Federal
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October 03, 2024
IRS Issues Part-Time Worker 403(b) Retirement Plan Guidance
The Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Treasury Department published guidance Thursday on how long-term, part-time employees' Internal Revenue Code Section 403(b) retirement plans will be affected by the Secure 2.0 Act of 2022, which will apply to such plans starting in 2025.
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October 03, 2024
K&L Gates Boosts Houston Shop With Ernst & Young Tax Ace
K&L Gates LLP strengthened its Houston office this week with the hire of a tax partner with nearly three decades of expertise in advising multinational corporations on U.S. taxation on cross-border acquisitions and other transactions.
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October 03, 2024
Calif. Can't Delay Bank's $20.7M Tax Refund, FDIC Tells Court
A California tax collection agency shouldn't be allowed to delay a $20.7 million tax refund it owes the shuttered Signature Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. told a New York federal court, saying that as the bank's receiver, it's entitled to the money now.
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October 03, 2024
Tax Deadlines Delayed For Victims Of Wash. Reservation Fires
Taxpayers on the Yakama Nation's reservation in Washington state will have until Feb. 3 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments following wildfires, the Internal Revenue Service said Thursday.
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October 03, 2024
Ch. 7 Invalidates $4M Worker Retention Credit Suit, Gov't Says
A road construction company can't sue the Internal Revenue Service for a tax refund for pandemic-era worker credits because its claims stemmed from Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, the federal government told a Florida federal court.
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October 02, 2024
NY Man Posed As Exec To Steal $810K Tax Refund, Feds Say
A New York man has been charged with intercepting an unnamed Connecticut investment firm's $810,337 tax refund and then impersonating an executive of the company to steal most of it.
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October 02, 2024
IRS Makes Progress On Retention Credit Fraud, TIGTA Says
The IRS has made multiple improvements to address false claims for the COVID-19-era employee retention credit, including updating messaging and beefing up certain tax return filters to identify problematic claims, but there is still room for improvement, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Wednesday.
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October 02, 2024
Stopgap Gov't Funding Law May Hinder IRS Improvements
The IRS may need to redirect funds from its 2022 funding boost intended for agency improvements in order to cover routine operations, reducing funds available for planned upgrade projects, due to the stopgap appropriations bill Congress passed last week.
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October 02, 2024
9th Circ. Upholds 14 Years For Ex-Deputy's Tax, Fraud Crimes
A former sheriff's deputy who was ordered to pay $7.6 million in restitution and sentenced to 14 years in prison for tax crimes and wire fraud lost his bid to vacate his sentence Wednesday when the Ninth Circuit decided he wasn't unfairly denied a new attorney.
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October 02, 2024
IRS Says European Energy Exchange Is A Qualified Exchange
The European Energy Exchange is a qualified board or exchange for purposes of mark-to-market contracts under Internal Revenue Code Section 1256(g)(7)(C), the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.
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October 02, 2024
IRS Too Lax On Tax Prep Partners' Data Practices, TIGTA Says
The IRS isn't doing enough to oversee the data protection practices of the tax preparation businesses in its Free File program and has never removed a partner from the program despite some having been sanctioned for unauthorized disclosures of taxpayer information, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said Wednesday.
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October 02, 2024
US Seeks To Drop $1M Tax Suit Against Sleep Clinic Founder
The U.S. government seeks to drop its case against a sleep clinic founder and his wife, whom it had accused of hiding assets, after the couple agreed to pay their tax liabilities in full, according to a filing in California federal court Wednesday.
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October 01, 2024
VP Nominees Vance, Walz Spar Over Tax Cuts
Vice presidential candidates Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and Gov. Tim Walz, D-Mich., laid out their plans for federal tax cuts to create affordable housing and child care, spark new business growth and increase manufacturing during a nationally televised debate Tuesday night.
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October 01, 2024
IRS Delays Deadlines, Grants Other Relief Following Helene
Taxpayers in all or part of seven states will have until May 1 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments after Hurricane Helene hit the area, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday, while also granting dyed diesel penalty relief as well.
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October 01, 2024
Tax Deadlines Extended For Victims Of Israel-Hamas War
The Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday that it will postpone tax return and payment deadlines to Sept. 30, 2025, for those affected by the Israel-Hamas war across 2023 and 2024.
