Federal
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August 08, 2025
DC Circ. Hands Banker's Estate Win In IRS Whistleblower Bid
A split D.C. Circuit sided with the estate of a former banker at Rabobank in ruling Friday that the Internal Revenue Service used the wrong legal standard to deny him an award for contributing to investigations into two companies' tax avoidance scheme.
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August 08, 2025
Trump Ousts IRS Commissioner Weeks After Confirmation
Billy Long has been removed from his role as Internal Revenue Service commissioner after spending just shy of two months as head of the agency, the White House said Friday.
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August 08, 2025
Weekly Internal Revenue Bulletin
The Internal Revenue Service's weekly bulletin, issued Friday, included indexing adjustments for calculating penalties against large employers that don't offer health insurance to their full-time workers or whose full-time workers opt to enroll in government-subsidized health coverage using premium tax credits
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August 08, 2025
Swiss Metals Group Fears US Tariffs' Impact On Gold
The U.S.-imposed 39% tariffs on Switzerland may "negatively impact" gold trading, a Swiss metals association warned Friday.
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August 08, 2025
$47M Fat Brands Tax Case Tossed After DOJ Quits Pursuing It
A California federal judge dismissed an indictment accusing Fat Brands and its founder of hiding $47 million from the IRS through a loan scheme after the U.S. Department of Justice had said the case was no longer a priority.
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August 08, 2025
11th Circ. Vacates Russian Gas Ex-CFO's Tax Crime Sentence
The Eleventh Circuit vacated a Russian former gas executive's seven-year prison term and order to pay $4 million in restitution to the IRS, saying federal prosecutors were wrongly given extra time to bring charges against him for failing to file income tax returns.
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August 08, 2025
Taxation With Representation: Latham, Alston & Bird, Orrick
In this week's Taxation With Representation, fiber optic connector systems maker Amphenol Corp. buys CommScope's connectivity and cable solutions business, Blackstone acquires Enverus from private equity firms, investors buy a majority stake in medical device company HistoSonics Inc., and ESPN swaps an equity stake for the National Football League's NFL Network and other intellectual property.
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August 08, 2025
Pennsylvania Litigation Highlights Of The 1st Half Of 2025
In the first half of 2025, Pennsylvania judges have created a federal and state court split in a $175 million verdict against Monsanto in Philadelphia's Roundup mass tort, reduced the tax fraud sentence of a member of the family behind an iconic Philadelphia cheesesteak shop and permanently barred a college apparel company from copying Penn State trademarks.Â
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August 07, 2025
2nd Circ. Says Trial Atty With Brain Disease Not 'Ineffective'
The Second Circuit on Thursday affirmed the convictions of a former New York City law enforcement union president along with its ex-financial adviser for defrauding members out of $500,000, rejecting among contentions that one defense lawyer's abilities were impaired at trial by a fast-moving neurodegenerative disease.
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August 08, 2025
Midyear Review: A Look At The Tax Trends Shaping 2025
Tax professionals had a lot to keep up with in the first half of 2025, from congressional action to extend the 2017 GOP tax overhaul to a tumultuous international trade scene. And the back half of the year is poised to be just as busy, with litigation over how the IRS handles employee retention tax credits, an Amazon suit in South Carolina over sales tax, and an uncertain future for global minimum tax rules. Here, dive into our slate of analysis pieces to help guide you through evolving tax litigation and policy.Â
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August 07, 2025
IRS Can Collect From Incarcerated Man, Tax Court Says
The IRS properly denied a request by an incarcerated man to stop collecting his nearly $160,000 tax debt, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Thursday, saying the man admitted to having hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets.
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August 07, 2025
Toyota Forecasts $9.5B Annual Hit From US Tariffs
U.S. tariffs would cost Toyota Motor Corp. 1.4 trillion yen ($9.5 billion) during its fiscal year ending March 2026, including 450 billion yen in its first quarter, the automaker said Thursday.
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August 07, 2025
Siemens Contests Nix Of $315M Foreign-Dividend Tax Break
Regulatory missteps caused the IRS to wrongly slash $315 million from a foreign-dividend tax deduction Siemens claimed on shareholder payments it received from an overseas affiliate, the medical giant told the U.S. Tax Court.
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August 07, 2025
Man Pleads Guilty To Tax Evasion, Faces $50M In Restitution
A man accused of numerous financial crimes related to his operation of promoting abusive and illegal tax shelters pled guilty to three charges across two different cases in Colorado federal court on Thursday.
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August 07, 2025
Hodgson Russ Adds Former NY Tax Pros To SALT Group
Hodgson Russ LLP has announced that two former New York state and city tax professionals have joined the firm's state and local tax practice in New York City, advising the team on complex regional tax issues.
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August 07, 2025
No Changes To Tax Forms Yet After Budget Bill, IRS Says
Withholding tables and information returns for the current tax year as related to the federal budget bill will remain unchanged, the Internal Revenue Service announced Thursday, saying it wants to avoid disruptions to tax filing season.
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August 07, 2025
Trump Greenlights Private Equity, Crypto 401(k) Investing
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that aims to make it easier for retirement plans to invest in a wider range of assets, including cryptocurrency, private equity and real estate.
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August 07, 2025
Vanguard, Investors Agree To Settle After Axed $40M Tax Deal
Vanguard and investors have reached a second deal in a suit over allegations of surprise tax bills from a fund restructuring after a Pennsylvania federal judge scrapped a previous settlement in which the class would have fetched $40 million, the parties said Thursday.
