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TAX CONTROVERSY 360
McDermott Will & Schulte’s real-time tax disputes insights
TAX CONTROVERSY 360
McDermott Will & Schulte’s real-time tax disputes insights
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Final Section 385 Regulations May Pose Compliance Burdens and Raise Potential Challenges

by | Nov 3, 2016 | , ,

On November 2, 2016, we participated in a panel discussion at TEI’s Houston Global Tax Symposium regarding the effects of the newly-finalized section 385 regulations. Of interest from a controversy perspective, we discussed the potential compliance burdens and privilege concerns raised by the new documentation requirements in the rules, and the potential problems with the non-rebuttable per se presumption in the transaction rules. We also discussed how the Internal Revenue Service has endeavored, in the regulations’ lengthy preamble, to address potential procedural challenges by responding to public comments and by providing justifications for the regulations, particularly in light of recent challenges to other regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act. It remains to be seen how the new 385 rules will affect businesses in practice, and how the IRS intends to apply them, consistent with its statutory mandate.



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IRS and Treasury Release Update to 2016-2017 Priority Guidance Plan

by and | Nov 2, 2016 | , ,

The US Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issue Priority Guidance Plans each year to identify and prioritize the tax issues they believe should be addressed through regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices and other published administrative guidance.  On October 31, 2016, the IRS and Treasury released the first quarter update to the 2016-2017 Priority Guidance Plan originally released on August 15, 2016.

The original plan identified 281 guidance projects as priorities, and the first quarter update includes an additional six guidance projects.  The additional projects include:

  • Guidance regarding the removal of the no-rule positions for certain legal issues concerning device and business purpose under section 355 (PUBLISHED 09/12/16 in IRB 2016-37 as REV. PROC. 2016-45 (RELEASED 08/26/16)).
  • Revenue procedure providing a self-certification procedure for waivers of the 60-day rollover requirement under §§402(c)(3) and 408(d)(3) (PUBLISHED 09/12/16 in IRB 2016-37 as REV. PROC. 2016-47 (RELEASED 08/24/16)).
  • Announcement on hardship distributions and loans from retirement plans as a result of Louisiana storms (PUBLISHED 09/12/16 in IRB 2016-37 as ANN. 2016-30 (RELEASED 08/30/16)).
  • Announcement concerning the tax treatment of payments made on behalf of or reimbursements received by residents affected by the Southern California Gas Company natural gas leak (PUBLISHED 08/01/16 in IRB 2016-31 as ANN. 2016-25 (RELEASED 07/19/16)).
  • Guidance for income and employment tax purposes on the treatment of cash payments made by employers under leave-based donation programs for the relief of victims of the Louisiana storms (PUBLISHED 10/03/16 in IRB 2016-40 as NOT. 2016-55 (RELEASED 09/16/16); and
  • Guidance under §909 related to foreign-initiated adjustments and the separation of foreign taxes and related income (PUBLISHED 10/03/16 in IRB 2016-40 as NOT. 2016-52 (RELEASED 09/15/16)).


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IRS Issues Regulations Related to CFC Loans

by | Nov 2, 2016 | ,

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has just released final regulations regarding the treatment of United States property held by a controlled foreign corporation (CFC) in connection with certain transactions involving partnerships. The final regulations also provide rules for determining whether a CFC is considered to derive rents and royalties in the active conduct of a trade or business for purposes of determining foreign personal holding company income, as well as rules for determining whether a CFC holds United States property as a result of certain related party factoring transactions. The new rules finalize proposed regulations, and withdraws temporary regulations, published on September 2, 2015. It also finalizes proposed regulations, and withdraws temporary regulations, published on June 14, 1988. In addition, the IRS has issued proposed regulations that provide rules regarding the determination of the amount of United States property treated as held by a CFC through a partnership. The final and proposed regulations affect United States shareholders of CFCs.

The final and proposed regulations can be found here and here.



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Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Case Involving Auer Deference

by and | Nov 1, 2016 | , ,

On October 28, 2016, the US Supreme Court (Supreme Court) granted certiorari in the case of Gloucester County Sch. Bd. V. G.G., No. 16-273, which involves a dispute as to whether an unpublished letter by a Department of Education (Department) official purporting to interpret the agency’s regulatory interpretation relating to discrimination on the basis of sex is entitled to Auer deference. The petition for writ of certiorari specifically asked the Court to consider three questions: (1) whether the Court should retain the Auer doctrine; (2) if Auer is retained, whether deference extends to the unpublished agency letter; and (3) with or without deference, whether the Department’s interpretation of its own regulation should be given effect. The Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari was limited to Questions 2 and 3 presented by the petition.

