Federal
-
November 21, 2024
22M Tax Returns Used Refund-Related Products, TIGTA Says
Nearly 22 million tax returns for 2023, or 16% of all returns, made use of what are known as refund-related products that either provide loans or help pay for tax preparation fees, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Thursday.
-
November 21, 2024
IRS Updates Dependent Claiming Rules To Speed Up Refunds
Starting in 2025, the Internal Revenue Service will accept e-filed returns that claim dependents that were already claimed on another taxpayer's return so long as the primary taxpayer on the second return includes a valid Identity Protection Personal Identification Number, the agency said Thursday.
-
November 21, 2024
Hype For Energy Tax Perks Could Shield Regs From Repeal
President-elect Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers could turn to an oversight tool called the Congressional Review Act to undermine clean energy tax credit regulations implementing key parts of Democrats' signature climate law, but the strategy may falter due to GOP support for the incentives.
-
November 21, 2024
Delayed Tax Deadline For Hostages Bill Clears House
Tax deadlines would be delayed and late fees reimbursed for Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad under legislation passed Thursday by the House after it rejected an attempt last week to fast-track the proposal.
-
November 21, 2024
Ga. Attys' Easement Fraud Class Suit Shipped To State Court
A Georgia federal judge kicked back to state court a proposed class action accusing conservation easement fund organizers of racketeering and defrauding investors, saying the organizers failed to prove that the proposed class had at least 100 investors or that the case hinged on federal law.
-
November 21, 2024
Israel-Hamas War Tax Relief Needed More Notice, TIGTA Says
While the Internal Revenue Service did well to proactively identify taxpayers likely affected by the Israel-Hamas war that it sought to grant tax relief, it failed to directly notify these taxpayers, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Thursday.
-
November 21, 2024
11th Circ. Asked To Rethink $100M Credit For John Hancock
The Eleventh Circuit should reverse its decision allowing John Hancock Life Insurance Co. to keep $100 million in foreign tax credits that rightfully belong to the company's investors, trustees of a retirement plan said in arguing that the court overlooked a key U.S. Treasury regulation.
-
November 20, 2024
Fla. Couple Ask To Revive Suit Over Unclaimed Property
A Florida couple asked the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday to revive their proposed class suit against the state's chief financial officer over a law that allows officials to hold unclaimed money indefinitely, arguing that it is a taking without just compensation because the state never pays interest on the amount held.
-
November 20, 2024
DC Circ. Upholds Taxes For Couple Lacking IRS Notice
A Georgia couple whose challenge of a 2019 tax collection was dismissed by the U.S. Tax Court when they failed to present the required IRS notice of deficiency were similarly turned away by the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday.
-
November 20, 2024
Fla. Tax Preparer Gets 4 Years For Tax Fraud Scheme
A barred Florida tax preparer was sentenced to four years in prison for falsifying returns to trigger inflated refunds for participants in a three-year tax fraud scheme called the "note program," the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday.
-
November 20, 2024
Feds Want 1 Year In Prison For Accountant Who Hid $1.4M
An accountant who hid $1.4 million from the IRS should be sentenced to at least a year in prison despite his stated mental health issues, the government told a Connecticut federal court, saying he seemed driven at least partly by greed and thought he wouldn't get caught.
-
November 20, 2024
Feds Again Seek Early Win In $11.6M Willful FBAR Dispute
The U.S. government intends to renew its request to resolve a narrow matter in a dispute with an international businessman facing an $11.6 million penalty for willful failure to report his foreign bank accounts before the case heads to trial, according to a filing in Hawaii federal court.
-
November 20, 2024
11th Circ. Skeptical Couple Can Skip Tax On Stolen Funds
Eleventh Circuit judges seemed unconvinced by a couple's request to overturn a decision that they owed taxes on $1.2 million in savings that their daughter swindled from them, saying during oral arguments Wednesday that their situation, however sympathetic, does not appear to warrant tax relief.
-
November 20, 2024
IRS Should Tout Funding Boost Benefits, Advisory Panel Says
The Internal Revenue Service needs to appeal to taxpayers by communicating the benefits of the funding boost the agency received under the 2022 tax and climate law, the IRS Advisory Council said in a report released Wednesday.
-
November 19, 2024
Former GOP Tax Chair Urges TCJA Permanence In 2025
Making permanent the provisions of the 2017 tax overhaul that are set to expire at the end of 2025 would provide certainty for businesses and individuals and encourage investment and expansion, former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady said Tuesday.
-
November 19, 2024
12 House Dems Call For Flexible Hydrogen Tax Credit Rules
Twelve Democratic U.S. House members asked the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Tuesday to provide more lax requirements for the clean hydrogen production tax credit than what the agency has proposed.
-
November 19, 2024
Group Of Local Gov'ts Asks For Clarity On Energy Credits
A coalition of local government agencies called on the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS in a letter released Tuesday to clarify that tax-exempt entities undertaking projects that qualify for certain energy credits are able to choose elective payments for certain costs.
-
November 19, 2024
'Survivor' Winner Needs To Pay $3.3M Tax Bill, Judge Advises
The winner of the "Survivor" television series who evaded taxes on his $1 million in prize money and served time in prison should pay $3.3 million of his civil liabilities, including fraud penalties, a federal magistrate judge said.
