Federal
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May 01, 2025
Multinationals Grapple With Tariff-Induced Pricing Issues
President Donald Trump's flurry of tariff actions since taking office has created new questions for multinationals and their transfer pricing tax planners, including how to properly account for cost increases associated with new duties in related party transactions.
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May 01, 2025
Trump Picks Tax Controversy Pro For IRS Chief Counsel Spot
President Donald Trump has tapped a former Internal Revenue Service chief counsel to return to the role, and if he is confirmed, it will represent the second time in his career that the veteran tax controversy professional will be the agency's top attorney.
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May 01, 2025
Tax Court Shuts Out Indirect Partners In Easement Dispute
Indirect partners who owned a small percentage of a partnership that settled a conservation easement deduction dispute with the IRS cannot intervene before the deal is final, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Thursday, saying they missed their chance to participate.
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May 01, 2025
Estate Pushes Back On IRS In DC Circ. Lost Records Case
The estate of a man whose offshore businesses were raided by the IRS, giving rise to a nearly $18 million tax judgment, criticized the agency's effort to rebuff the estate's claims to the D.C. Circuit that the IRS fraudulently claimed that boxes of evidence in ensuing litigation were lost.
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May 01, 2025
IRS Updates Inflation-Adjusted HSA Amounts For 2026
The Internal Revenue Service issued inflation-adjusted amounts Thursday for health savings accounts for 2026, as well as the maximum amount that may be made available for excepted benefit health reimbursement arrangements.
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May 01, 2025
Ex-Informant Who Smeared Bidens, Evaded Tax A 'Flight Risk'
A former FBI informant won't be released while he appeals his six-year prison sentence for tax evasion and falsely telling federal agents that a Ukrainian energy company paid off President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, a California federal judge ruled, saying he's a "flight risk."
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May 01, 2025
Hunter Biden Drops Tax Privacy Case Against IRS
Hunter Biden dropped his suit against the federal government alleging the unauthorized disclosure of his tax return information by special agents and their attorneys who talked publicly about an investigation that culminated in Biden's copping to criminal tax charges.
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May 01, 2025
Nelson Mullins Lands Porter Hedges Tax Pro In Houston
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP announced Thursday that it has fortified its tax controversy and litigation team with a partner in Houston who came aboard from Porter Hedges LLP.
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May 01, 2025
Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Joint Committee To Meet In May
The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel's Joint Committee will meet May 22, it announced Thursday, following meetings on customer service improvements for its various subcommittees earlier in the month.
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April 30, 2025
House Judiciary Panel OKs Broadening PL 86-272 Protections
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee advanced legislation on Wednesday that would impose more restrictions on state tax authorities to levy income taxes on out-of-state businesses, approving changes to P.L. 86-272 in the panel's portion of the federal budget reconciliation bill.
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April 30, 2025
Senate Rejects Bill To End Trump's Nat'l Emergency On Tariffs
The U.S. Senate narrowly rejected a bipartisan bill Wednesday that sought to end the national emergency declared by President Donald Trump to underpin his global tariff regime, with two senators absent for the vote, and with U.S. House consideration delayed until October.
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April 30, 2025
Coinbase Urges Justices To Take User's IRS Data Seizure Suit
Crypto exchange Coinbase on Wednesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to firm up privacy rights around digital information stored with third parties, backing a petition by a Coinbase user who's challenging the Internal Revenue Service's seizure of his account records.
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April 30, 2025
IRS Likely To Feel Strain Of Layoffs Now Filing Season's Over
The IRS's filing season ran relatively smoothly with minimal disruptions to customer service and taxpayer assistance, but the impending loss of a quarter of the agency's employees is already wearing on its workforce and will likely erode customer service, refund processing and institutional knowledge, experts say.
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April 30, 2025
IRS Properly Sustained Levy For Taxes, Tax Court Says
An IRS appeals officer properly sustained a proposed tax levy against a Kansas woman who missed her hearing date and failed to share her financial information with the agency after being accused of failing to file returns for three years, the U.S. Tax Court said Wednesday.
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April 30, 2025
Sheppard Mullin Brings On Kirkland Tax Ace In Houston
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP announced Wednesday that it expanded its tax, employee benefits and trusts and estates practice with a new partner most recently with Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
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April 30, 2025
DOJ Fights Firm's Bid To Halt Tax Collection During Suit
A boutique Connecticut consumer protection law firm cannot block the IRS from collecting 2022 and 2023Â payroll taxes while the firm challenges the government's alleged failure to process CARES Act payroll credit requests in 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice has argued.
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April 30, 2025
Barclay Damon Continues Growth With Morrison Cohen Hire
Barclay Damon LLP is continuing the momentum its headcount growth made in 2024, announcing Tuesday that it has hired an employee benefits attorney from Morrison Cohen LLP in New York City.
