Key Takeaways
- IRS
- Federal Workers
- Electric Vehicles
- Transfer Pricing
- Blogs
- In the Courts
- Happiness and Ravioli
IRS
IRS to Bring 15,000 Workers Back to Office Next Week After Delays – Erin Slowey & Erin Schilling, Bloomberg ($):
The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about two-thirds of the IRS workforce, was notified the agency is directing more of its employees back into the office to align with President Donald Trump’s executive order, according to an NTEU email seen by Bloomberg Tax.
IRS Rollout of In-Person Work Faces Obstacles – Lauren Loricchio, Tax Notes ($):
The IRS called all employees who live within 50 miles of traditional worksites back to in-person work on March 10. The return was postponed for some customer service employees until enough space is available for them.
IRS Chief of Tax Compliance to Leave in Latest Senior Departure – Erin Slowey, Bloomberg ($):
Maloy joins other top leaders who have departed amid filing season. The move comes as the Trump administration puts pressure on the agency to gut its workforce and share sensitive taxpayer data.
Ouster of Acting IRS Top Lawyer Draws Senate Democrats’ Ire – Zach C. Cohen, Bloomberg ($):
More than a dozen Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), wrote to the tax collection agency’s acting leadership last week, citing previous Bloomberg Tax reporting that acting IRS chief counsel William Paul told colleagues he was pushed aside from this role because allies of billionaire presidential adviser Elon Musk thought he wasn’t cooperating with them. An ally of President Donald Trump is taking over as acting IRS chief counsel.
Hunter Biden Tax Probe Whistleblower Named to a Top IRS Post – Naomi Jagoda, Bloomberg ($):
The move comes after the Treasury Department said Tuesday that Shapley and Joseph Ziegler would become senior advisers to the department.
Treasury Promotes I.R.S. Agents Who Say Hunter Biden Tax Case Was Stymied – Andrew Duehren, New York Times:
Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, two veteran I.R.S. agents, brought their concerns about the tax case against Hunter Biden to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. House Republicans later turned the two men into key witnesses in their unsuccessful attempt to impeach former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Federal Workers
DC Judge Won't Preemptively Stop IRS Data Sharing with DHS – Ali Sullivan, Law360 ($):
U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich declined to issue a temporary restraining order following a hearing, saying the IRS had provided some "pretty unequivocal" assurances that it would not run afoul of IRC Section 6103, which keeps tax return information confidential aside from certain exceptions. On the other hand, the two Illinois-based plaintiff organizations had alleged "a chain of unconfirmed events" in support of their bid for a court order stopping the IRS from disclosing migrants' tax return information to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the judge said.
Fired Federal Workers Stuck in Limbo After Judges Order Return – Rebecca Rainey & Courtney Rozen, Bloomberg ($):
Last week, two federal courts in Maryland and California ordered the Trump administration to rehire roughly 25,000 probationary employees who were terminated from 19 federal agencies.
The government will get those employees back to their duties, the Trump administration said in a Tuesday court filing, after the judge in that case raised concern that employees were being put on paid leave rather than returning to work.
Electric Vehicles
The electric-vehicle revolution may be on shakier ground than you think – Nicolas Rivero, Washington Post:
…
Ending federal EV tax credits, weakening tailpipe pollution rules and slashing funding for charging stations — as President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have proposed — would slow EV sales and trigger a wave of factory shutdowns and canceled investments, according to energy policy and auto industry researchers. It would also lead to higher planet-warming emissions, they added.
Transfer Pricing
Technical, Policy Questions Still Swirl Around Amount B – Natalie Olivo, Law360 ($). “U.S. multinational corporations have welcomed the option of a simplified transfer pricing approach under an international tax framework known as Amount B, but uncertainties linger about how the rules will ultimately shake out on a technical level both domestically and globally.”
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
Bessent Vow for Low-Income Loans Collides with Cost Cuts – Emily Flitter, Simone Foxman, and Amara Omeokwe, Bloomberg ($):
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is trying to preserve the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, while also adhering to an order from Trump that his department reduce the initiative to the maximum extent allowed by law, according to people familiar with the matter who aren’t authorized to speak to the media.
Blogs
Tax News & Views International Weekly: Reconciliation and International Taxes – Alex Parker, Eide Bailly. "With the threat of a government shutdown out of the way – at least for now – Congress is turning its focus to the budgetary process under reconciliation, including potential legislation to extend expiring provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. If enacted, it would be the most sweeping tax legislation in nearly a decade. But it won’t actually affect the international tax code as much as other parts, because most of that was made to be permanent, and it has proven to be a durable framework that most lawmakers don’t want to scramble."
In the Courts
Tom Goldstein Claims Prosecutors Have Repeatedly Misled Court – Holly Barker, Bloomberg ($):
Although Goldstein hasn’t been charged with obstruction of justice, the government has repeatedly made the accusation to justify restrictive bond conditions the appellate attorney is challenging.
7th Circ. Orders Tax Court to Clarify ESOP Suit Dismissal – Kat Lucero, Law360 ($). “The Seventh Circuit axed the U.S. Tax Court's dismissal of a transit company's suit over an employee stock ownership plan, saying the lower court must specify that it lacked the authority to review the case because it was filed before the IRS completed an exam.”
Express Scripts Denied $42.9 Million Tax Credits for Software – Tristan Navera, Bloomberg ($). “Express Scripts Inc. isn’t entitled to $42.9 million in tax credits, because its claims adjustment software doesn’t qualify for a domestic production activities deduction, a federal judge in Missouri said Tuesday.”
Convicted Pharmacist Avoids Tax Bill on Seized Retirement Funds – John Woolley, Bloomberg ($). “A pharmacist in prison for distributing controlled substances isn’t liable for tax on more than $400,000 seized by the IRS from his retirement account because the agency controlled that account when withdrawing funds, the Sixth Circuit ruled Wednesday.”
Criminal Escapes Tax on Forfeited Retirement Account, Court Says – Kristen A. Parillo, Tax Notes ($). “The Tax Court wrongly held that a jailed taxpayer must pay income tax on an involuntary IRA distribution forfeited to the federal government, according to the Sixth Circuit.”
What Day is it?
Today is International Day of Happiness. Not so coincidentally, it is also National Ravioli Day, yay!
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