-
November 19, 2024
Payments To Ex-Wife Clearly Tax-Deductible, 11th Circ. Told
A Georgia man claiming payments he must make to his ex-wife as part of a marital settlement are alimony and therefore tax-deductible reaffirmed his argument to the Eleventh Circuit, saying the court can clearly answer two questions in his favor.
-
November 19, 2024
Liberty Global Tax Break Based On Void Moves, 10th Circ. Told
The economic substance doctrine is broad and can invalidate telecommunications company Liberty Global's transaction that led to a $2.4 billion deduction because steps taken to maximize the tax break lacked business purpose, a government attorney told the Tenth Circuit on Tuesday.
-
November 19, 2024
IRS Can Extend Deadline Over Preparer's Fraud, 3rd Circ. Told
The Third Circuit should affirm a U.S. Tax Court ruling allowing the Internal Revenue Service to skirt the normal deadlines and assess taxes going back to 1993 against a couple who were unaware that their tax preparer had falsified their returns to lower their liabilities, the government said.
-
November 19, 2024
Treasury Finalizes Partnership Tax Credit 'Direct Pay' Regs
The U.S. Treasury Department finalized regulations Tuesday to make it easier for tax-exempt entities that co-own development projects to qualify for a direct cash payment of clean energy tax credits by electing out of their partnership tax status.
-
November 18, 2024
Tax Court Won't Reverse On Foreign Reporting Penalties
The U.S. Tax Court affirmed Monday its position that the IRS lacks authority to assess certain foreign information reporting penalties, denying the agency's request to reverse a ruling that let a Missouri businessowner off the hook for $120,000.
-
November 18, 2024
Nursing Home Owner Pleads Guilty A 2nd Time To Tax Fraud
A nursing home operator pled guilty for the second time in Newark federal court on Monday to a $38.9 million employment tax fraud scheme involving care centers he owned across the country.
-
November 18, 2024
Countries Eye Certain Tax Credits To Get Leg Up Under Pillar 2
The international minimum tax agreement known as Pillar Two is changing how countries compete for corporate investment, in part by prompting some governments to retool their tax credit systems in ways that could edge out jurisdictions with fewer resources.
Expert Analysis
-
The Corporate Transparency Act Isn't Dead Yet
After an Alabama federal court's ruling last week rendering the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional, changes to the law may ultimately be required, but ongoing compliance is still the best course of action for most, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.
-
How New EU Tax And Transfer Pricing Rules May Affect M&A
Companies involved in mergers and acquisitions may need to adjust fiscal due diligence procedures to ensure they consider potential far-reaching effects of newly implemented transfer pricing measures, such as newly implemented global minimum tax and European Union anti-tax avoidance directives and proposals, says Patrick Tijhuis at BDO.
-
Employers, Prep For Shorter Stock Awards Settlement Cycle
Companies that provide equity compensation in the form of publicly traded stock will soon have one less day to complete such transactions under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nasdaq rules — so employers should implement expedited equity compensation stock settlement and payroll tax deposit procedures now, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
-
Demystifying IRS' Claims Of $851B Return On Investment
The IRS' recently released analysis, estimating a $851 billion return on the government’s $80 billion investment in the agency, represents a huge increase over its 2022 estimate and that of the Congressional Budget Office and may be best viewed as a best-case scenario, says Joyce Beebe at the Baker Institute.
-
How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
-
A Proposal For Fairer, More Efficient Innocent Spouse Relief
Adding a simple election to the current regulatory framework for innocent spouse claims would benefit both taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service by alleviating the undue burdens placed on those the program was intended to help and improving agency collections in such cases, says Laurie Kazenoff at Kazenoff Tax.
-
7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves
As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.
-
Proposed Hydrogen Tax Credit Regs May Be Legally Flawed
While the recently proposed regulations for the new clean hydrogen production tax credit have been lauded by some in the environmental community, it is unclear whether they are sufficiently grounded in law, result from valid rulemaking processes, or accord with other administrative law principles, say Hunter Johnston and Steven Dixon at Steptoe.
-
Navigating ACA Reporting Nuances As Deadlines Loom
Stephanie Lowe at Liebert Cassidy walks employers through need-to-know elements of Affordable Care Act reporting, including two quickly approaching deadlines, the updated affordability threshold, strategies for choosing an affordability safe harbor, and common coding pitfalls.
-
6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media
In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.
-
Why Biz Groups Disagree On Ending Chevron Deference
Two amicus briefs filed in advance of last month's U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo highlight contrasting views on whether the doctrine of Chevron deference promotes or undermines the stable regulatory environment that businesses require, say Wyatt Kendall and Sydney Brogden at Morris Manning.
-
US-Chile Tax Treaty May Encourage Cross-Border Investment
Provisions in the recently effective U.S.-Chile bilateral income tax treaty should encourage business between the two countries, as they reduce U.S. withholding tax on investment income for Chilean taxpayers, exempt certain U.S. taxpayers from Chilean capital gains tax, and clarify U.S. foreign tax credit rules, say attorneys at Kramer Levin.
-
A Look Ahead For The Electric Vehicle Charging Industry
This will likely be an eventful year for the electric vehicle market as government efforts to accelerate their adoption inevitably clash with backlash from supporters of the petroleum industry, say Rue Phillips at SkillFusion and Enid Joffe at Green Paradigm Consulting.