Federal

Expert Analysis

• Justices Open The Door Wider For Donor Info Law Challenges

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta, striking down California's requirement that charities disclose the identity of major donors, will make similar state and federal statutes more vulnerable to constitutional challenge, says Lloyd Mayer at Notre Dame Law School.

• IRS Extension Is Partial Relief For Renewable Energy Projects

  

  The Internal Revenue Service’s recent extension of the start-of-construction safe harbor for renewable-energy projects is welcome relief for solar companies unable to benefit from previous extensions, but it is still unclear whether a project that exceeds the deemed continuity period qualifies for a tax credit if it cannot prove continuous work, says David Burton at Norton Rose.

• Justices Should Find California Donor Law Unconstitutional

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta should strike down a California law requiring charities to disclose their donors because the state’s interest in this information is not sufficiently compelling to overcome constitutional rights to free speech and peaceful assembly, says James Skyles at Skyles Law Group and M2M Legal.

• US Must Boost Solar Industry To Protect Human Rights, Jobs

  

  Recent revelations that many solar panels are made using polysilicon from the Xinjiang province of China, allegedly the site of mass forced labor and other abuses, make it all the more urgent that Congress and the Biden administration enact policies that promote American solar manufacturing in place of dumped and artificially cheap Chinese products, says Tim Brightbill at Wiley Rein.

• What Crypto Holders Can Learn From Early-2000s Tax Scandal

  

  The Internal Revenue Service’s recent push to gather information about cryptocurrency accounts is similar to its Swiss bank account investigations of the early 2000s, which should prompt taxpayers to consider voluntarily disclosing transactions before they are individually targeted for enforcement, say Timothy Wagner and Thomas Barnard at Baker Donelson.

• Bipartisan Support Shows Bright Future For Carbon Capture

  

  Recent policy proposals — from the Biden administration as well as members of Congress from both parties — promoting carbon capture, utilization and sequestration suggest that this technology has a key role to play in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, says Kevin Poloncarz at Covington.

• International Tax Reform's Implications For Transfer Pricing

  

  As the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development overhauls the global tax rules on base erosion and profit shifting, and the Biden administration rolls out new U.S. tax proposals, multinational enterprises need to prepare for the effects of these tax changes on their transfer pricing structures, say Mandy Li and Shuang Feng at MGO.

• Justices' Preemptive Tax Challenge Ruling Shows Divisions

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in CIC Services v. Internal Revenue Service reveals divisions among the justices about when potentially burdensome tax regulations can be challenged, making the holding less clear and less valuable, say George Isaacson and David Swetnam-Burland at Brann & Isaacson.

• Takeaways From 2 New FBAR Rulings

  

  In light of two recent California federal court decisions, capping penalties for nonwillful violations of foreign bank account reporting but broadening the willfulness standard, U.S. taxpayers must be vigilant about understanding their reporting obligations, and prepare for the Internal Revenue Service to target willful conduct, which yields much higher penalties, say Friedemann Thomma and Marianna Felshtiner at Venable.

• How Biden Tax Plans Would Boost Renewable Energy

  

  The Biden administration's recently released revenue proposals for fiscal year 2022 include major enhancements and extensions to various green energy tax credits, and show that the administration is aligned with Congress in supporting renewable development, even if they differ on details, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

• What Tax Court's Mylan Legal Fee Ruling Means For IP Suits

  

  The U.S. Tax Court's recent ruling that Mylan Inc. could deduct as regular business expenses the legal fees it incurred defending itself against patent infringement suits from brand-name drug manufacturers has the potential to increase patent litigation and may make settlement less appealing, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

• Biden's Clean Energy Goals Require Big Hydrogen Push

  

  To realize its ambitious renewable energy goals, the Biden administration, along with Congress, must promote the growth of the hydrogen industry using every available tool, including regulations, grants, tax incentives and direct purchases, say Abdon Rangel at Andersen Tax and John Taylor at King & Spalding.

• IRS Summons Ruling Isn't A Total Loss For Investors

  

  A California federal court’s recent order allowing an IRS information summons on cryptocurrency exchange Kraken paradoxically provides hope for investors concerned about their privacy by limiting the scope of the agency’s inquiry, says Joshua Smeltzer at Gray Reed.