Tax Law

Judge Refuses to Toss Va. Challenge to Health Care Law

A federal judge in Richmond, Va., has refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the health care law signed by the president in March. U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson held that the court had jurisdiction to hear the challenge to the law requiring people to buy health care coverage or pay…

Aug 2, 2010 5:41 PM CDT

Conrad Black Released on Bond After Some $40M in Legal Bills; How Much More Can He Afford to Pay?

Freed today from a federal prison in Florida, onetime media mogul Conrad Black is seemingly potentially on track for a possible reversal of his fraud and obstruction of justice convictions. But a major roadblock remains: His legal fees. An estimated $40 million in defense costs for Black have been covered…

Jul 21, 2010 11:29 PM CDT

11th Circuit Upholds 3-Year Term for Actor Wesley Snipes on 3 Misdemeanor Tax Counts

Saying that a federal district judge in Florida had discretion to sentence Wesley Snipes the maximum term, a federal appeals court has upheld the actor’s three consecutive one-year sentences on three misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to file a tax return. Snipes reportedly owes the Internal Revenue Service some $17…

Jul 19, 2010 6:13 PM CDT

Surprising Pundits, DOJ Brief Defends Health Care Law Under Tax Power

In anticipation of a constitutional challenge, Congress included findings with the new health care law intended to show it is a regulation of commerce. The taxation power isn’t mentioned. Indeed President Obama himself dismissed the idea that the new law is essentially a tax, the New York Times reports. “I…

Jul 19, 2010 2:38 PM CDT

WSJ Editorial Blasts Possible ‘Bill Lerach Tax Cut’

A report that the U.S. Treasury Secretary is considering an order that will give a tax break to plaintiffs lawyers has one newspaper’s editorial writers expressing outrage. The director of federal relations for the American Association for Justice, John Bowman, revealed during the group’s convention that Treasury may issue the…

Jul 15, 2010 11:52 AM CDT

Steinbrenner’s 2010 Death May Have Saved His Heirs About $600M

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner may have saved his heirs as much as $600 million in estate taxes by dying in 2010. The estate tax expired in 2009, and a new one doesn’t take effect until 2011, when heirs will be taxed at a top rate of 55 percent, according to…

Jul 14, 2010 3:09 PM CDT

Ex-Detroit Mayor Pleads Poverty, Gets PD, in New Federal Tax Fraud Case

Accused in the past of living too lavish a lifestyle, an ex-lawyer and ex-mayor of Detroit has now apparently run out of money. Appearing today in jailhouse orange and shackles at his Detroit arraignment on 19 federal tax and fraud charges, Kwame Kilpatrick, 40, pleaded not guilty, claimed poverty and…

Jul 13, 2010 7:19 PM CDT

IRS Rulings Encourage Possible New Retirement Benefit for Workers

Rulings by the Internal Revenue Service have opened the door wider to a possible new benefit for a number of workers. If employers are willing, they can agree to funnel a worker’s unused paid time off into his or her account in the company’s 401(K) retirement plan, senior counsel Lisa…

Jul 8, 2010 7:47 PM CDT

Edifice Complex

Even in recession, restoring old buildings takes a knack for taxes

Jul 1, 2010 8:30 AM CDT

To Your Health Costs

Reform law likely to affect smaller firms most

Jul 1, 2010 7:40 AM CDT

Solo Lawyer & Office Manager Wife Accused of Stealing $2M From Guardianship Clients

A 71-year-old solo practitioner in Texas and his 70-year-old office manager and wife are facing a 26-count federal indictment for allegedly stealing more than $2 million from the accounts of disabled military veterans for whom he served as a guardian. Joe Phillips, who practices in Houston, and his wife, Dorothy,…

Jun 30, 2010 9:00 PM CDT

Tax Lawyer’s True Tales Include High Cost of Bigamy When It’s Time to ‘Divorce’

More brain than brawn, tax lawyers have a more interesting practice than many give them credit for, writes tax lawyer Robert Wood in a Forbes column. Among his own most interesting cases was a divorcing couple who expected to take advantage of a rule that property is divided among the…

Jun 9, 2010 8:19 PM CDT

Billionaire Dies at a Fortuitous Time

A 77-year-old Texas billionaire’s death two months ago comes at a fortuitous time for his heirs because of a quirk in the U.S. estate tax. Oil pipeline tycoon Dan Duncan may be the first U.S. billionaire to die within a one-year window of exemption from the estate tax, the New…

Jun 9, 2010 12:58 PM CDT

Ex-BigLaw Attorneys Profit at Smaller Firm via Flexible Fees & Eat-What-You-Kill Comp

A willingness to be flexible about hourly billing rates and an eat-what-you-kill compensation structure has proven profitable for former BigLaw attorneys now practicing in the “Philadelphia” office of Chamberlain Hrdlicka. The office, which actually is located in Conshohocken, Pa., in the Philadelphia suburbs, resulted from a parting of the ways…

Jun 7, 2010 6:12 PM CDT

2 Lawyers Convicted in Federal Tax Fraud Conspiracy Case

A Chicago lawyer was convicted of conspiracy to commit tax fraud and tax evasion this week by a federal jury in New York. The case against attorney John Ohle III concerned tax shelters the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office said he sold to clients of Bank One, both during and after…

Jun 4, 2010 5:12 PM CDT