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August 07, 2025
Fed. Circ. Skeptical Of Realty Co.'s IRS Contract Dispute
Federal Circuit judges seemed skeptical Thursday of a realty company's claim that the IRS improperly blocked its bid to continue leasing office space to the agency after IRS employees complained about the building, with one judge challenging whether evidence actually showed the agency acted in bad faith.
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August 07, 2025
German Carmakers Press EU To Secure Tariff Relief Quickly
A German automaker association urged the European Union to finalize its trade deal with the U.S. to relieve the car manufacturing industry of the pressure of tariffs.
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August 06, 2025
Under Pressure, Higher Ed Leans On Real Estate
As institutions of higher education contend with declining enrollment and federal funding cuts, some are finding creative ways to monetize their real estate, which comes with important legal considerations, according to attorneys.
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August 06, 2025
Ex-Homeowners Seek OK On Tax Foreclosure Suit Deal
A proposed class of former property owners asked a Michigan federal judge Tuesday to give initial support to a settlement with several counties that would allow the ex-homeowners to receive the surplus profits they allege the county treasurers made selling their tax-delinquent properties.
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August 06, 2025
No IRS Error In Lien Against Lawyer, Tax Court Says
The IRS' appeals office did nothing wrong in sustaining a tax lien against an attorney who asked for other ways of paying what the agency said was her $43,000 tax debt, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Wednesday, saying the lawyer was offered lower payment options.
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August 06, 2025
Troutman Adds Former Fannie Mae Associate GC In DC
The former associate general counsel at the Federal National Mortgage Association, who spent the past decade as a tax partner with Morris Manning & Martin LLP, has joined Troutman Pepper Locke LLP in the nation's capital, the firm announced Wednesday.
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August 06, 2025
G7's Tax Carveout For US Cos. Raises EU State Aid Questions
The Group of Seven nations' deal to exclude U.S. companies from Pillar Two minimum tax rules would give those companies a competitive advantage, experts say, prompting questions about the carveout's compatibility with EU state aid rules and whether a viable path exists to challenge the deal.
Expert Analysis
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Reassessing Corporate Separateness After Explosion Of LLCs
Following the dramatic increase of limited liability companies in the U.S., the Corporate Transparency Act's enactment and the Trump administration's subsequent narrowing of that law, it's worth revisiting the underlying legal principles that govern shell companies in order to remedy the problems that initially motivated the CTA, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.
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Crisis Management Lessons From The Parenting Playbook
The parenting skills we use to help our kids through challenges — like rehearsing for stressful situations, modeling confidence and taking time to reset our emotions — can also teach us the fundamentals of leading clients through a corporate crisis, say Deborah Solmor at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Cara Peterman at Alston & Bird.
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Immunity Waiver Ruling A Setback For Ch. 7 Trustees
While governmental units should welcome the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in U.S. v. Miller restricting the reach of the Bankruptcy Code's sovereign immunity waiver, Chapter 7 trustees now have a limited ability to maximize bankruptcy estates, says Dan Prieto at Jones Day.
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Adapting To Private Practice: From NY Fed To BigLaw
While the move to private practice brings a learning curve, it also brings chances to learn new skills and grow your network, requiring a clear understanding of how your skills can complement and contribute to a firm's existing practice, and where you can add new value, says Meghann Donahue at Covington.
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Top 3 Litigation Finance Deal-Killers, And How To Avoid Them
Like all transactions, litigation finance deals can sometimes collapse, but understanding the most common reasons for failure, including a lack of trust or a misunderstanding of deal terms, can help both parties avoid problems, say Rebecca Berrebi at Avenue 33 and Boris Ziser at Schulte Roth.
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A 2-Step System For Choosing A Digital Asset Reporting Path
Under the Internal Revenue Service's new digital asset reporting regulation, each type of asset may have three potential reporting destinations, so a detailed testing framework can help to determine the appropriate path, says Keval Sonecha at Sonecha & Amlani.
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How Attys Can Use A Therapy Model To Help Triggered Clients
Attorneys can lean on key principles from a psychotherapeutic paradigm known as the "Internal Family Systems" model to help manage triggered clients and get settlement negotiations back on track, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.
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3 Steps For In-House Counsel To Assess Litigation Claims
Before a potential economic downturn, in-house attorneys should investigate whether their company is sitting on hidden litigation claims that could unlock large recoveries to help the business withstand tough times, says Will Burgess at Hilgers Graben.
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IRS And ICE Info Sharing Could Drive Payroll Tax Enforcement
Tax crimes are historically difficult to prosecute, but the Internal Revenue Services’ recent agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to share taxpayer records of non-U.S. citizens could be used to enhance payroll tax-related enforcement against their employers, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Enviro To Mid-Law
Practitioners leaving a longtime government role for private practice — as when I departed the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental enforcement division — should prioritize finding a firm that shares their principles, values their experience and will invest in their transition, says John Cruden at Beveridge & Diamond.
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Legal Ethics Considerations For Law Firm Pro Bono Deals
If a law firm enters into a pro bono deal with the Trump administration in exchange for avoiding or removing an executive order, it has an ethical obligation to create a written settlement agreement with specific terms, which would mitigate some potential conflict of interest problems, says Andrew Altschul at Buchanan Angeli.
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10 Arbitrations And A 5th Circ. Ruling Flag Arb. Clause Risks
The ongoing arbitral saga of Sullivan v. Feldman, which has engendered proceedings before 10 different arbitrators in Texas and Louisiana along with last month's Fifth Circuit opinion, showcases both the risks and limitations of arbitration clauses in retainer agreements for resolving attorney-client disputes, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.
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Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions
The first quarter of 2025 was filled with the refinement of old theories in the property and casualty space, including in vehicle valuation, time to seek appraisal and materials depreciation, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.