Over the years, case law has developed around when a mail delivery method is acceptable to prove that a tax filing was made.
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s recent decision in Pond v. United States[1] ...more
In a surprising move, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) dismissed a dispute involving the proper test to apply when determining whether an unnamed law firm’s mixed bag of communications involving both legal...more
On November 21, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States denied certiorari in Whirlpool Financial Corp., et al., Petitioners v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, No. 22-9. This means that the US Court of Appeals for the...more
The Internal Revenue Service Independent Office of Appeals (IRS Appeals) is the administrative forum for taxpayers to attempt to resolve tax disputes prior to litigation. Subject to certain exceptions, taxpayers can file a...more
Since Chai v. Commissioner, an opinion by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit subsequently followed by the US Tax Court in several opinions, there has been a substantial number of cases litigating issues involving...more
In Mayo Found. for Med. Educ. & Rsch. v. United States, 131 S.Ct. 704 (2011), the Supreme Court of the United States made clear that administrative law rules apply to tax guidance like they do to other federal agency...more
On August 5, 2022, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the US Tax Court’s bench opinion in favor of partners and investors in a refined coal business. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has...more
A war is currently waging in the tax world over when courts should give deference to the US Department of the Treasury’s regulations. (We have written extensively on this subject...) However, another potential war looms: Can...more
In a memorandum dated April 19, 2022, the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Independent Office of Appeals (IRS Appeals) acknowledged that it has a large backlog of cases that is slowing down the process of resolving cases with...more
We frequently write about developments at the US Tax Court, including noteworthy cases, administrative matters, and the status of presidentially appointed Judges and court-appointed Special Trial Judges...more
Tax penalties are always a hot topic here. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a large arsenal when it comes to grounds for asserting penalties on income tax deficiencies, ranging from the common 20% penalty under Internal...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Chief Counsel is the chief legal advisor to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue on all matters pertaining to the interpretation, administration and enforcement of the Internal Revenue Laws....more
1/27/2022
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Appeals ,
Enforcement ,
Government Entities ,
IRS ,
Large Business & International Division (LB&I) ,
Self Employed ,
Small Business ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Litigation ,
U.S. Treasury
We previously provided an overview of the time limits imposed on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for assessing federal tax. The general rule is that the IRS must assess tax within three years from the later of the due date...more
1/17/2022
/ Appeals ,
Audits ,
Estate Tax ,
Failure-to-File ,
Federal Taxes ,
Fraud ,
GILTI tax ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Tax Court
We previously wrote... about decisions made by the District Court of Minnesota and the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in Mayo Clinic v. United States regarding challenges to the validity of certain Treasury...more
We recently covered the Appeals Team Case Leader Conferencing Initiative: Summary of Findings and Next Steps (Appeals Summary) in relation to the participation of Large Business & International (LB&I) exam teams and Internal...more
Historically, the Supreme Court of the United States rarely grants petitions for certiorari in tax cases, and it appears this trend continues in the current term.
On September 30, 2021, the Supreme Court granted the...more
10/8/2021
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Certiorari ,
Equitable Tolling ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Jurisdiction ,
SCOTUS ,
Surcharges ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Injunction Act ,
Tax Litigation
The substance over form doctrine (and related step transaction and economic substance doctrines) are often invoked by courts to disallow tax consequences that seem too good to be true. Courts have struggled for years with how...more
A recent US Tax Court Memorandum Opinion held that a settlement agreement embodied in Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 870-AD does not preclude the IRS from reopening an audit and issuing a notice of deficiency.
In Howe...more
In general, section 6751 requires that a supervisor give written approval before penalties can be asserted against a taxpayer. In Koh v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2020-77, authored by the US Tax Court’s (Tax Court) most recent...more
On May 20, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that Andy Keyso has been named Chief of the IRS Independent Office of Appeals. He replaces Donna Hansberry, who retired in December 2019...more
On April 24, 2020, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit published its opinion in Wells Fargo & Co. v. United States, No. 17-3578, affirming a district court’s holdings that the taxpayer was not entitled to certain...more
In Taylor Lohmeyer Law Firm P.L.L.C. v. United States, No. 19-50506, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a Texas-based estate and tax-planning law firm (Firm) could not invoke the...more
The United States Supreme Court has picked up the pace this week, already issuing eight regular opinions and four opinions relating to orders as of today. We discuss the tax-related items here.
In Rodriguez v. FDIC, the...more
2/27/2020
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Affiliated-Business Arrangements ,
Appeals ,
Bob Richards Rule ,
Consolidated Tax Returns ,
Federal Common Law ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Jurisdiction ,
Kisor v Wilkie ,
Lack of Authority ,
Parent Corporation ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Remand ,
Rodriguez v Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. ,
SCOTUS ,
State Law Claims ,
Tax Allocation Agreements ,
Tax Reform ,
Tax Refunds ,
Unconstitutional Condition ,
Vacated
A recent case decided by the United States Court of Appeals of the Tenth Circuit reminds taxpayers to be aware that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is not necessarily locked in to the positions and arguments stated in the...more
5/28/2019
/ Appeals ,
Charitable Deductions ,
Clerical Errors ,
Deficiency Notices ,
Enhanced Penalties ,
Income Taxes ,
Initial Determination (ID) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Penalties
When you do not pay your taxes, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has the power to file a “lien” on your property under Internal Revenue Code section 6321. The lien attaches “upon all property and rights to property, whether...more
4/23/2019
/ Appeals ,
Capital Investments ,
Debtors ,
Encumbrances ,
Heirs ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Liens ,
Notice Requirements ,
Tax Debt ,
Tax Liability