Federal
-
April 17, 2024
'I Am Mad': Client Regrets Trusting Atty Accused Of Tax Fraud
Emotions ran high Wednesday in a North Carolina federal courtroom as former clients unwittingly roped into an alleged tax fraud scheme took the stand, one of whom was openly exasperated at learning he'd been misled by the two attorneys and an insurance agent who are on trial.
-
April 17, 2024
Damages Still Possible In Lease Tax Reimbursement Row
A Court of Federal Claims judge has ruled that the General Services Administration could unilaterally adjust the real estate tax reimbursement methodology under a lease for the Defense Health Agency's headquarters building, but the building owner may still be owed damages.
-
April 17, 2024
EV Tax Credit Restrictions, Trade Bills Advance In House
The House Ways and Means Committee advanced several trade bills Wednesday that would impose more restrictions for new electric vehicles to qualify for a federal tax credit, assert congressional authority in agreements with foreign governments, and renew the country's largest and oldest trade preferences program.
-
April 17, 2024
$22B In Earned Income Tax Credits Wrongly Handed Out
The U.S. Treasury Department improperly allowed an estimated $22 billion in earned income tax credits during fiscal year 2023, according to a report made public Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office.
-
April 17, 2024
EmblemHealth Pushes IRS To Hand Over $6.7M Tax Refund
Not-for-profit insurance company EmblemHealth asked a New York federal court Wednesday to grant it a nearly $6.7 million tax refund, saying the Internal Revenue Service left a voicemail accepting its refund claim in February but still hasn't delivered the money.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
Expert Analysis
-
Clean Hydrogen Developers Should Track Incentives, Risks
Clean hydrogen project developers and investors should be aware of new funding opportunities from the U.S. Department of Energy and tax benefits under the Inflation Reduction Act, but must also guard against risks associated with new and evolving technologies, say Pamela Wu and Kirstin Gibbs at Morgan Lewis.
-
IRS Starts Clock On Energy Projects' Labor Rule Exemption
A U.S. Department of the Treasury notice published this week started the 60-day clock for clean energy projects seeking to be grandfathered from having to meet new labor requirements to qualify for enhanced tax credits, and uncertainty about how the provisions will apply should be incentive for some investors to begin construction soon, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.
-
Foreign Tax Credit Proposal Is Some Help, But More Is Needed
New foreign tax credit regulations proposed by the U.S. Treasury Department provided some measure of relief on cost recovery and royalty withholding, two of the most troublesome aspects of the 2021 final foreign tax credit regulations, but the final regulations are still harmful to many taxpayers, making litigation inevitable, say attorneys at Fenwick.
-
Anticipating The New Congress' Private Sector Investigations
With Republicans claiming a new majority in the House of Representatives in the upcoming Congress, corporates and individuals should expect a sea change in Congress' investigative priorities and areas of focus — and private sector entities can take prudential steps in the near term to best prepare for and mitigate risk, say attorneys at Latham.
-
Tax Equity Requires Reinstating The Home Office Deduction
Congress should restore the home office deduction for W-2 workers in the interest of tax equity because permanently remote workers now bear the cost of creating quiet, dedicated work spaces, a pandemic-related shift unforeseen when the deduction was eliminated by 2017's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, say James Mahon and Samantha Lesser at Becker.
-
Keys To IRA Tax Breaks For US Green Energy, EV Production
The Inflation Reduction Act includes three powerful tax incentives for domestic production of renewable energy projects and electric vehicles — but there are key questions that investors and manufacturers must ask when evaluating whether they can take advantage of these incentives, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
-
Crypto Case Failed To Clarify Taxation Of Staking Rewards
A Tennessee federal court's recent dismissal of Jarrett v. U.S. — after the IRS issued a refund for taxes paid on cryptocurrency and mooted a greater question about the tax treatment of staking rewards — leaves the crypto industry in need of guidance on the IRS’ position, say attorneys at Cadwalader.
-
How The IRS May Define 'Clean Hydrogen'
The Internal Revenue Service is still taking comments on how to define "clean hydrogen" for purposes of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, but developers can look to the IRA's legislative history — as well as the European Union's struggle to define "green hydrogen" — as guideposts, says Ben Reiter at Nixon Peabody.
-
What To Expect From The Post-Midterms Lame-Duck Session
Depending on the results of the midterm elections, the upcoming lame-duck session may be the last chance for Congress to enact meaningful legislation for the next several years, so organizations must push through legislative priorities now, lest they are forced to restart their efforts in a much different environment next year, says James Brandell at Dykema.
-
IRS' Tax Gap Statistics Don't Paint A Full Compliance Picture
The Internal Revenue Service's recent report indicating a widening tax gap sheds important light on tax compliance, underlines key pressure points and provides insights into how tax administration could be improved; but tax gap estimates also have their limits, says Joyce Beebe at Rice University.
-
Labor Rules Will Unlock IRA Tax Credits' Full Value
Companies that make sure to follow the Inflation Reduction Act's unique labor rules will be in the best position to unlock the law's tremendous tax incentives aimed at promoting renewable energy, lowering greenhouse gas emissions and encouraging carbon sequestration, say Nicole Elliott and Timothy Taylor at Holland & Knight.
-
Making The Most Of New Tax Credits For EV Charging Stations
The Inflation Reduction Act recently extended, expanded and renewed the tax credits available for electric vehicle charging station projects — but developers must navigate new challenges, including geographic and prevailing wage requirements, to take full advantage of the updated credits, says James English at Clark Hill.
-
Key Income Tax Issues Triggered By Remote Employees
A host of fact-specific tax determinations arise in connection with remote work arrangements, from defining working-condition fringe benefit exclusions to nexus-dependent state withholding obligations, complicating compliance for corporate tax counsel and human resources professionals, say Thomas Cryan and Spencer Walters at Ivins Phillips.