Federal
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April 22, 2025
Trucker Failed To Prove $32K In Expenses, Tax Court Affirms
The Internal Revenue Service correctly disallowed over $32,000 in car and truck expenses claimed by a Pennsylvania truck driver, the U.S. Tax Court determined Tuesday, agreeing with the IRS that he failed to provide any documentation backing up his claims.
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April 22, 2025
Investor's Suit On Russian Bank Shares Dismissed As Repeat
The Federal Claims Court tossed an investor's suit accusing the U.S. government of wrongly blocking him from gaining access to his shares held by a Russian-owned bank amid the country's invasion of Ukraine, saying the suit was barred because he had previously made the claims and failed.
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April 22, 2025
Vance Says US, India Finalized Guidelines For Trade Talks
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. Vice President JD Vance have finalized the terms of reference for trade negotiations aimed at doubling bilateral trade by 2030, Vance said Tuesday.
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April 21, 2025
Churches Say Nonprofit Politics Ban Violates Speech Rights
A group of churches and Christian advocacy groups asked a Texas federal court Monday to find that a provision of the Internal Revenue Code that prevents tax-exempt nonprofits from endorsing political candidates is unconstitutional because it violates their free speech rights.
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April 21, 2025
Harvard Sues Trump Admin Over $2B Funding Freeze
Harvard University on Monday hit the Trump administration with a suit in Massachusetts federal court, escalating a high-profile battle after the government slashed more than $2 billion in funding amid allegations the elite school has failed to properly address antisemitism on its campus.
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April 21, 2025
Justices Pass On Fla. Man's Taking Claims From Tax Sale
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a man's claims that a Florida county's foreclosure sale of his home for an amount equal to his back taxes, interest and penalties without paying him a surplus resulted in an unconstitutional taking of property.
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April 21, 2025
US, Italy Say Tech Cos. Must Not Face Discriminatory Taxes
Italy and the U.S. agree that discrimination tech companies face in the form of digital services taxes must end in order to enable investments from those companies, according to a joint statement by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Donald Trump.
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April 21, 2025
US Asks 4th Circ. To Pause Review Of Corp. Transparency Act
The U.S. government urged the Fourth Circuit to pause a challenge brought by community associations against an information disclosure law aimed at small businesses, arguing that the U.S. Treasury Department's newly narrowed rules could moot the claims.
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April 21, 2025
Unions Score Block On Orders To Fire Probationary Workers
A California federal judge blocked the Office of Personnel Management from ordering federal agencies to fire probationary employees and stopped several agencies from heeding its directives, but he declined to order them to rehire the workers they've already let go.
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April 21, 2025
Former Ohio Atty Gets Prison Over Unpaid Payroll Taxes
A former Ohio attorney who admitted that he failed to pay $750,000 in payroll taxes while managing his wife's dental practice has been sentenced to six months in prison after telling a federal judge that he did not intend to steal from the government, according to an order signed Monday.
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April 21, 2025
Eateries Owner Gets 3 Years For Tax, COVID Fraud
A restaurant owner who committed tax crimes and illegally collected more than $1.7 million in pandemic relief money was sentenced to more than three years in prison by a California federal judge, a fraction of the sentence urged by prosecutors who pointed to millions in cash hidden in his bedroom.
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April 21, 2025
Ex-Atty Can't Duck Depo In $1.8M FBAR Case, NY Judge Says
A retired attorney cannot avoid testifying about the mental state of a former client whose estate faces $1.8 million in penalties for an undisclosed Swiss bank account, a New York federal court ruled, holding that the information is not privileged.
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April 21, 2025
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's latest weekly bulletin, dated Monday, included its joint call with the U.S. Treasury Department for recommendations for its 2025-26 priority guidance plan.
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April 19, 2025
Up Next At High Court: Preventive Healthcare, LGBTQ Books
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in five cases this week, including disputes over the constitutionality of a task force that sets preventive healthcare coverage requirements, a school district's introduction of LGBTQ-themed storybooks and whether parties can establish standing based on harms affecting third parties.Â
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April 18, 2025
Ex-Mass. Transit Worker Gets 6 Years For Fraud, Tax Evasion
A former assistant chief engineer for the Boston commuter rail system was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for crimes including failing to withhold and pay federal taxes on income from two illegal schemes, prosecutors said Friday.
