Federal
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July 25, 2025
CPA Charged With $5M Fraud Involving 2 Law Firms
A federal grand jury has charged an accountant with defrauding two law firms and other clients by selling them false tax benefits and pocketing more than $5 million from an account into which they made their payments, according to a superseding indictment in California federal court.
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July 25, 2025
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included an announcement revoking final regulations requiring brokers to report their digital asset sales.
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July 24, 2025
Judge Won't Block Exela Ch. 11 Plan For Claims Dilution Suit
A Texas bankruptcy judge Thursday declined to stop automation technology group Exela from exiting Chapter 11 next week, but said he would condition the over $1 billion debt-for-equity swap plan's effectiveness on a roughly 30% recovery rate for its general unsecured claims.
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July 24, 2025
IRS Can Levy Religious Group's Property, Split 9th Circ. Says
The IRS can impose a lien on an Arizona residential property held by a religious organization to collect unpaid taxes owed by a bankrupt couple who had decision-making authority over the entity's finances and bank account, a divided Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday.
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July 24, 2025
EU Prepared To Impose €93B In Tariffs On US Goods
The European Commission voted Thursday to impose tariffs on €93 billion ($109 billion) worth of U.S. goods if no trade deal is reached by August as the two sides continue negotiations.
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July 24, 2025
Construction Co. Owner Arrested In $2.9M Payroll Tax Scheme
A New York City construction company owner was arrested on charges of failing to pay over $2.9 million in employment taxes and falsely claiming that his wife worked as one of his laborers, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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July 24, 2025
Rising Star: McDermott's Michael Bruno
Michael Bruno of McDermott Will & Emery LLP was tapped as lead tax counsel by two legendary athletes — Lionel Messi and Stephen Curry — for the rollouts of their respective beverage brands, earning him recognition as one of the tax attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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July 24, 2025
GOP Reps. Urge IRS To Roll Back Economic Substance Ruling
The Internal Revenue Service should withdraw a revenue ruling that invokes the economic substance doctrine to disregard certain intercompany transactions, 20 Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee said Thursday, arguing it leaves taxpayers uncertain about how to apply partnership tax laws to commercial transactions.
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July 24, 2025
Bets On Atty's Lien Biz Lost Millions, Investor Tells Jury
A seasoned investor told a Manhattan federal jury Thursday that he heavily backed a tax-lien fund controlled by a lawyer now accused of fraud, ultimately losing $2.9 million in supposedly low-risk bets where such losses were "not supposed to be possible."
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July 24, 2025
8th Circ. Says Biz Owner Can't Claim $100K Tax Refund
A business owner is not entitled to a $100,000 tax refund or compensation for lost business opportunities he said the government owed him for making him wait for it, the Eighth Circuit said, affirming an Iowa federal court's decision.
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July 24, 2025
IRS Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Schedules 7 August Meetings
Six Taxpayer Advocacy Panel subcommittees will meet in August to discuss the Internal Revenue Service's customer service, followed by a joint committee session at the end of the month, the agency announced Thursday.
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July 23, 2025
Fla. Man Gets 5 Years In Jail For Hiding Swiss Bank Accounts
A Florida federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a Miami man to five years in prison on a conspiracy-related count in connection with evading taxes on approximately $20 million he held in Swiss bank accounts and setting up trusts in an attempt to hide assets.
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July 23, 2025
9th Circ. Revives Barrett Business Services' Secrets Case
The Ninth Circuit has reinstated Barrett Business Services Inc.'s claims of trade secret theft against two former employees, their wives and a competing company they started.
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July 23, 2025
Fund Manager Drops Case Over NYC Tax ALJ Shortage
A New York fund manager that claimed in federal court that a shortage of administrative law judges in New York City's Tax Appeals Tribunal gave it no avenue for its assessment challenge has dropped the federal case.
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July 23, 2025
Indiana CPA Gets 3 Years In Royalty Payment Tax Scheme
An Indiana accountant received a three-year prison sentence for willfully preparing tax returns for clients who inappropriately claimed millions of dollars worth of business deductions based on false royalty payments made for using intellectual property, according to federal prosecutors.
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July 23, 2025
US Says It's Immune In Booz Allen Worker Tax Info Leak Suit
A proposed class action seeking to hold the federal government and its contractor Booz Allen Hamilton responsible for a leak of thousands of wealthy people's tax returns, including President Donald Trump's, cannot move forward against the U.S., the government argued Wednesday, saying it's immune from the suit.
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July 23, 2025
Rising Star: Freshfields' Joe Soltis
Joe Soltis of Freshfields LLP has advised companies on several multibillion-dollar transactions, including Cencora's $4.6 billion acquisition of Retina Consultants of America, earning him a spot among the tax law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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July 23, 2025
Katten Welcomes Ex-Gibson Dunn Tax Pro In New York
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP announced on Tuesday that it has added a former Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP of counsel to its transactional tax planning practice, noting her extensive experience in the finance space.
