Tax

October 23, 2025
French Legislators Advance 15% DST To Mirror US Tariffs

France's digital services tax rate would rise from 3% to 15% under an amendment adopted by the lower house of Parliament's Finance Committee, which characterized the action as a "proportionate response" to tariffs imposed by the United States.
October 23, 2025
Mass. Tax Break Bill For Urban Farms Advances

Massachusetts would allow municipalities to create an agricultural property tax break for small urban farm plots under a bill reported favorably by a state legislative panel.
October 23, 2025
US Oil Cos. Pay More Tax Abroad Than At Home, Report Says

American oil and gas companies with foreign extraction operations paid more than 80% of their total taxes abroad in recent years despite producing more oil and gas in the U.S. than everywhere else combined, a corporate transparency group said Thursday.
October 23, 2025
UK Court Denies Leisure Firm's Bid For Extra VAT Interest

A leisure services company can't claim additional interest of £8.2 million ($11 million) on value-added tax overpaid to HM Revenue & Customs because statutory interest provided full compensation, a British court ruled.
October 23, 2025
Court Won't Rethink 'Survivor' Winner's $3M Tax Bill

A Rhode Island federal judge won't reconsider his opinion that the first winner of reality show "Survivor" must pay $3.3 million in taxes, maintaining that it is unclear whether the federal government can take his sister's property to pay down the debt.
October 23, 2025
Eaton To Defend Interest Rates, Fees Paid After 2012 Inversion

Eaton is preparing to defend the interest rates and guarantee fees paid by entities in the U.S. to their newly formed Irish parent after the company's 2012 acquisition and inversion at a U.S. Tax Court trial scheduled to start Nov. 3.
October 22, 2025
Banks Want Ill. Fee Law Block Extended To Card Networks

Banking industry groups urged an Illinois federal judge Wednesday to permanently block an Illinois law that bans swipe fees on tax and tip portions of payment card transactions, arguing she has already correctly held that national banks are federally preempted from its reach, and that the court should extend that relief to card networks and others involved in the payment process.
October 22, 2025
Australia Issues Guidance For Minimum Tax Safe Harbor

Australia released guidance Wednesday detailing when companies can forgo detailed top-up tax calculations for a jurisdiction under a safe harbor for the 15% global minimum tax that is based on country-by-country reporting.
October 22, 2025
US Among Few Places With Amount B Rules, OECD Reports

The U.S. is a significant exception to a swath of countries, including China, Japan and the U.K., that lack domestic rules allowing companies to use a transfer pricing method for baseline marketing and distribution activities known as Amount B, the OECD reported Wednesday.
October 22, 2025
Tax Court Judge Warns Against Unchecked AI Use In Filings

A U.S. Tax Court judge cautioned attorneys Wednesday against relying on artificial intelligence to write filings without verifying the information it generates, saying recent "unfortunate incidents" have prompted the court to double down on accuracy in using such tools.
October 22, 2025
'The Right Facts' Can Reduce Cos.' Tariff Impacts, Atty Says

Multinational companies with U.S. distributors that typically bear fewer business risks and earn low profit margins may be able to mitigate the effect of U.S. tariffs on their business as a whole by having a foreign principal bear the tariff costs, an attorney said Wednesday.
October 22, 2025
COST Urges Ky. Justices To Reject Walgreens' Tax Valuations

Kentucky's Supreme Court should reverse an appeal court's ruling finding that a local assessor correctly took above-market contract rents into consideration when valuing several Walgreen store properties, the Council on State Taxation said, because it unfairly raised their assessed values.
October 22, 2025
Presidential Firing Limits Fight Builds At High Court

The ousted U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board chair has encouraged the U.S. Supreme Court to include a caveat for "legislative courts" if it overturns precedent that empowers Congress to limit the president's authority to fire certain agency officials, but opponents of independent agencies want a clean break from the status quo.
October 22, 2025
Trade Court OKs $235K Tax Bill On Korean Soju Imports