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April 18, 2025
Trump Ousts New IRS Acting Chief Days After Appointment
The White House said Friday that President Donald Trump will appoint the U.S. Treasury Department's deputy secretary to be the acting IRS commissioner to replace a former special agent who was appointed to the role days before.
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April 18, 2025
Swiss-Italian Man Seeks To Block IRS Getting Data From Apple
A Swiss-Italian man is seeking to quash an IRS summons on Apple Inc. to produce records linked to his account as part of a probe into his Swiss income tax liabilities, according to a petition filed in California federal court.
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April 18, 2025
Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Simpson Thacher
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Global Payments Inc. buys Worldpay from GTCR and FIS, Intel Corp. sells a stake in its Altera business to Silver Lake, KKR acquires OSTTRA from S&P Global and CME Group, and Canada's Capital Power Corp. nabs two U.S. natural gas power plants.
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April 18, 2025
IRS Outlines Plan To Advance Whistleblower Program
The Internal Revenue Service released an operating plan for its whistleblower program Friday, saying it aims to enhance the claim submission process, safeguard whistleblower information and keep whistleblowers informed on the status of their claims.
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April 17, 2025
IRS Plans To End Partnership Basis-Shifting Regs
The Internal Revenue Service said Thursday it plans to revoke partnership basis-shifting regulations, which were finalized in early January to compel businesses engaged in such potentially abusive tax avoidance strategies to report them under the threat of penalty.
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April 17, 2025
Tax Court Upholds IRS Collection Actions Against Couple
The U.S. Tax Court upheld Thursday the Internal Revenue Service's proposed collection actions against a couple, saying that an agency settlement officer did not abuse her discretion in sustaining a lien.
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April 17, 2025
Man's Deportation Looms After Tax Evasion Plea Stands
A Connecticut federal judge denied a man's attempt to vacate his guilty plea for tax evasion, despite accepting that his lawyers had misled him into believing that if he received no prison time he could avoid mandatory detention and likely deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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April 17, 2025
Harvard Says No Grounds For IRS To Deny Tax-Exempt Status
Harvard University said Thursday that there is no legal basis to rescind its tax-exempt status amid an investigation by President Donald Trump's administration into whether the university has violated the terms of that status.
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April 17, 2025
Tax Court Denies Horse Breeders' Claimed Losses
A Louisiana couple who bred, boarded and trained horses were correctly denied $867,000 in loss deductions over six years, the U.S. Tax Court said Thursday, because their activities weren't done for profit.
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April 17, 2025
Judge Refuses To Recuse Himself In Ga. Defamation Case
A Georgia federal judge on Thursday refused to disqualify himself from presiding over a defamation case arising from a family dispute related to a tax preparation business, while also rejecting a bid to transfer the matter to a federal court in California.
Expert Analysis
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Navigating New Safe Harbor For Domestic Content Tax Credits
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s recent notice simplifying domestic content calculations for certain solar, onshore wind and battery storage projects, which directly acknowledges the difficulty for taxpayers in gathering data to support a domestic content analysis, should make it easier to qualify additional domestic content bonus tax credits, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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'Energy Communities' Update May Clarify Tax Credit Eligibility
A recent IRS notice that includes updated lists of locations where clean energy projects can qualify for additional tax credits — based 2023 unemployment data and placed-in-service dates — should help provide clarity regarding project eligibility that sponsors and developers need, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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How Cannabis Rescheduling May Alter Paraphernalia Imports
The Biden administration's recent proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana use raises questions about how U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement policies may shift when it comes to enforcing a separate federal ban on marijuana accessory imports, says R. Kevin Williams at Clark Hill.
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NCAA Settlement May End The NIL Model As We Know It
The recent House v. NCAA settlement in California federal court, in which the NCAA agreed to allow schools to directly pay March Madness television revenue to their athletes, may send outside name, image and likeness collectives in-house, says Mike Ingersoll at Womble Bond.
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Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge​​​​​​​ at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.