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October 01, 2024
Amgen Must Face Suit It Misled Investors On $10.7B Tax Bill
Amgen lost an attempt to escape a potential class action claiming the pharmaceutical giant hid a $10.7 billion tax bill from investors after a New York federal court ruled there was sufficient evidence for the action to proceed.
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October 01, 2024
Ex-USTR Official Sees Possible Path Forward For Digital Taxes
The U.S. may withhold trade threats if it believes countries are having good-faith conversations about concerns that their digital services taxes discriminate against U.S. businesses, including in current talks with Canada, the former general counsel for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative told Law360.
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October 01, 2024
Tax Court Upholds Man's Penalty For Frivolous Return
The Internal Revenue Service did not abuse its discretion when it determined a California man was liable for a $5,000 penalty for filing a frivolous tax return and sustained a levy against him to collect the penalty, the U.S. Tax Court said Tuesday.
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October 01, 2024
High Court Urged To Let Stand IRS Win In Bankruptcy Case
The U.S. Supreme Court should let stand a decision that late-filed returns prevented a taxpayer from discharging his federal tax debt in bankruptcy, the government argued, saying the taxpayer has inaccurately claimed that issues at the heart of his case have created a significant circuit split.
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October 01, 2024
Treasury Plans Final Direct Pay Partnership Regs By Year-End
The U.S. Treasury Department is eyeing the end of the year to finalize regulations for development projects to elect out of their partnership tax status to qualify for a direct cash payment of their clean energy tax credits, an official said Tuesday.
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October 01, 2024
Estate Exaggerating Value Of Exec's Tax Tipoff, DC Circ. Told
A Dutch bank executive's estate is "vastly" overstating the significance of his tips to the IRS in seeking a whistleblower award for his reporting of tax schemes, the U.S. government told the D.C. Circuit, urging it to uphold the U.S. Tax Court's denial of the award.
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October 01, 2024
IRS Delays Tax Deadlines In Ill. After July Storms
Taxpayers in seven Illinois counties will have until Feb. 3 to file individual and business tax returns and make payments after portions of the state were hit by severe storms and tornadoes in July, the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday.
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September 30, 2024
11th Circ. Skeptical Of Peanut Truck Co.'s Excise Tax Refund
The Eleventh Circuit seemed skeptical of a lower court's decision to award a $37,000 excise tax refund to a manufacturer on its sale of wagons for carrying and drying peanuts, suggesting during oral arguments that the semitrailers may fail to qualify for a tax exemption for off-road vehicles.
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September 30, 2024
Biz Owner Gets 18 Months For Tax Fraud On $2.8M In Income
The owner of a metal fabrication company who admitted to neglecting to report nearly $3 million in business income to the Internal Revenue Service was sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to Connecticut federal prosecutors.
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September 30, 2024
IRS Seeks Input On Draft Partnership Basis-Shifting Form
The Internal Revenue Service asked for comments Monday on a draft form and instructions for partners to disclose all the property they receive from partnerships, part of upcoming regulations meant to target abusive tax avoidance that uses sophisticated partnership basis-shifting transactions.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise
After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.
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SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap
As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.
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Planning A Defense As IRS Kicks Off Sports Losses Campaign
Sports team owners and partnerships face potential examination under the Internal Revenue Service’s recently announced sports industry losses campaign, and should be preparing to explain what drove their reported losses and assembling documentation to support their tax return positions and accounting methods, say Sheri Dillon and Jennifer Breen at Morgan Lewis.
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What New Calif. Strike Force Means For White Collar Crimes
The recently announced Central District of California strike force targeting complex corporate and securities fraud — following the Northern District of California's model — combines experienced prosecutorial leadership and partnerships with federal agencies like the IRS and FBI, and could result in an uptick in the number of cases and speed of proceedings, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout
While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift
As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.
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As Promised, IRS Is Coming For Crypto Tax Evaders
The IRS is fulfilling its promise to crack down on those who have neglected to pay taxes on cryptocurrency earnings, as demonstrated by recently imposed prison sentences, enforcement initiatives and meetings with international counterparts — suggesting a few key takeaways for taxpayer compliance, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.