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July 23, 2025
IRS Cuts May Hamper State Tax Enforcement, Officials Warn
Heads of state tax agencies warned Wednesday that recent cuts in IRS staffing may cause gaps in state-level tax enforcement, as agencies rely on information from the federal government to bolster auditing efforts.
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July 23, 2025
GOP Reps. Probe Tax-Exempt Organ Recovery Orgs
Two House Ways and Means Committee Republicans demanded Wednesday that three tax-exempt organ procurement organizations provide the committee with financial records, flight logs, Medicare reimbursements and other documents following allegations of potential Medicare reimbursement fraud.
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July 23, 2025
Feds Launch Forfeiture Suit For $7M In Fraud-Linked Crypto
The acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington said she is pushing for the forfeiture of about $7 million in cryptocurrency assets seized as part of an investigation into an oil and gas investment fraud scheme.
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July 23, 2025
Gunster Adds Ex-Aballi Milne Wealth Attorney In Miami
Florida business law firm Gunster added a new of counsel as well as three associates to bolster its capabilities in tax, private wealth and immigration law in South Florida.
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July 23, 2025
Tax Co. Owner Gets 42 Months For $3.6M COVID Loan Scheme
The owner of a Chicago tax preparation company was sentenced to more than three years in prison for making fraudulent applications for pandemic-era relief loans and ordered to pay $3.6 million in restitution to lenders who made unwarranted payouts, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
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July 23, 2025
Why Private REITs Are Having A Moment
Investments in private real estate investment trusts are surging, and that trend may strengthen as state regulators mull limiting investments in other, quasi-public REITs, while securities regulators have recently eased accreditation requirements for investors raising private capital.
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July 22, 2025
Trump Says US Has Reached 'Exciting' Trade Deal With Japan
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the United States has entered into a "massive" trade deal with Japan under which Japan will "open their country to trade, including cars and trucks, rice and certain other agricultural products" and pay a 15% tariff.
Expert Analysis
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Notable Q4 Updates In Insurance Class Actions
In a continuation of trends in property and casualty insurance class actions, last quarter insurers struggled with defending the merits and class certification of sales tax and fee suits, and labor depreciation cases, but succeeded in dismissing privacy class actions at the pleading stages, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.
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Attorneys Must Act Now To Protect Judicial Independence
Given the Trump administration's recent moves threatening the independence of the judiciary, including efforts to impeach judges who ruled against executive actions, lawyers must protect the rule of law and resist attempts to dilute the judicial branch’s authority, says attorney Bhavleen Sabharwal.
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Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises
“No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.
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How Design Thinking Can Help Lawyers Find Purpose In Work
Lawyers everywhere are feeling overwhelmed amid mass government layoffs, increasing political instability and a justice system stretched to its limits — but a design-thinking framework can help attorneys navigate this uncertainty and find meaning in their work, say law professors at the University of Michigan.
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Justices' Certiorari Denial Leaves Interstate Tax Questions
Since the U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review a Philadelphia resident’s claim that her Delaware state income taxes should be credited against her city wage tax liabilities, constitutional questions about state and local tax distinctions linger, and some states may continue to apply Supreme Court precedent differently, say attorneys at Dentons.
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Corp. Transparency Act's Future Under Treasury's Bessent
The Corporate Transparency Act’s ultimate fate faced uncertain terms at the end of 2024, but new U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's statements and actions so far demonstrate that he does not intend to ignore the law, though he may attempt to make modifications, say attorneys at Taylor English.
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A Look At A Possible Corporate Transparency Act Exemption
Attorneys at Kirkland offer a deep dive into the application of the Corporate Transparency Act's reporting requirements specifically to U.S.-domiciled co-issuers in typical collateralized loan obligation transactions, and consider whether such issuers may be able to assert an exemption from the CTA's reporting requirements.
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Inconsistent Injury-In-Fact Rules Hinder Federal Practice
A recent Third Circuit decision, contradicting a previous ruling about whether consumers of contaminated products have suffered an injury in fact, illustrates the deep confusion this U.S. Supreme Court standard creates among federal judges and practitioners, who deserve a simpler method of determining which cases have federal standing, says Eric Dwoskin at Dwoskin Wasdin.
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In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege
Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.
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Emerging Energy Trends Reflect Shifting Political Landscape
As the Trump administration settles in, some emerging energy industry trends, like expanded support for fossil fuel production, are right off of its wish list — while others, like the popularity of Inflation Reduction Act energy tax credits, and bipartisan support for carbon capture, reflect more complex political realities, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.
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Tax-Free Ways To Help Employees After The LA Wildfires
Following the recent wildfires in Los Angeles, there are various tax-free ways to give employees the resources and flexibility they need, including simpler methods like disaster relief payments under Internal Revenue Code Section 139 and leave-sharing programs, and others that require more planning, says Ligeia Donis at Baker McKenzie.
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Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay
Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.
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Lights, Camera, Ethics? TV Lawyers Tend To Set Bad Example
Though fictional movies and television shows portraying lawyers are fun to watch, Hollywood’s inaccurate depictions of legal ethics can desensitize attorneys to ethics violations and lead real-life clients to believe that good lawyers take a scorched-earth approach, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.