Federal
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April 30, 2024
IRS Issues Automatic Changes To Tax Code Procedures
The Internal Revenue Service issued Tuesday its annual list of automatic changes to Internal Revenue Code procedures, including provisions for gross income, trade or business expenses and capital expenditures, among others.
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April 30, 2024
IRS Rejects Arizona's Effort To Exempt State Tax Rebates
The state of Arizona can't sue the federal government to litigate the personal claims of its taxpayers, the Internal Revenue Service told a federal court in an effort to dismiss a bid by the state to exempt state tax rebates from federal income taxes.
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April 30, 2024
Attys, Broker Can't Escape $4M Tax Fraud Convictions
A North Carolina federal judge has denied acquittal requests from two tax attorneys and an insurance agent who were convicted for their roles in a $4 million tax avoidance scheme, saying he agreed with federal prosecutors who argued there was sufficient evidence for the underlying charges.
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April 30, 2024
Feds Endorse Easing Marijuana Status In Big Policy Shift
Federal drug enforcers will recommend loosening restrictions on cannabis for the first time since the drug was made federally illegal decades ago, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
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April 30, 2024
IRS Updates Guidance For Clean Jet Fuel Tax Credits
The Internal Revenue Service released guidance Tuesday that updated an environmental model that manufacturers of a low-carbon alternative to conventional jet fuel, such as ethanol, can use to qualify for a new tax credit and provided a safe harbor for producers to meet the incentive's requirements.
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April 30, 2024
The Tax Angle: TCJA Teams, Dear Colleague Letters
From a look at House GOP efforts to prepare for next year's expiration of their 2017 tax overhaul to ongoing attempts by lawmakers to draw attention and support for their own tax legislation, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few of the week's developing tax stories.
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April 30, 2024
Ex-Mass. Pol Can't Sink Fraud Case With 'Imaginative' Attacks
A Boston federal judge on Tuesday rejected what he called an "imaginative and novel" effort by a former Massachusetts politician to dismiss charges of lying to get COVID-19 relief funds and underreporting income on his taxes.
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April 30, 2024
Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Schedules May Meeting
The Internal Revenue Service's Taxpayer Advocacy Panel has scheduled its next meeting for May 23, the agency said Tuesday.
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April 30, 2024
IRS Tax Prep Assistance Grants Open May 1
The Internal Revenue Service will begin accepting applications for certain tax preparation assistance grants May 1, the agency said Tuesday.
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April 29, 2024
Hunter Biden Threatens To Sue Fox News For 'Revenge Porn'
An attorney representing Hunter Biden threatened Fox News with a lawsuit over allegations it violated New York's "revenge porn" law by publishing nude pictures of him taken off his notorious laptop, according a letter obtained Monday by Law360.
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April 29, 2024
Drop In Giving Fuels Push To Restore Above-Line Deduction
Advocates for nonprofits want Congress to revive an above-the-line charitable contribution deduction this year in order to reverse a continuing drop in donations, but prospects for enactment appear limited until an end-of-year tax package.
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April 29, 2024
Ex-COO Of Mo. Charity Gets 3 Years For Bribing Officials
The former chief operating officer of a Missouri-based healthcare charity was sentenced to three years in prison Monday after admitting she and her husband, the charity's ex-chief financial officer, conspired to bribe elected officials in Arkansas, according to Missouri federal court documents.
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April 29, 2024
Court Can Make Widow Pull $2.5M From Swiss Bank, US Says
A Colorado federal court can force a widow to send $2.5 million from a Swiss bank to the U.S. to repay her late husband's penalties and interest for failing to report his foreign accounts, the U.S. told the court.
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April 29, 2024
AICPA Seeks Clarity On IRS' 401(k) Proposal
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants asked the Internal Revenue Service to clarify regulations impacting the treatment of employees under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code, according to a letter made public Monday.
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April 29, 2024
IRS Rightly Denied Md. Woman's Meeting Request, Court Says
A Maryland woman's request for a face-to-face meeting with the Internal Revenue Service was properly rejected after she failed to meet the proper prerequisites, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday.
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April 29, 2024
11th Circ. Should Nix Tax Court Judges' Shield, Widow Says
The widow of a supermarket butcher told the Eleventh Circuit that the U.S. Tax Court not only wrongly upheld tax liabilities against her stemming from her husband's tax filings but also erroneously affirmed unconstitutional job protections for its judges.
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April 29, 2024
IRS Botching Noncompliant Biofuel Credit Claims, TIGTA Says
The Internal Revenue Service must take additional steps to address noncompliant claims for biodiesel-related tax credits that resulted in the agency wrongly issuing more than $30 million in credits, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a report released Monday.
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April 29, 2024
IRS To Open $6B 2nd Round Of Advanced Energy Tax Credits
The IRS will start taking applications May 28 from project owners seeking to get part of a $6 billion second round of tax credits for developments that will support the clean energy industry, such as solar glass manufacturing and metal recycling facilities, the agency said Monday.
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April 29, 2024
Justices Pass On Claim That IRS Targeted Atty For Web Post
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied an attorney's request for review of a ruling that allowed the Internal Revenue Service to obtain his bank account information, declining to hear his argument that the agency targeted him based on a tax analysis he posted online.
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April 29, 2024
IRS Issues Reference Price For Production Credit
The reference price for the nonconventional source production credit in calendar year 2023 — which applies to tax year 2024 — is $76.10, the Internal Revenue Service said Monday.