South Korean alcoholic beverages were improperly classified upon entering the U.S., and U.S. Customs and Border Protection correctly calculated a nearly $235,000 bill in unpaid federal excise taxes plus interest, according to the U.S. Court of International Trade.
October 22, 2025
Widow Not Liable For Husband's Tax Debt, 4th Circ. Told

An 80-year-old widow whose husband was imprisoned after hiding more than $20 million from the IRS told the Fourth Circuit that he was "abusive and controlling" and that she shouldn't have to pay the millions of dollars they jointly owe, despite contrary claims by the government.
October 22, 2025
NY Bill Seeks Clean Energy Payment Exemption For Tax Caps

New York would exempt payments in lieu of taxes for renewable energy projects from local governments' property tax cap calculations under a bill introduced in the state Assembly.
October 21, 2025
Partnership Deadline To Dispute IRS Is Fixed, Tax Court Says

A deadline to petition the U.S. Tax Court to challenge IRS adjustments to partnership returns is effectively fixed and cannot be extended, the court said Tuesday in a reviewed decision that denied an Alabama LLC's late bid to restore a $46 million deduction for donating to charity.
October 21, 2025
Discovery Against Gem Company Halted In Malawi's Tax Probe

Malawi's government can no longer proceed with discovery against a gemstone company that partnered with a mining outfit the country claims evaded billions of dollars in taxes and royalties on exported rubies and sapphires, a Washington federal judge ruled, vacating his own order.
October 21, 2025
CPA Admits $1.7M Tax Fraud, Pandemic Loan Charges

A Massachusetts certified public accountant has agreed to plead guilty to failing to disclose to the IRS nearly $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation to an employee and making false certifications to obtain pandemic relief loans.
October 21, 2025
Medtronic Says 8th Circ. Wrongly Tossed Tax Court's Method

The Eighth Circuit's rejection of the U.S. Tax Court's latest ruling on the pricing of Medtronic intangibles placed unnecessary restrictions on the court's unspecified method addressing such assets transferred to Puerto Rico, the company argued as it asked the circuit court to rethink its decision.
October 20, 2025
NY AG Reaches Deal With Accounting Firm Over Data Breaches

A certified public accounting firm has agreed to pay $60,000 and improve its data security to resolve the New York attorney general's claims that it failed to adequately protect unencrypted Social Security numbers and other personal information swept up in a pair of data breaches or swiftly notify affected clients.
October 20, 2025
Tax Pros Seek Clarity In Energy Supplier Certification Rules

The U.S. Treasury Department should clarify how developers can demonstrate new supplier certification compliance for some clean energy tax credits retooled by the Republican budget law, practitioners said Monday, noting uncertainty over what information could suffice under new restrictions on certain foreign suppliers.
October 20, 2025
Tax Startup CEO Swindled $13M From Investors, SEC Says

The CEO of a defunct tax-compliance startup lied to investors as she raised $13 million for her company, overstating its revenues by almost 900 times and falsely claiming she was a certified public accountant, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday in California federal court.
October 20, 2025
Emergency Tariffs Unlawfully Unprecedented, Justices Told

The International Emergency Economic Powers Act has never been used until President Donald Trump to impose tariffs, and nowhere does the law provide that explicit authority, a dozen states, several small businesses and a pair of Illinois toymakers told the U.S. Supreme Court Monday.
October 20, 2025
Justices Won't Review Repeat Indictment For Medicare Fraud

The U.S. Supreme Court let stand Monday the repeat indictment of a health clinic manager for what the Second Circuit called a massive, yearslong scheme to submit false claims to Medicare and Medicaid, effectively rejecting the manager's claims that his original trial was irreparably delayed.

