Werfel Says
The Internal Revenue Service is nearing a decision on the future of its free electronic tax return filing pilot program, Commissioner Daniel Werfel told reporters Tuesday.
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May 21, 2024
Oil Estate Off The Hook For $9M Gift Tax, Tax Court Rules
The estate of a woman who owned an oil company with her husband then terminated marital trusts after he died does not owe more than $9 million in gift taxes on the related transactions as the IRS had claimed, the U.S. Tax Court ruled.
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May 21, 2024
22 States Tell 11th Circ. Corp. Transparency Act Goes Too Far
The federal Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutionally displaces state authority and its enforcement would economically harm states and their residents, attorneys general from 22 states told the Eleventh Circuit, urging it to uphold a ruling that struck down the law.
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May 21, 2024
Senate Dems Float Tax-Advantaged Child Savings Accounts
Senate Democrats want to create tax-advantaged savings accounts to help children save from the time they are born, they said during a Finance Committee hearing Tuesday, but their Republican counterparts are unlikely to support proposals to create the accounts, claiming it would be too costly.
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May 21, 2024
Ways And Means Seeking Input On Possible TCJA Expiration
The House Ways and Means Committee is asking members of the public to share how increased taxes brought on by the possible expiration of the 2017 federal tax overhaul would impact them, the committee's Republican members said Tuesday.
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May 21, 2024
Valero Brings $37M Refund Claim Over Fuel Credit, Crude Tax
Energy company Valero is seeking $37 million in tax refunds for biomass fuel mixtures it said should've qualified for the alternative fuel tax credit and for claimed overpayments of crude tax, according to a complaint in Texas federal court.
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May 21, 2024
IRS Audit Selection Process May Introduce Bias, GAO Says
The Internal Revenue Service's process for auditing returns claiming refundable tax credits uses a measurement that may introduce unintentional bias against Black and low-income people into its automated selection system, according to a Government Accountability Office report made public Tuesday.
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May 21, 2024
Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023
The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.
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May 21, 2024
The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms
The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.
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May 20, 2024
Ex-IRS Agent, Five Others Sentenced In COVID Fraud Scheme
A former Internal Revenue Service agent, his brother and four other defendants have pled guilty to participating in a scheme that netted more than $3 million in fraudulent COVID-19 pandemic relief loans.
Expert Analysis
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Unpacking Long-Awaited Clean Energy Tax Credit Guidance
Recently proposed Internal Revenue Service regulations provide welcome confirmatory guidance on the application of investment tax credits as reworked by 2022's Inflation Reduction Act, prevailing wage and apprenticeship rules that are largely consistent with market expectations, and broader eligibility criteria that should please the wind power industry in particular, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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An Informed Guide To Mastering Retirement Plan Forfeitures
When considering how to allocate departing retirement plan participants’ forfeitures, sponsors should consider recently filed lawsuits that allege Employee Retirement Income Security Act violations for using such funds to offset employer contributions, as well as proposed IRS guidance concerning how and when they must be used, says Eric Gregory at Dickinson Wright.
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The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms
In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.
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IRS Proposal May Help Clarify Donor-Advised Fund Excise Tax
Recently proposed regulations provide important clarifications of the Internal Revenue Code's excise tax on donor-advised fund distributions by providing detailed definitions of key terms and addressing some of the open issues related to their operation and administration, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier
Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.
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Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World
As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.
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General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI
With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.
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Liability Exposure For Unpaid Payroll Taxes May Surprise You
The Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Richard W. York v. U.S. offers important lessons for business owners and others who may be responsible for a company's checkbook about how someone else's failure to submit payroll taxes can result in their personal liability, says Douglas Charnas at McGlinchey Stafford.
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Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information
As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.
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Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD
Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.
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Unlocking Value In Carve-Out M&A Transactions
Some of the largest mergers and acquisitions in 2023 were carve-out transactions, and despite their unique intricacies and challenges, these transactions offer both buyers and sellers the opportunity to generate outsized returns in an otherwise vigorously competitive landscape, when carefully planned and diligently executed, say Kevin Crews and Rami Totari at Kirkland.
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Attorneys, Law Schools Must Adapt To New Era Of Evidence
Technological advancements mean more direct evidence is being created than ever before, and attorneys as well as law schools must modify their methods to account for new challenges in how this evidence is collected and used to try cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.