United States

The international tax evasion crisis has been in the center of the radar screen not only of the Congress, Treasury and Internal Revenue Service, but by the governments and tax administrators of our treaty partners as well as other governments, including developing nations as well as tax havens and bank secrecy jurisdictions.

the aftermath of the Third Circuit's decision in Historic Boardwalk Hall LLC v. Commissioner, the IRS has announced its intention to provide guidance for tax structures where developers work with investors to use Federal Historic Tax Credits to further the development of historic structures.

The Internal Revenue Service recently issued final regulations under Internal Revenue Code section 336(e) which provide for an election to treat certain qualified stock dispositions as asset sales, similar to a Section 338(h)(10) Election.

Hurricane Sandy Tax Relief Act of 2013 is aimed at providing tax relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy in areas designated as Federal Disaster Areas by the President.

The Service and the Treasury recently issued final regulations with respect to the election available under Section 336(e) which allows certain sales, exchanges, and distributions by a domestic corporation of another corporation's stock as taxable sales of that corporation's assets.

The U.S. Senate has recently passed the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013, which would allow states to require remote sellers to collect and remit sales and use tax on sales to in-state residents even if the retailer has no physical presence in the state.

A New York administrative law judge recently held in Matter of C.V. Starr & Co., Inc. that income received by a taxpayer from its ownership of common stock was investment income.

On April 4, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear signed legislation that makes several changes to income tax law as well as sales and use tax law.

A California Superior Court has issued a decision with significant impact on financial services.

In Alabama, when a property owner fails to pay his ad valorem property taxes, his property may be sold at a public auction to the highest bidder.

On January 17, 2013, the United States Treasury Department released final regulations under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.

EMI options are intended to help smaller companies with growth potential, and the major tax advantages of EMI have always been no UK income tax at grant and no UK income tax at exercise if the exercise price is set at market value.

The Kansas Governor Sam Brownback approved legislation that implements click-through nexus and affiliate nexus provisions for purposes of the state's sales and use tax.

The Texas Court of Appeals has held that a hospitality company's purchases of consumable items, including soap and shampoo that it provided to its hotel guests, was exempt from Texas sales tax under the sale-for-resale exemption.

The South Carolina Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Bodman v. South Carolina, holding that the state’s sales and use tax exemption and cap scheme, as a whole, does not violate the state constitution’s equal protection guarantee and prohibition against special legislation.

Recently published Technical Advice Memorandum 201317010 limits the circumstances in which a complex, non-grantor trust can materially participate in the activities of an S corporation.

On May 6, 2013, the United States Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 (the "Act") by a vote of 69 to 27.

The IRS has concluded in a recent legal memorandum that a taxpayer's activities related to producing an electronic version of a book did not result in qualified production property under Section 199(c)(5)(A).

The IRS Large Business and International Division has instructed its examiners that under some circumstances, they should not challenge a taxpayer’s treatment of milestone payments made to investment bankers.

The IRS Integrity and Verification Operations group is delaying a number of taxpayer refunds to screen for identity theft and refund fraud.