We have previously discussed Auer deference in the tax context here and here. Although the Supreme Court has declined to address whether the Auer doctrine should be retained, it will be interesting to see if the Court follows its recent opinions in this area and further curtails the application of the doctrine given the unpublished form in which the Department’s interpretation was rendered in the Gloucester County case. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has taken the position in prior litigation that interpretations in unpublished IRS guidance are eligible for Auer deference. The Tax Court, on the other hand, has indicated that to be entitled to Auer deference an IRS pronouncement must be issued in published form so that taxpayers are aware of such guidance in preparing their tax returns. We will continue to follow this case and report on any future developments.



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APA Challenge to Notice of Deficiency: QinetiQ Oral Arguments

by and | Oct 31, 2016 | , ,

On October 26, 2016, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit heard oral argument in QinetiQ U.S. Holdings, Inc. v. Commissioner, No. 15-2192. We previously wrote about the case here and here. To refresh, the taxpayer had argued in the US Tax Court (Tax Court) that the notice of deficiency issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which containing a one-sentence reason for the deficiency determination, violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) because it was “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” The APA provides a general rule that a reviewing court that is subject to the APA must hold unlawful and set aside an agency action unwarranted by the facts to the extent the facts are subject to trial de novo by the reviewing court. The Tax Court disagreed, emphasizing that it was well settled that the court is not subject to the APA and holding that the notice of deficiency adequately notified the taxpayer that a deficiency had been determined under relevant case law. The taxpayer appealed to the Fourth Circuit.

The substance of the oral argument focused on two issues: (1) whether the IRS’s notice of deficiency in this case violated the APA and was invalid; and (2) whether, on the merits, the taxpayer was entitled to a particular deduction. We focus on the former issue here.

(more…)



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SALT Implications of Final Section 385 Debt-Equity Regulations

by | Oct 27, 2016 | ,

The recently released regulations under Internal Revenue Code Section 385, addressing the circumstances under which related company debt will be classified as equity for federal income tax purposes, will have a significant impact on not only federal taxes but also on state and local taxes. For a more detailed discussion of these implications by our own Peter Faber, please see here.



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Former Tax Court Judge Pleads Guilty to Tax Crimes

by and | Oct 24, 2016 | ,

Following up on our prior coverage (see here), former US Tax Court Judge Diane L. Kroupa pleaded guilty on Friday to multiple tax criminal charges related to her tax returns and interactions with the Internal Revenue Service. The government stipulated during the hearing that all charges except defrauding the United States would be dropped if Kroupa agreed to be sentenced on the fraud charge. Based on sentencing guidelines, the recommended sentence is between 30-37 months, although the judge may ultimately sentence Kroupa to more or less time. A copy of the Change of Plea Hearing can be found here.



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Timing of a US Federal Tax Controversy

by | Oct 18, 2016 | , ,

Understanding the timing of a US Federal tax controversy is helpful in creating a sound and efficient strategy. This timeline shows the typical timing of a US Federal tax controversy, from the IRS’s examination of the return, through administrative appeals, litigation in Tax Court, Circuit Court appeal, and to ultimate assessment of tax.



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IRS Issues IPU on Identifying Foreign Goodwill or Going Concern

by | Oct 13, 2016 | , ,

On October 13, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released an LB&I International Practice Unit (IPU), available here, providing guidance to IRS agents relating to the identification of foreign goodwill or going concern value (FGWGC) for purposes of Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 367. The IPU indicates that it was last updated on September 22, 2016.

The IPU focuses on the threshold question of whether, as a factual matter, FGWGC can exist in the first place in light of all the facts. As an example, the IPU states that because a business operation conducted outside the United States is a prerequisite for the existence of FGWGC, it is necessary to understand whether immediately before a transfer, the transferor of the property was engaged in a trade or business conducted outside the United States.

The IPU discusses the process of identifying foreign goodwill or going concern value, citing to authorities such as Newark Morning Ledger, TAM 200907024, the Bluebook and legislative history. It then discusses the steps that IRS agents should follow to identify FGWGC, with citations to various authorities as resources.

FGWGC is a hot topic right now. On September 14, 2015, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the IRS issued proposed regulations that address the tax treatment under Code Sections 367(a) and (d) of certain transfers of property by United States persons to foreign corporations. As we have discussed here, the proposed regulations would change the law to tax all transfers to a foreign subsidiary of goodwill and going concern value for use in a trade or business outside the United States.  These proposed regulations raise serious questions regarding whether Treasury and the IRS exceeded their authority on this point.



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Types of Tax Court Opinions and Their Precedential Effect

by and | Oct 13, 2016 | , ,

Most tax cases are decided by the US Tax Court (Tax Court). The Tax Court issues two categories of opinions: (1) formally published dispositions; and (2) unpublished dispositions. The first category consists of opinions that are published in the Tax Court Reports and technically are called “division opinions” but are more commonly referred to as “T.C. opinions.” The second category consists of three sets of unpublished dispositions: (1) memorandum opinions (commonly referred to as “memo opinions” or “T.C. memos”); (2) summary opinions; and (3) orders. A common question asked by taxpayers relates to the difference between these forms of dispositions in terms of precedential effect. (more…)



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