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April 30, 2025
Dem Reps. Urge Court To Block IRS-ICE Info-Sharing Pact
House Democrats and two organizations that help immigrants prepare tax returns urged a D.C. federal court to block the Internal Revenue Service from sharing with immigration enforcement agencies the names and addresses of people suspected of being in the country illegally.
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April 30, 2025
Fried Frank Taps Sidley's UK Tax Head
The former head of Sidley Austin LLP's U.K. tax practice has joined Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP's London office, where he will advise on U.K. and international tax structuring, the firm announced.
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April 30, 2025
Ex-Treasury Official Joins Baker McKenzie's Tax Practice
Baker McKenzie has hired a former deputy assistant secretary at the Treasury Department to work on international tax matters as a partner in the firm's office in Washington, D.C.
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April 30, 2025
6 Taxpayer Advocacy Committees To Meet In May
Six Taxpayer Advocacy Panel committees will meet in May to discuss possible customer service improvements, the Internal Revenue Service said in notices Wednesday.
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April 30, 2025
Bipartisan House Members Pitch Expanded Paid Family Leave
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers unveiled legislation Wednesday that they said would expand access to paid family leave by incentivizing states to establish their own programs and facilitating the exchange of information between state and federal officials.
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April 29, 2025
Immigration Ruling No Help To Liberty Global, 10th Circ. Told
Liberty Global cannot use a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on interpreting ambiguous law in an immigration case to support the company's interpretation of law in its $248 million foreign tax credit claim, the federal government told the Tenth Circuit.
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April 29, 2025
Man Sentenced To 4 Years For Pandemic Loan, Tax Fraud
A man who said he has struggled with substance use for most of his life was sentenced in Arizona federal court Monday to four years in prison for filing more than $7 million in false claims for tax refunds and making false pandemic aid applications.
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April 29, 2025
Bessent Says EU Must Kill Digital Taxes For US Trade Deal
The U.S. government wants European countries to repeal digital service taxes before the European Union moves forward with trade negotiations, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday.
Expert Analysis
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6 Changes I Would Make If I Ran A Law School
Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner identifies several key issues plaguing law schools and discusses potential solutions, such as opting out of the rankings game and mandating courses in basic writing skills.
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Firms Still Have The Edge In Lateral Hiring, But Buyer Beware
Partner mobility data suggests that the third quarter of this year continued to be a buyer’s market, with the average candidate demanding less compensation for a larger book of business — but moving into the fourth quarter, firms should slow down their hiring process to minimize risks, say officers at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.
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Congress Should Expand Investment Options For 403(b)s
Lawmakers should pass pending legislation to give 403(b) plan participants access to collective investment trusts, leveling the playing field for public sector retirement investors by giving them an investment option their private sector counterparts have had for decades, says Jason Levy at Great Gray Trust Company.
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Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out
In contrast to some cases that appear complex due to voluminous evidence or esoteric subject matter, a different kind of complexity involves tangled legal and factual questions, each with a range of possible outcomes, which require a “sliding scale” approach instead of syllogistic reasoning, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Note 3 Simple Types Of Legal Complexity
Cases can appear complex for several reasons — due to the number of issues, the volume of factual and evidentiary sources, and the sophistication of those sources — but the same basic technique can help lawyers tame their arguments into a simple and persuasive message, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Gardening Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Beyond its practical and therapeutic benefits, gardening has bolstered important attributes that also apply to my litigation practice, including persistence, patience, grit and authenticity, says Christopher Viceconte at Gibbons.
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Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review
For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Rank-And-File DOJ Attorneys Will Keep Calm And Carry On
Career prosecutors at the U.S. Department of Justice often pride themselves on their ability to remain apolitical in order to ensure consistency and keep the department’s mission afloat, and the incoming Trump administration is unlikely to upend this tradition, says Michael Landman at Bird Marella.
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What Higher Education Can Expect From A 2nd Trump Admin
The election of Donald Trump for a second presidential term has far-reaching ramifications for colleges and universities — come January, institutions can expect a crackdown on DEI, increased scrutiny of campus protests, a rollback of the Biden administration's Title IX rules and more, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less
Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.
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Expect Surging Oil And Gas Industry Under New Trump Admin
Throughout his recent campaign, President-elect Donald Trump promised increased oil and natural gas production and reduced reliance on renewables — and his administration will likely bring more oil and gas dealmaking, faster federal permitting and attempts to roll back incentives for green energy, say attorneys at Sidley.
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The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule
Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.
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Cos. Should Inventory Issues To Prep For New Congress
As the legislative and oversight agendas of the 119th Congress come into sharper focus, corporate counsel should assess and plan for areas of potential oversight risk — from tax policy changes to supply chain integrity — even as much uncertainty remains, say attorneys at WilmerHale.