Tax

December 17, 2025
Court Remands Commerce Ruling On Vietnam Steel Duties

The U.S. Department of Commerce did not properly substantiate its 2023 findings that imports of Vietnamese steel products were flouting duties imposed on South Korea, India and China, the U.S. Court of International Trade said, remanding the agency's determinations.
December 17, 2025
Amazon Charged Too Much Sales Tax, Tenn. Consumer Claims

Amazon has been hit with a proposed class action in Washington state court by a Tennessee customer who claims the e-commerce giant collected excessive sales tax on his purchases and then refused to refund him, in violation of Volunteer State tax law that holds "marketplace facilitators" responsible for charging the correct rate.
December 17, 2025
Ore. Tax Court Axes Trust's Appeal Of Special Assessment Nix

The Oregon Tax Court dismissed a trust's appeal of a county assessor's decision denying its bid for a special property tax assessment but declined to sanction the trust for citing nonexistent law, which the court said was "likely" due to use of generative artificial intelligence.
December 17, 2025
Mich. Appeals Court Rejects Medical Pot Co.'s Tax Deduction

A Michigan medical cannabis provisioning center cannot claim a corporate income tax deduction for business expenses, the Michigan Court of Appeals found, saying the law provides that tax break only to recreational cannabis businesses.
December 17, 2025
Ex-Biden Tax Counsel To Chair Willkie Tax Resolution Team

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has hired a former senior tax counsel who worked in two Democratic presidential administrations to come on board as chair of the firm's tax resolution practice group, according to a Wednesday announcement.
December 17, 2025
Ore. Court Takes County's Offer On Cut Property Value

While an Oregon landowner didn't bring enough evidence to show why the real market value of his property should be lower than an initial assessment, it will still be reduced after the state tax court accepted proposed reductions from the county.
December 17, 2025
Ex-Leader Of Veterans Group Charged With Wire, Tax Fraud

A former leader at an Idaho nonprofit veterans organization was indicted on accusations of defrauding the organization and filing false tax returns, federal prosecutors announced.
December 17, 2025
Treasury Issues Final Rule On BEAT For Securities Lending

Taxpayers must determine and account for certain qualified derivative payments linked to securities-lending transactions when calculating payments covered by the base erosion and anti-abuse tax, according to a final rule released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
December 16, 2025
Colo. Man Gets 12 Years, Must Pay $48M For Fraud Scheme

A federal judge sentenced a Colorado man Tuesday to 12.5 years imprisonment for his role in an almost decade-long scheme promoting abusive and illegal tax shelters, and ordered nearly $50 million in restitution, plus a $35,000 fine.
December 16, 2025
Split Tax Court Backs IRS In Dispensary's Collection Dispute

A San Francisco marijuana dispensary's expenses found to be tied to trafficking in controlled substances are not deductible, a Tax Court majority ruled Tuesday, favoring the IRS' move to not account those costs in calculating an amount to settle the business' 2016-2020 tax debt.
December 16, 2025
Man Gets Extra Prison Time For Failing To Pay Tax Restitution

A Connecticut man who served time for failing to pay $4.8 million in federal income taxes must return to prison for nine months for not paying restitution while spending more than $100,000 on college basketball tickets and other purchases, a federal judge said.
December 16, 2025
Dems Press DOJ On Concerns It's Favoring AG's Atty Brother

A group of Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday asked the U.S. Department of Justice to explain why it keeps intervening in or dismissing cases that involve clients represented by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's brother, saying the decisions "raise serious questions about whether impartiality has been compromised."
December 16, 2025
Corporate Transparency Act Is Constitutional, 11th Circ. Says

The Corporate Transparency Act is constitutional because it regulates economic activities with a substantial impact on interstate commerce and doesn't violate protections against unreasonable searches, the Eleventh Circuit said Tuesday, reversing a lower court's decision.
December 16, 2025
Okla. Can't Tax Tribal Member On Reservation, Justices Told

A long line of U.S. Supreme Court rulings hold that states cannot tax tribal citizens on reservations without congressional authority, a tribal member told the justices, urging them to hear her appeal of an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision.
December 17, 2025
CORRECTED: Trade Court Rejects Injunction In Trump Tariff Suit

The U.S. Court of International Trade has denied a preliminary injunction in a suit challenging President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs after auto part retailers failed to convince the court that the relief was necessary to preserve their potential right to refunds.
December 15, 2025
Chemical Processing Co. Admits To Polluting Cape Fear

Chemical processing company American Distillation Inc. pled guilty to knowingly discharging tert-butyl alcohol and other pollutants into the Cape Fear River in North Carolina, according to a Monday press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
December 15, 2025
IRS Finalizes Tribal Welfare, Energy Direct Pay Rules

The IRS finalized a pair of long-awaited tribal regulations Monday governing a taxable income exclusion for welfare benefits and classifying certain tribe-owned entities as tax-exempt to allow them to directly monetize tax credits for clean energy projects.
December 15, 2025
Tax Court Upholds Ala. Partnership's Easement Penalties

IRS penalties against an Alabama partnership for inaccurately claiming a nearly $45 million conservation easement deduction may stand, the U.S. Tax Court found, saying the dispute over the fines does not need a jury trial.
December 15, 2025
Fed. Court Asked To Block IRS' Microcaptive Reporting Rule

A Texas federal court should vacate an IRS rule aimed at flagging potential tax avoidance by requiring companies to disclose information about their microcaptive insurance transactions because it undermines Congress' authority, according to a Texas plastics company and its microcaptive adviser.
December 15, 2025
Employee-Related Charges Against Goldstein Are Tossed

