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Real Estate Lawyers On The Move

Day Pitney, Michael Best and Tarter Krinsky are among the law firms that have made recent real estate or construction hires.

Push To Juice German Economy Could Jolt Spousal Tax Break

With growth fragile and unemployment high, Germany's coalition government is considering a raft of tax changes int... (more story)

Int'l Tax In April: Progress On Tariff Refunds, New Tax Cuts

U.S. Customs and Border Protection continued to make progress in April on its system for paying back the tariffs t... (more story)

Federal More

Trump 1st-Term Tariff Hikes On China Legal, Feds Tell Justices

President Donald Trump's first administration was well within its legal authority to increase tariffs on Chinese goods under a law utilized to address unfair trading practices, and the U.S. Supreme Court doesn... (more story)

Tax Court Won't Rethink Nix Of Russian Scientist's Exemption

The U.S. Tax Court won't rethink its decision that the U.S. Department of Energy's payments to a Russian scientist for his subatomic particle research in Virginia don't fall under a tax exemption for grants in... (more story)

SCOTUSblog Founder Can't Delay Tax Fraud Sentencing

A Maryland federal judge has rejected SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's request to push back sentencing for his tax evasion conviction, finding that Goldstein "has not shown good cause to continue sentencing."

Ga. Partnership Defends $46M Deduction For Donated Acres

A Georgia partnership is disputing the IRS' assessment of $17.1 million in underpaid tax and $6.8 million penalties for its 2020 tax year, saying the agency wrongly disallowed its $46.2 million deduction for a... (more story)

9th Circ. Orders New Tax Fraud Trial Over Juror's Racial Bias

An Idaho federal court wrongly denied a man of Mexican descent a new trial after discovering a juror had made racially biased comments about people of Mexican ethnicity during deliberations on whether to convi... (more story)

US Asks Court To Reject Bright-Line IRS Political Activity Test

A D.C. federal court should not set a bright-line test for determining whether tax-exempt social welfare organizations are engaging in improper political campaigning, the federal government said during a heari... (more story)

Ala. Partnership Says Donated Land Was Worth $21M

An Alabama partnership defended its deduction of $21 million for land donated to a conservancy in Mobile in 2018, saying it was told by a qualified appraiser that the property's "highest and best use" would ha... (more story)

State & Local More

Judge Won't Toss Boston Property Tax Retaliation Claims

Boston must face a proposed class action accusing the city of inflating the valuations of some properties after owners appealed their tax bills, a state court judge has ruled.

4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materia... (more story)

Ohio Bank's Tax Break On Data Processing Denied By Board

An Ohio bank is liable for sales tax on financial data processing services it purchased, a state board affirmed, applying the true object test to the transactions as directed by the state Supreme Court.

Minn. Justices Challenge County On Hilton Valuation Appeal

Minnesota's justices quizzed counsel for Hennepin County on Monday on whether its arguments for its preferred method for valuing a Hilton-branded Minneapolis hotel and convention center could be enough to over... (more story)

NC Justices Asked To Clarify Leandro School Funding Opinion

The school boards of several low-wealth North Carolina counties are asking the state Supreme Court to elucidate a recent ruling that invalidated nine years of developments in the public school funding case kno... (more story)

Broadway Shows Freed From NYC Rent Tax On Billboards

Operators of four Broadway musicals don't owe New York City's commercial rent tax on billboard advertisements that they paid third-party entities to run because the operators didn't use the billboards, a city ... (more story)

Heppner Ruling Left AI Privilege Risk For Lawyers Unresolved

While a New York federal judge’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner resolved a privilege question surrounding client-side artificial intelligence use, it did not address how to mitigate the risks that can arise ... (more story)

International More

GM Unit's Pricing Shift Doesn't Affect VAT, EU High Court Says

The Portuguese government should not have increased the value-added tax bill for automaker Stellantis, the European Union's top court ruled Wednesday, holding that intercompany transactions between the former ... (more story)

Suspect Arrested In €18M Electronics VAT Fraud Scheme

European prosecutors said Wednesday that German authorities arrested one suspect and carried out a series of raids in an investigation into an alleged €18 million ($21 million) value-added tax carousel fraud i... (more story)

Over 8 Million Imports In Line For Over $35B In Tariff Refunds

Over 8.3 million imports are pending tariff refunds after clearing the final system processes developed by Customs and Border Protection, accounting for almost $35.5 billion in duty refunds with interest, acco... (more story)

Shell Wins Australia Tax Fight Over $71.6M In Added Taxes

The Australian Taxation Office wrongly assessed AU$98.9 million ($71.6 million) in additional taxes to a Shell plc subsidiary by denying its entitlement to add a premium to its cost basis for a deemed acquisit... (more story)

Farmers Can't Challenge UK Inheritance Tax Relief Cut Plans

Two Cambridgeshire farmers and a campaign group can't challenge the U.K. government's plans to slash inheritance tax relief for farms on the grounds that there should have been a public consultation before the... (more story)

EU Readies Legal Action Over Weak Tax Reporting Penalties

The European Union's executive branch may take member countries to court for failing to impose adequately high penalties on those that breach the bloc's rules on tax information sharing, an EU official said Tuesday.

Gov't Clarifies Inheritance Tax Rules On Pension Wealth

The government has issued a statement clarifying how it wants pension wealth to be brought into the scope of inheritance tax next year.