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April 29, 2024
US Expatriations Plummet In 1st Quarter, IRS Says
The number of people who expatriated from the U.S. fell nearly 70% during the first quarter of 2024 compared with the previous quarter, the Internal Revenue Service said in a notice published Monday.
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April 26, 2024
10th Circ. Says Colo. Tax Ballot Law Doesn't Compel Speech
A Colorado law requiring that financial impacts be included in the titles of some tax-related ballot initiatives does not cause "improperly compelled" speech, the Tenth Circuit said Friday, rejecting a conservative group's bid to block the law.
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April 26, 2024
FedEx Calls Gov't Arguments On Tax Credits Contradictory
The federal government advanced contradictory arguments in FedEx's $84.6 million foreign tax credits dispute with the Internal Revenue Service, the package delivery giant said in a filing in Tennessee federal court.
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April 26, 2024
Ex-Mass. Trooper Handed 5 Years For No-Work OT, Tax Fraud
A former Massachusetts state trooper convicted of stealing overtime pay, lying on his taxes and cheating to get student aid for his son was sentenced Friday by a federal judge to five years in prison for his leadership role in the sprawling overtime fraud scheme.
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April 26, 2024
IRS To Decide Soon On Renewal Of E-File Pilot Program
The Internal Revenue Service expects to decide on the future of its free e-filing pilot program this spring after gathering additional feedback, Commissioner Daniel Werfel said Friday.
Expert Analysis
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The Nuts And Bolts Of IRS Domestic Content Tax Credit
Recent IRS guidance provides specifics on how renewable energy projects can qualify for bonus tax credits by meeting U.S. domestic content rules, but also creates a qualification framework that will be complicated for project developers to navigate, say Scott Cockerham and Wolfram Pohl at Orrick.
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How Cities Can Tackle Post-Pandemic Budgeting Dilemmas
Due to increasing office vacancies around the country, cities may consider politically unpopular actions to avoid bankruptcy, but they could also look to the capital markets to ride out the current real estate crisis and achieve debt service savings to help balance their budgets, say attorneys at Cadwalader.
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Guidance Adds Clarity To Energy Communities Bonus Credits
Recent IRS guidance on the Inflation Reduction Act's changes to tax credits for renewable energy projects offers much-needed pointers for developers and financing parties, and should allow them to more comfortably incorporate special bonus credits for projects in energy communities into their transactions, say Jorge Medina and Ira Aghai at Shearman.
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Taxing The Digital Economy: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
U.S. tech companies should watch for important developments in international taxation, including the resolution of Apple's decade-old state aid case, growing frustration with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's global tax plan and adoption of the digital services tax instead, says Joyce Beebe at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
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Big Tax Changes For Multinational Cos. In Budget Proposal
The Biden administration’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposes changes that would materially alter decades-old Internal Revenue Code provisions, requiring a shift in multinational corporations' tax planning strategies comparable to that required after enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, say Xenia Garofalo and Kyle Colonna at Eversheds Sutherland.
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SVB Collapse Reinvigorates Bank Accounting Debate
Silicon Valley Bank's sudden collapse revives questions over whether fair value or amortized cost accounting is the most appropriate for banks' financial reporting — a controversy that's crucial for understanding what information could have helped market participants better understand SVB's financial condition, say consultants at Analysis Group.
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Brownfield Renewables Guidance Leaves Site Eligibility Murky
Recent IRS guidance sheds some light on the Inflation Reduction Act's incentives for renewable energy development on contaminated sites — but the eligibility of certain sites for brownfield status remains uncertain, say Megan Caldwell and Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.
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Get Ready For IRS Criminal Crackdown On Crypto
Recent developments at the IRS, from a new operating plan to the announcement of a centralized data center, signal that the agency is ramping up criminal enforcement against those using digital assets to evade tax liabilities — and given its high conviction rate, companies and individuals must prioritize compliance, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.
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NFT Tax Guidance Shows IRS Interest In Crypto Enforcement
The IRS' first ever guidance addressing the federal income tax treatment of NFTs indicates the agency could take a potentially aggressive stance in enforcing U.S. tax laws in the NFT and crypto spaces, which could have a significant impact on the self-directed IRA market, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.
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Substantiation Is Key When Gifting Crypto To Charity
A recent Internal Revenue Service memorandum makes clear that the agency will require substantiation when gifting cryptocurrency to charity, even for relatively small amounts, so donors need to be aware of the important differences between crypto and typical cash donations, says Sheryl Morrison at Lathrop GPM.
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Senate Credit Suisse Report Puts Attention On Banks, Trusts
The Senate Finance Committee's recent finding that Credit Suisse violated a plea agreement struck over its role in enabling offshore tax evasion has important ramifications for banks and trusts, including how they onboard, document and report on transactions relevant to U.S. reporting requirements, say Will Barry and Ian Herbert at Miller & Chevalier.
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Seeking IRS Accountability For Faulty Microcaptive Notice
Like the taxpayers in Standard Insurances v. U.S. seeking to expand earlier wins in microcaptive insurance cases that limit IRS use of improperly obtained information, others should consider ways to hold the agency accountable and provide incentive for it to follow the law going forward, says Joshua Smeltzer at Gray Reed.
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Biden Admin. Proposals Both Encourage And Thwart EV Adoption
While the Biden administration has been aggressively focused on promoting electric vehicles from the start, its recently issued guidance on EV tax credits and its restrictive new auto emissions proposal create a sense of implementation whiplash that may frustrate manufacturers and consumers, says Levi McAllister at Morgan Lewis.