Federal
Who Is Interested in My Request for Interest?
Procedural missteps can risk taxpayers’ pursuit of overpayment interest from the IRS
The law is clear: “If a taxpayer overpays its taxes, the IRS owes the taxpayer interest on that amount.”1 This obligation certainly characterized the Internal Revenue Service’s 2020 fiscal year, in which the IRS paid more than $3 billion of overpayment interest to taxpayers.2 This figure is just the latest… Read more »
Let’s Make a Federal Case Out of It: Time to Revisit the Tax Injunction Act
There’s been no change in the TIA in more than 80 years—really
Most state taxpayers would prefer to litigate state and local tax cases in federal courts. However, disputes over state and local taxes are almost always decided by state courts. Although litigation in state court may seem natural and obvious to most state tax professionals, it is somewhat odd given the… Read more »
To Rely On or Not to Rely On? Sub-Regulatory Tax Guidance in Turbulent Times
Sometimes criticism of IRS guidance seems justified, other times not so much
Taxpayers face an ever-increasing mélange of sub-regulatory guidance from the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department.2 This guidance can take the form of proposed regulations, revenue rulings, notices, announcements, private letter rulings, and myriad other documents. Taxpayers in the middle of planning transactions, preparing returns, or tax controversies are… Read more »
NOL Carrybacks Under the CARES Act
Why it’s important to accelerate or otherwise maximize losses in 2020
Due to the disruptions and economic shutdowns caused by COVID-19, many corporate taxpayers will have net operating losses (NOLs) in 2020. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act offers these taxpayers the opportunity to turn 2020 NOLs into cash refunds. The CARES Act revived the NOL carryback that… Read more »
Understanding the Built-in Gain and Loss Rules of Section 382—and Possible Significant Changes on the Horizon
Unprecedented NOLs have accompanied unprecedented times
As we all welcome the new year, companies look forward to the future and hope to leave 2020 to the history books. Because of the lingering economic effects of COVID-19 and the expansion by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of the application of the Section 168(k) first-year bonus… Read more »
Carrybacks, Carryovers, Statutes of Limitations, Audits, and Joint Committee on Taxation Review—Practical and Procedural Aspects of Tax Attribute Planning
Questions abound concerning the impact of the CARES legislation
The COVID-19 pandemic has had wide-ranging effects. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act legislation, signed into law on March 27 in response to COVID-19, has reshaped the tax landscape as we know it. Gone, for example, are the restrictions imposed on carrying back certain tax attributes, including… Read more »
Addressing Proposed Section 382 Regulations in Current M&A Transactions
These revisions will impact deal terms and valuation
In September 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury Department issued proposed Section 382 regulations that, when finalized, would significantly reduce the value of net operating losses (NOLs) following Section 382 ownership changes, including those that occur in connection with mergers and acquisitions.1 In particular, the proposed regulations… Read more »
Intersection of National Security With M&A: The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
Why does the United States have laws that regulate M&A activity from a national security perspective, and why are those laws now getting more attention?
Once a sleepy, shadowy backwater of the federal government, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)—the U.S. government’s principal mechanism for screening foreign investment to assess and address its potential impact on U.S. national security—has hit the big time. In the last eighteen months, Congress passed sweeping… Read more »
Funds With Benefits: Investing in Qualified Opportunity Zones
Are you up to date on the two sets of IRS-proposed rules on QOZs?
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act1 created qualified opportunity zones (QOZs) to spur economic development throughout the United States by providing tax benefits to investors who make qualifying investments in these zones. Thousands of population census tracts have been designated as QOZs. Under the QOZ program, taxpayers who timely roll… Read more »
Expect More Civil Tax Penalties—So, Now What?
How to prepare for and defend against the more frequent penalties
Imagine a street with a twenty-five-mile-per-hour speed limit, but everyone knows the police don’t patrol the street. Would you go twenty-five miles per hour? In a voluntary tax system, the Internal Revenue Service enforces the Internal Revenue Code (IRC, or the Code) with the threat of the civil tax penalty.… Read more »
Prepare for Public Country-by-Country Reporting With public country-by-country reporting (CbCR) on the horizon, companies with…
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The Rise of the Excise Tax In August 2022, Public Law No. 117-169—commonly called the Inflation…
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Optimizing Your Tax and IT Stack Tax leaders, tax technologists, chief financial officers (CFOs), and chief…
Navigating Tax Risk in the Modern Era: Why Tax Technology Is Essential In today’s ever-changing tax world, managing the organization’s tax risk…