In a recent International Financial Law Review article, tax partner Jim Brown provides insight on how the IRS has joined tax authorities from the UK, Canada, the Netherlands and Australia to create the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement, a sign regulators are getting serious about cryptocurrency. Jim notes that there are questions on how non-U.S. investors will be taxed, and these investors “may require help in navigating [the rules].”
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In a recent Tax Notes article, the author addresses a recent IBA conference panel focused on OECD’s implementation of the base erosion and profit-shifting (BEPS) program. Kat Gregor, who was a speaker on this panel, provides commentary on BEPS’ penalty fallout. Kat provides insight on the positive and negative implications of the program and notes how practitioners should address their tax planning needs, both in the EU and the US.
To read the full article, please click here.
On October 1, Charles Rettig began his term as 49th Commissioner of the IRS. This gives the IRS a Commissioner for the first time in approximately one year, since his predecessor John Koskinen, an Obama appointee, stepped down in fall 2017. David Kautter, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for tax policy, had been running the IRS in the interim.
Continue Reading Rettig Starts Four-Year Term as IRS Commissioner
In Veg Corp. v. U.S., No. 2:17-cv-02893 (D. Nev. July 30, 2018), the district court refused to analyze compliance with IRS document requests in a vacuum, and, instead, considered the parties’ understanding of the document requests. Continue Reading District Court Clarifies Rules Related to IRS Formal Document Requests for Documents Outside the U.S.
In this Ropes & Gray podcast, Ben Simmons, an associate in the tax group, is joined by David Saltzman, a partner in the tax group, to discuss the recent Tax Court memorandum decision, Illinois Tool Works Inc. & Subsidiaries v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. This case involved a strategy designed to permit a U.S. multinational to repatriate cash from its foreign subsidiaries without incurring current U.S. federal income tax.
On September 25, 2018, the IRS announced that it is considering guidance on the treatment of spinoffs involving business ventures engaged in research and development for future profit. The announcement is of special interest to life sciences and other technology ventures actively engaged in R&D for new pharmaceutical, medical device or other technology-based products. In particular, the announcement addresses situations where a company seeks to spin off a historic R&D-based business before its intellectual property has been fully developed or commercialized.Click here to read the full alert.
Disputing Tax has monitored this and related topics closely and has previously reported on this LB&I campaign here.
In a recent Tax Notes Special Report article, tax associate Bob Kane explores whether case law has established an asset threshold at which liquidating partnerships either terminate or continue under section 708.
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Tax partner Andrew Howard recently recorded a Ropes & Gray trending video, in which he addresses tax coming out of the shadows and becoming a part of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda.
As previously reported by Ropes & Gray, on July 24, 2018, the Ninth Circuit reversed the Tax Court’s prior decision in the Altera case and upheld the IRS regulation requiring the allocation of stock-based compensation in qualified cost-sharing agreements. The decision was particularly notable since it ended in a 2-1 vote, in which Judge Reinhardt, who passed away in March 2018, cast the deciding vote. Late last week, the Ninth Circuit appointed a new judge, Susan Graber, to replace Judge Reinhardt under a local procedural order mandating that the court clerk randomly draw a replacement judge upon the death of any panel member. However, in lieu of awaiting any motions for rehearing, today the Ninth Circuit withdrew its opinion “to allow time for the reconstituted panel to confer on this appeal.” Since a withdrawn decision has no legal effect and the decision of the court could change, affected taxpayers who have not already taken action in response to the decision should consider watching and waiting for a new opinion to be issued before taking any further action. To read today’s order, click here.
In a recent Law360 article, Kat Gregor provides insight on the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in the Altera case. The article analyzes what factors might lead to a reconsideration of the decision—a rare en banc review. If the decision stands, billions of dollars are at stake for multinational corporations. With this idea in mind, Kat noted that “if other companies are in similar positions as Altera and apply for a tax refund, they are now likely to be denied those tax benefits following the Ninth Circuit’s decision.”
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