Tax Notes

Great article today by Andrew Velarde on the recent opinion in U.S. v. Leeds. I appreciated the opportunity to provide comments for the article. The Leeds case illustrates how seriously the IRS and DOJ Tax Division pursue the collection of FBAR penalties. The government is pursuing a widow in her 80s with no connection to the FBAR violations in her personal capacity for her late husband’s FBAR penalties. Evidence was presented that the widow’s net assets were far less than the FBAR penalties. Fortunately, the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause, as applied to the widow saved the day! https://lnkd.in/gFdjYdC4 #tax #taxlawyer #taxpenalties #penalties #FBAR #LetsTalkTax #TaxNotes

Former IRS Chief Human Capital Officer Traci DiMartini said she was placed on leave for resisting the firing of thousands of probationary workers and for delays in onboarding staffers from DOGE. In an affidavit filed March 7 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, DiMartini said she had several concerns when the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Treasury instructed her to begin terminating thousands of probationary employees “based on performance,” including whether the directive was legal. “In all my decades of human resource management for the federal government, I had never before received a directive such as this one,” DiMartini said in the statement, explaining that the termination of probationary employees is typically handled by employees’ managers and is done because of poor performance or conduct. DiMartini’s statement was filed as part of a motion in Maryland v. Department of Agriculture, a suit brought by 19 states and the District of Columbia alleging that the Trump administration violated reduction in force protocols during the probationary employee firings. Read the full story outside of the paywall from Ben Valdez ??

In their latest article for Tax Notes, Hardeep and Aman from our team break down the recent Delhi Tax Tribunal ruling on tax treatment of a Delaware LLC in India. They analyse classification and tax treaty eligibility issues of Delaware LLCs and explore what this means for investment structures targeting India. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gXtbhSBZ #InternationalTax #TaxTreaty #IndiaUSTax #LLC #CrossBorderTax

The number of higher-rate U.K. income tax payers soared by 15.3 percent in one year, while additional-rate taxpayer numbers increased by 9.5 percent, HM Revenue & Customs statistics reveal. Me for Tax Notes Today International #tax #UK #incometax #higherrate #HMRC

President Trump is adamant about closing the so-called carried interest loophole and repealing tax incentives enjoyed by sports team owners, according to a White House deputy chief of staff. “I can’t imagine we’ll hear from them, can’t imagine we’d care,” James Blair, deputy chief of staff for legislative, political, and public policy, said of potential pushback from sports team owners. At a Punchbowl News event March 11, Blair noted that Trump had pushed to revisit the tax treatment of carried interest during his first term, albeit unsuccessfully. “The president would say he almost got it done the first time,” Blair said. “I don’t think he’s as likely to let it go this time; he thinks it’s a loophole that should be closed.” Read the full story. ??

In next week’s episode of Taxing Issues, on March 19 from 2 to 3 p.m. ET, join our panelists as they explore how Congress might use reconciliation and what that means for tax policy. Given the complexity of reconciliation, how will the process be used by Congress, and what will that mean for the future of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and other Trump administration priorities? What key reforms might be part of a reconciliation package, and what provisions excluded? How could these changes affect taxpayers, advisers, and business entities? What is Congress’s likely timeline for passing a final bill? Register today to save your spot: https://hubs.ly/Q03bhbT00 #TaxReform2025 #TaxCutsAndJobsAct #TaxLegislation #TCJA

"The California Franchise Tax Board’s method of taxing banks and financial institutions ('banks') is always a bit of a mess. "It would get worse under the January budget proposal of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to tax banks (and savings and loans) using single-sales-factor apportionment." ?? On the cover of Tax Notes State: Eric J. Coffill and Megan Long explore California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to use single-sales-factor apportionment for taxing banks and financial institutions.

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan is entitled to tax credits for U.K. income taxes paid on his earnings from Ra One, a science fiction film, because reassessment proceedings weren’t justifiable under Indian law, a tribunal held. In its March 4 order in Khan v. DCIT, published at a later date, the Mumbai "F" bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) found that the Indian tax authorities did not have sufficient justification to initiate reassessment proceedings beyond the four-year limitation period because they failed to prove that Khan had not fully and truly disclosed material facts during the original assessment proceedings. Section 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 allows tax authorities to reopen assessment proceedings if they have reason to believe that a taxpayer’s income “has escaped assessment.” Reassessment proceedings must be initiated within four years from the end of the relevant assessment year unless the taxpayer failed to file a return or failed to fully and truly disclose all material facts during the original assessment. Continue reading ?? (Photo by Bret Hartman / TED via Flickr)

Happy to have organized the event "Implications of U.S. Tax Policy for Europe" yesterday, hosted by BusinessEurope in partnership with the European Economic and Social Committee! A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the insightful discussions! Don't miss Elodie Lamer’s excellent piece in today’s Tax Notes, "EU Walking Tightrope Between OECD and U.S. Minimum Tax Rules," covering the key takeaways from the event (link in comments). Krister Andersson; Benjamin Angel; Sean Bray; Christian Kaeser; Sune Hein Lundbek (Bertelsen); Lucio Vinhas de Souza; Jon Lacey; Juri Soosaar; American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (AmCham EU); Tax Foundation; Tax Foundation Europe; BDI - Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e.V.

A whistleblower advocacy group is urging DOGE to consider changes to the IRS Whistleblower Office, including having it work more closely with whistleblowers and eliminating arbitrary limitations on the program it oversees.