Expert Analysis

Series

Judging Figure Skating Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Judging figure skating competitions helps me hone the focus, decisiveness and ability to process complex real-time information I need in court, but more importantly, it makes me reengage with a community and my identity outside of law, which, paradoxically, always brings me back to work feeling restored, says Megan Raymond at Groombridge Wu.
What Ethics Rules Say On Atty Discipline For Online Speech

Though law firms are free to discipline employees for their online commentary about Charlie Kirk or other social media activity, saying crude or insensitive things on the internet generally doesn’t subject attorneys to professional discipline under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, says Stacie H. Rosenzweig at Halling & Cayo.
2 Rulings Highlight IRS' Uncertain Civil Fraud Penalty Powers

Conflicting decisions from the U.S. Tax Court and the Northern District of Texas that hinge on whether the IRS can administratively assert civil fraud penalties since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in SEC v. Jarkesy provide both opportunities and potential pitfalls for taxpayers, says Michael Landman at Bird Marella.
Junior Attys Must Beware Of 5 Common Legal Brief Mistakes

Excerpt from Practical Guidance

Junior law firm associates must be careful to avoid five common pitfalls when drafting legal briefs — from including every possible argument to not developing a theme — to build the reputation of a sought-after litigator, says James Argionis at Cozen O'Connor.
Digital Asset Report Opens Doors For Banks, But Risks Linger

A recent report from a White House working group discussing digital asset market structure signals how banks may elect to expand into digital asset custody, trading and related services in the years ahead, but the road remains layered with challenges, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.
Series

Power To The Paralegals: How And Why Training Must Evolve

Empowering paralegals through new models of education that emphasize digital fluency, interdisciplinary collaboration and human-centered lawyering could help solve workforce challenges and the justice gap — if firms, educators and policymakers get on board, say Kristine Custodio Suero and Kelli Radnothy.
5 Real Estate Takeaways From Trump's Sweeping Tax Law

Changes to the Internal Revenue Code included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will have a range of effects on real estate sponsors, investors and real estate investment trusts — from more compliance flexibility around taxable REIT subsidiary limits to new considerations raised by a key retaliatory tax provision that was left out, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
Evaluating The Current State Of Trump's Tariff Deals

As the Trump administration's ambitious tariff effort rolls into its ninth month, and many deals lack the details necessary to provide trade market certainty, attorneys at Adams & Reese examine where things stand.
Series

Playing Softball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My time on the softball field has taught me lessons that also apply to success in legal work — on effective preparation, flexibility, communication and teamwork, says Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty.
Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Mastering Time Management

Law students typically have weeks or months to prepare for any given deadline, but the unpredictability of practicing in the real world means that lawyers must become time-management pros, ready to adapt to scheduling conflicts and unexpected assignments at any given moment, says David Thomas at Honigman.
How Hyperlinks Are Changing E-Discovery Responsibilities

A recent e-discovery dispute over hyperlinked data in Hubbard v. Crow shows how courts have increasingly broadened the definition of control to account for cloud-based evidence, and why organizations must rethink preservation practices to avoid spoliation risks, says Bree Murphy at Exterro.
State False Claims Acts Can Help Curb Opioid Fund Fraud

State versions of the federal False Claims Act can play an important role in policing the misuse of opioid settlement funds, taking a cue from the U.S. Department of Justice’s handling of federal fraud cases involving pandemic relief funds, says Kenneth Levine at Stone & Magnanini.
Revamped Opportunity Zones Can Aid Clean Energy Projects

The Qualified Opportunity Zone program, introduced in 2017 and reshaped in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, offers investors federal tax incentives for development in low-income communities — incentives that are especially meaningful for clean energy projects, where capital-intensive infrastructure and long-term planning are essential, say attorneys at Dentons.
Sales And Use Tax Strategies For Renewables After OBBBA

With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act sharply curtailing federal tax incentives for solar and wind projects, it is vital for developers to carefully manage state and local sales and use tax exposures through early planning and careful contract structuring, say advisers at KPMG.
Series

Writing Musicals Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My experiences with writing musicals and practicing law have shown that the building blocks for both endeavors are one and the same, because drama is necessary for the law to exist, says Addison O’Donnell at LOIS Law.