A Maryland federal judge has dismissed several charges against SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein related to employees at his law firm, agreeing that prosecutors had failed to establish a clear rule for determining whether employees are legitimate for tax purposes.
December 15, 2025
Supreme Court Declines Cannabis Ban Review

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case challenging the federal marijuana ban, leaving in place a high court precedent that has governed cannabis policy for 20 years.
December 12, 2025
NC Supreme Court Clarifies Tax On Prepaid Wireless

A North Carolina cellphone retailer for Boost Mobile products is responsible for tax on prepaid wireless calling services, the state's highest court ruled Friday, though finding that when those services changed to take the form of cards with stored value, tax liability shifted to Boost.
December 12, 2025
Judge Says Eaton Moved $14B Subsidiary For Tax Purposes

A U.S. Tax Court judge said Friday that he plans to find Eaton's U.S. group transferred ownership of a $14 billion subsidiary overseas in 2012 solely to justify payment of higher interest rates and guarantee fees to the company's new Irish parent.
December 12, 2025
DOJ Shake-Up Keeps Criminal Tax Meetings, Ex-Official Says

The U.S. Department of Justice — despite recently eliminating its Tax Division as part of a broad restructuring — continues to meet with practitioners representing clients who may face federal criminal tax charges, the former division chief said Friday.
December 12, 2025
IRS To Revamp Voluntary Disclosure Program

The Internal Revenue Service will be updating a program early next year that would allow taxpayers to voluntarily report previously undisclosed income as a way to resolve their tax issues to facilitate a simpler reporting process, the agency's criminal enforcement chief said Friday.

Editor's Picks

Blockchain Tech May Present New Transfer Pricing Challenges

Companies that develop blockchain systems to digitally record transactions may face difficulties when valuing intangibles tied to the decentralized and highly varied technology, creating novel transfer pricing issues for multinational corporations that create their own blockchain networks.
Trump-Era Tariff Angst Hasn't Gone Away Under Biden

The early days of the Biden administration have been relatively quiet on the trade front, but importers have nevertheless found themselves in the throes of a familiar battle: pleading with the government to hold off on tariffs in a heated trade dispute.
3 Major Implications For States In Biden's Tax Plans

President Joe Biden's sweeping tax changes proposed to pay for trillions in infrastructure spending would significantly alter the way the federal government taxes corporations, leaving states, for the second time in four years, to decide if and how to conform. Here Law360 presents three considerations for states in the president's tax proposals.

Expert Analysis

Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady LLP.
Opinion

A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.
Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.
Nonprofits Face Uncertainty Over Political Activity Rules

Two federal court decisions suggesting that the Internal Revenue Service's rules for 501(c)(4) organizations' political activity may be too vague to survive constitutional scrutiny leave nonprofit organizations caught between constitutional limits on government regulation of speech and tax limits on their exempt status, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.
Opinion

Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
Series

Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.
Series

The Biz Court Digest: Welcome To Miami

After nearly 20 years in operation, the Miami Complex Business Litigation Division is a pioneer upon which other jurisdictions in the state have been modeled, adopting many innovations to keep its cases running more efficiently and staffing experienced judges who are accustomed to hearing business disputes, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
AI Evidence Rule Tweaks Encourage Judicial Guardrails

Recent additions to a committee note on proposed Rule of Evidence 707 — governing evidence generated by artificial intelligence — seek to mitigate potential dangers that may arise once machine outputs are introduced at trial, encouraging judges to perform critical gatekeeping functions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.
Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Getting The Message Across

Communications and brand strategy during a law firm merger represent a crucial thread that runs through every stage of a combination and should include clear messaging, leverage modern marketing tools and embrace the chance to evolve, says Ashley Horne at Womble Bond.
Opinion

Horizontal Stare Decisis Should Not Be Casually Discarded

Eliminating the so-called law of the circuit doctrine — as recently proposed by a Fifth Circuit judge, echoing Justice Neil Gorsuch’s concurrence in Loper Bright — would undermine public confidence in the judiciary’s independence and create costly uncertainty for litigants, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.
10 Commandments For Agentic AI Tools In The Legal Industry

Though agentic artificial intelligence has demonstrated significant promise for optimizing legal work, it presents numerous risks, so specific ethical obligations should be built into the knowledge base of every agentic AI tool used in the legal industry, says Steven Cordero at Akerman LLP.
Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: December Lessons

In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses recent rulings and identifies practice tips from cases involving securities, takings, automobile insurance, and wage and hour claims.
NY Tax Talk: New ALJs, New Rules, Apportionment, Bundling

Attorneys at Eversheds review the top New York tax law developments from last quarter, including appointments to the New York City Tax Appeals Tribunal and the city's proposed rules to clarify income taxation of foreign corporations, and highlight two litigation matters to watch.
Series

Preaching Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Becoming a Gospel preacher has enhanced my success as a trial lawyer by teaching me the importance of credibility, relatability, persuasiveness and thorough preparation for my congregants, the same skills needed with judges and juries in the courtroom, says Reginald Harris at Stinson.
State, Federal Incentives Heat Up Geothermal Projects

Geothermal energy can now benefit from dramatically accelerated permitting for development on federal land as well as state-level renewable energy portfolio standards — but operating in the complex legal framework surrounding geothermal projects requires successful navigation of complex water rights and environmental regulations, say attorneys at Holland & Hart.