International
-
June 18, 2025
Fed. Circ. OKs How Commerce Filled Blank In Steel Duty Case
The U.S. Department of Commerce may apply adverse facts to a company that fails to propose reasonable alternatives for collecting information that would be unreasonably hard to obtain in an antidumping investigation, the Federal Circuit said in a precedential opinion upholding steel duties on German companies.
-
June 18, 2025
£20M Buybacks Weren't Mainly For Tax Benefit, UK Court Says
Obtaining a tax advantage wasn't the main purpose of two businessmen arranging £20 million ($26.8 million) in share buybacks, despite that being the effect, so they aren't liable for an anti-avoidance action by HM Revenue & Customs, the U.K. Upper Tribunal said in overturning a lower court's ruling.
-
June 18, 2025
Billabong Founder Must Split Costs In AU$50M Tax Bill Loss
The founder of surf brand Billabong and the Australian tax authority must split the costs of litigation that ultimately put the founder on the hook for AU$50 million ($33 million) in taxes, the Federal Court of Australia held Wednesday.
-
June 18, 2025
Mich. Housing Co-Op Suit On Hold After Disclosure Exemption
A Michigan federal judge hit pause on a lawsuit from a group of housing cooperatives to escape requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act after the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said it would give U.S.-based entities a break from the rules.
-
June 18, 2025
EU Refers Portugal To Court Over Excise Duty Harmonization
Portugal is three-and-a-half years late in transposing a pair of European Union directives related to excise duties into domestic law, the European Commission said Wednesday, referring the country to the European Court of Justice to face a potential fine, among other announced infringement decisions.
-
June 17, 2025
Wyden Vows To Fight For Energy Credits Facing GOP Repeal
The top Senate Democratic tax writer vowed Tuesday to try to protect clean energy tax provisions of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that would face an early repeal under the sweeping tax and budget legislation released by Republicans in the Senate Finance Committee.
-
June 17, 2025
AbbVie Can Get Deduction For $1.6B Payment, Tax Court Says
AbbVie can claim a deduction for the $1.6 billion it paid under a merger agreement, the U.S. Tax Court held Tuesday, rejecting the IRS' contention that the payment was a capital loss that raised the pharmaceutical giant's tax bill by $572 million.
-
June 17, 2025
Ill. Toy Makers Seek Justices' Early Review Of Trump Tariff Suit
Illinois-based toy makers challenging President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs on Tuesday requested the U.S. Supreme Court consider their case before it is reviewed by the D.C. Circuit, arguing a stay to an injunction is allowing duty collections to continue and is damaging the companies.
-
June 17, 2025
DOJ Seeks 5 Years, $10M For Fla. Man Hiding Swiss Accounts
A Miami man who lied to authorities and others for decades about his Swiss bank accounts should pay $10.3 million in unpaid taxes and face a maximum five-year prison sentence based on his plea agreement, the U.S. Department of Justice told a Florida federal court.
-
June 17, 2025
Poland Calls For EU Digital Services Tax In Revenue Package
The European Commission should consider previous proposals for a digital services tax regime across the European Union as part of its revenue package, the Polish presidency of the Council of the EU said in a report.
-
June 17, 2025
Tax Admins In OECD Group Largely Using AI, Report Says
Of the 54 members of the OECD's Forum on Tax Administration, over 70% are using artifical intelligence in some way to improve services, most often to detect tax evasion and fraud, the OECD said in a report Tuesday.
-
June 17, 2025
IRS Updates Prefiling Program For Large Biz, Int'l Taxpayers
The Internal Revenue Service has made several changes to its prefiling agreement program, including updating the guidelines to help large corporate and international taxpayers flag potential issues before submitting returns, the agency said Tuesday.
-
June 17, 2025
Swedish Tax Agency Asks For Greater Enforcement Powers
The Swedish Tax Agency is looking to enhance its ability to address tax crimes, it told the country's Ministry of Finance on Tuesday, sharing proposals that would strengthen its law enforcement powers and grant it the power to store biometric data.
-
June 17, 2025
Norway Looks To Adopt Updated Pillar 2 Guidance
The Norwegian Ministry of Finance proposed updating its adoption of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's global minimum tax to integrate administrative guidance issued over the past year.
-
June 17, 2025
HMRC Challenges Tax Treatment Of Partnership Awards
HM Revenue & Customs told the U.K. Supreme Court on Tuesday that partnership awards allocated to a corporate entity and then distributed to partners should be taxed as if they were allocated to individual members.
