On July 31, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Large Business and International (LB&I) division formally withdrew its Directive (LB&I-04-0118-005) instructing examiners on transfer pricing selection related to stock...more
The unfolding Altera Corporation & Subsidiaries v. Commissioner (Altera) saga bore witness to another taxpayer-unfriendly development on June 7, when the Ninth Circuit chose in a 2-1 vote to uphold certain Treasury...more
On June 7, 2019, in Altera Corp. v. Commissioner, a reconstituted panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a new opinion upholding the validity of a Treasury Department regulation addressing the...more
In Stein v. Blankfein et al the Delaware Court of Chancery considered a proposed settlement of litigation against directors of Goldman Sachs....more
On August 7, 2018, the Ninth Circuit withdrew its July 24 decision in Altera so that new panel member, Judge Susan P. Graber, can now consider the case....more
July 24, 2018, marked a significant, although potentially short-lived, victory for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed by 2 votes to 1, the full US Tax...more
On July 24, 2018, in the Altera Corp v. Commissioner decision, the Ninth Circuit overturned a 2015 U.S. Tax Court opinion and upheld the validity of regulations requiring taxpayers to treat stock-based compensation as a cost...more
On July 24, 2018, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Altera Corporation v. Commissioner overturned a unanimous decision by the Tax Court invalidating Treas. Reg. § 1.482-7A(d)(2), which provides that a...more
The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an Accounting Standards Update (ASU 2017-09; Topic 718) to clarify the accounting for modifications to outstanding share-based payment awards such as stock options and...more
On April 6, 2017, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) published for comment a revised version of proposed amendments (Revised Amendments) to Part IV and Part VI of the TSX Company Manual (Manual) and certain other ancillary...more
We learned yesterday that Twitter’s shopping itself around for a buyer. It’s facing one big complication, though—the sizeable amount of stock Twitter has doled out to its employees over the years. Last year, for example,...more
It has been close to a decade since the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) last updated its set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding equity compensation plans. On August 18, 2016, the NYSE released updated FAQs and,...more
Earlier this year the Financial Accounting Standards Board released Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-09 (the “ASU”) to improve the accounting treatment of certain stock-based compensation payments. Among other updates,...more
On May 26, 2016, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) published for comment proposed amendments to Part IV and Part VI of the TSX Company Manual (Manual). If adopted, the proposed amendments would introduce website disclosure...more
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has issued updated accounting standards designed to simplify accounting for stock-based awards. Among other changes, the updated standards permit employers to withhold stock for...more
Regulatory Developments Under § 367 Affecting Transfers of Appreciated Property to Foreign Corporations - Introduction: On September 14, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue...more
Our 26th President Theodore Roosevelt famously contributed to the American canon the following: “No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it.” The notion that...more
In Altera, the U.S. Tax Court invalidated regulations under Section 482 requiring participants in qualified cost-sharing agreements to include stock-based compensation costs in the cost pool to comply with the arm’s-length...more
The Stunning Altera Case - Employee stock options are an important part of compensation—both as income to the executives and as a deduction for the employer. But when stock options are used by multinational companies,...more
On July 27, 2015, the U.S. Tax Court, in Altera Corp. and Subsidiaries v. Commissioner, 145 T.C. No. 3, invalidated a 2003 amendment to Treas. Reg. §1.482-7(d)(2) (2003 Amendment) that required controlled participants in a...more