Podcast: Illinois Tool Works Inc. & Subsidiaries v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Last October, a District Court in Colorado turned the economic substance doctrine on its head. In Liberty Global, Inc. v. US, a District Court granted the Government’s motion for summary judgement and found that contrary to...more
In ongoing litigation between the government and Liberty Global Inc. (“Liberty Global”), Liberty Global has appealed a district court’s decision that ruled in favor of the government to the Tenth Circuit. We have previously...more
The Tax Court has invited amicus briefs and will address the codified meaning of the economic substance doctrine after increased IRS use of the doctrine to challenge taxpayer transactions. In a July 19, 2024, order in...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and IRS recently issued guidance aimed at curtailing purportedly abusive basis-shifting transactions utilized by businesses taxed as partnerships. This guidance represents additional...more
The Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) announced the latest chapter in the long-trumpeted enforcement initiative aimed at large partnerships. The guidance, summarized below,...more
The Liberty Global Inc. v. United States appeal has practitioners and taxpayers concerned that the economic substance doctrine will be applied to disallow the tax benefits of ordinary course of business decisions and disrupt...more
The book has closed on 2023, but several recent tax-related rulings are sure to have ripple effects into 2024 and beyond—particularly with respect to transfer pricing and foreign tax credits. Here are five cases that will...more
On October 31, 2023, the US District Court for the District of Colorado, in Liberty Global, Inc. v. United States, applied the codified economic substance doctrine and held—on summary judgment—that Liberty Global, Inc. (LGI)...more
The IRS won a major economic substance case on October 31. A federal district court in Liberty Global, Inc. v. United States, No. 20-cv-03501 (D. Colo.), found that a planned corporate transaction lacked economic substance. ...more
In March 2010, Congress codified the economic substance doctrine in Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 7701(o). The codification clarified that a conjunctive analysis applies in determining if the doctrine applies. The...more
What a Mess- A “perfect storm” may be defined as a critical state of affairs arising from the convergence of a number of negative factors, often after the unexpected introduction of some catalytic event. The situation...more
The regulations are proposed to be effective when finalized, but taxpayers may generally rely on them if applied fully and consistently. What Is (and Is Not) Covered? The three-year restriction applies with respect to...more
Introduction and Background - Treasury and the IRS issued proposed regulations on July 31, 2020 under Section 1061 of the Code (Proposed Regulations). Section 1061 effectively creates a three-year holding period...more
We have all heard the old proverb “if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.” In the tax world, this proverb might as well be referred to as the economic substance doctrine. Generally, taxpayers are free to structure...more
The Tax Court’s recent opinion in Austin v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2017-69, claims to be following the Fourth Circuit’s view of the economic substance doctrine by calling it the sham transaction doctrine, saying it is an issue...more
Things are heating up in the economic substance doctrine area, which could lead to a U.S. Supreme Court review of the IRS’s aggressive arguments for the doctrine. Certiorari Petitions - Salem Financial Inc. and Bank...more
Earlier this month, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), represented by Skadden, won a federal appeal permitting the company to deduct policyholder dividends in the year the dividends were declared, even...more
The economic substance doctrine was historically a judicial doctrine. It was codified by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 in Section7701(o). Although practitioners describe it as a codification,...more