-
June 16, 2025
US, UK Reach Trade Deal On Cars; Steel Tariffs Still Unresolved
President Donald Trump signed an order Monday enshrining the nation's new trade deal with U.K. governments under which the U.S. agreed to slash tariffs on 100,000 imported U.K. automobiles and auto parts, while eliminating tariffs on certain aerospace products but leaving steel and pharmaceuticals tariffs for future negotiations.
-
June 16, 2025
Senate Bill Sticks With TCJA's $10,000 SALT Cap
The Senate Finance Committee's tax portion of the chamber's budget reconciliation bill released Monday follows the House's lead on some provisions while breaking with the lower chamber's hard-won compromises on an increased state and local tax deduction and the phaseout of green energy credits.
-
June 16, 2025
The Tax Angle: EITC Audits, UTPR, Energy Credits
From a look at Republicans' efforts to audit the earned income tax credit, complaints about unfair foreign taxation under the OECD's Pillar Two framework and Democrats' push against Republican plans to strip the Inflation Reduction Act's energy credits from the code, here's a peek into a reporter's notebook on a few developing tax stories.
-
June 16, 2025
Book Profits Much Higher Than Taxable Income, Paper Says
Companies report about three to four times higher profits on financial statements for investors compared with the taxable income they report to authorities, a phenomenon most prevalent among multinational corporations, which suggests book profits underestimate profit shifting, the EU Tax Observatory said Monday.
-
June 16, 2025
G7 Could Raise $214B Yearly From 2% Wealth Tax, Group Says
The Group of Seven countries could raise $214 billion a year if each government imposed a 2% wealth tax on fortunes above $100 million, with the U.S. potentially raising $161 billion by itself, a group of wealthy Canadians said Monday in support of such measures.
-
June 16, 2025
Trump Eyes Trade Deal With Canada During G7 Summit Talks
President Donald Trump said at the G7 summit Monday that he would work with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to reach a trade deal, raising the possibility that an agreement could be struck before the multilateral meeting concludes.
-
June 16, 2025
Wealth Taxes, End Of Profit Shifting Worth $2.6T, Group Says
World governments could raise about $2.6 trillion annually, more than enough revenue to finance most climate-related needs, if they collectively adopted low-rate wealth taxes beginning with the richest 0.5% and stopped multinational corporations from shifting profits, the Tax Justice Network said Monday.
-
June 16, 2025
HMRC Warns Umbrella Co. Employees Of Tax Risks
Employees and contractors of temporary worker agencies known as umbrella companies need to be vigilant to make sure they aren't unwittingly involving themselves in tax avoidance schemes, HM Revenue & Customs said, laying out ways to spot such avoidance issues.
-
June 16, 2025
OECD Offers Template For Tax Crime Investigation Guidance
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development released standards Monday for jurisdictions to use when creating manuals to guide government agencies through tax crime investigations, with the aim of creating more efficient and effective processes, it said.
-
June 16, 2025
Colombian Taxpayers Owe $34M In Foreign Exchange Debts
Nearly 290 Colombian taxpayers have accumulated roughly 142.2 billion Colombian pesos ($34.6 million) in unpaid tax debts related to their foreign exchange transactions, the country's tax authority said, offering possible reductions for their associated penalties.
Expert Analysis
-
Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?
A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.
-
3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture
Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.
-
E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents
Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.
-
Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.
-
After Chevron: Delegation Of Authority And Tax Regulators
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service will face higher standards following Loper Bright’s finding that courts should determine whether agency rules meet the best possible interpretation of the tax code, as well as the scope of the authority delegated by Congress, says Edward Froelich at McDermott.
-
Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.
-
How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market
Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.
-
Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.
-
Contract Disputes Recap: Preserving Payment Rights
Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions that together illustrate the importance of keeping accurate records and adhering to contractual procedures to avoid inadvertently waiving contractual rights to cost reimbursements or nonroutine payments.
-
Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step
From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
-
Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity
The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
-
Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
-
Reading Between The Lines Of Justices' Moore Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Moore v. U.S. decision, that the Internal Revenue Code Section 965 did not violate the 16th Amendment, was narrowly tailored to minimally disrupt existing tax regimes, but the justices' various opinions leave the door open to future tax challenges and provide clues for what the battles may look like, say Caroline Ngo and Le Chen at McDermott.