Tax Law

Holder Indicates End to Medical Pot Raids, But US Atty. Memos Less Clear

Attorney General Eric Holder indicated a few weeks back that the Drug Enforcement Administration will end raids on medical marijuana clinics, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles appears unclear about the effects of the pronouncement. An aide to U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien sent a confidential memo ordering a…

Mar 9, 2009 1:18 PM CDT

Former IRS Commissioner to Affiliate with Plaintiffs Firm

A former commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service is taking on a new role advising whistle-blowing clients of the Dallas-based law firm Baron & Budd. Margaret Milner Richardson, who was IRS commissioner from 1993 to 1997, will serve as co-counsel on a case-by-case basis to represent clients who report suspected…

Mar 4, 2009 4:59 PM CST

Latest Nominee with Tax Troubles Is V&E Partner Ron Kirk

The Vinson & Elkins partner nominated to be U.S. Trade Representative has agreed to pay nearly $10,000 in back taxes. Most of the shortfall stems from Ronald Kirk’s failure to pay income taxes on $37,752 in speaking fees he donated to his alma mater, Austin College, over a four-year period,…

Mar 3, 2009 2:03 PM CST

US Clients of UBS Mull Options as Feds Press Swiss Bank to Name More Names

Contending that a Swiss bank’s plan to name client names to U.S. regulators as part of a $780 million settlement of a criminal tax probe violates Switzerland law requiring secrecy, American depositors are mulling their options. Attorney Andreas Rued of the Rued Winkler law firm in Zurich said unnamed UBS…

Feb 19, 2009 6:53 PM CST

Swiss Bank UBS Settles With US; Will Pay $780M, Name Client Names

Updated: In a clash between U.S. tax law and a longstanding international tradition of secret accounts, a Swiss bank has blinked first. Although UBS AG had resisted handing over to the feds names of American residents who are private banking clients, it has now agreed to do so, the U.S.…

Feb 19, 2009 1:31 AM CST

‘Girls Gone Wild’ Founder Apparently Finds New Counsel, Finally

Two law firms have declined to represent Joe Francis, the founder of the “Girls Gone Wild” videos, and another wants to withdraw. But Francis has apparently found some lawyers willing to represent him in his federal tax evasion case, the Daily Journal reports. At a court hearing in Los Angeles…

Feb 4, 2009 7:43 PM CST

3rd Circuit: Verdicts May Compensate for Taxes on Back Pay

A federal appeals court has ruled trial judges may increase awards to compensate for taxes a plaintiff will have to pay on lump-sum awards for back pay. The ruling by the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals “sharpens a split in the circuits,” the Legal Intelligencer reports. The 3rd…

Feb 4, 2009 12:13 PM CST

Daschle Withdraws as Criticism Mounts Over Tax Issues, Alston & Bird Fees

Facing increasing criticism over tax problems and consulting fees, Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination for secretary of Health and Human Services. Daschle said he is withdrawing because the dispute over his failure to pay more than $120,000 in taxes had become a distraction to Obama’s agenda, the Associated Press…

Feb 3, 2009 6:25 PM CST

Stanford Law Grad Avoids Prison in Escort Service Tax Evasion Case

A Stanford Law School graduate who reportedly pursued a lucrative nonlegal (and illegal) career to help cover the cost of her student loans has avoided prison but will serve a year of home detention for tax evasion under a plea agreement. The agreement, which was filed yesterday in federal court…

Jan 27, 2009 8:51 PM CST

UBS Probe Puts 300 Americans, Maybe Many More, in IRS Sights

As a major Swiss bank is squeezed between the secrecy law of its own country and a threatened U.S. prosecution for helping American citizens hide their assets, the government reportedly is getting ready to launch criminal tax evasion cases against 300 American clients of UBS. But the roster of tax…

Jan 27, 2009 6:35 PM CST

High Court Tariff Opinion Confirms Agency Power, Winning Lawyer Says

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the Commerce Department has authority to impose a 20 percent tariff on enriched uranium imports from France under a U.S. anti-dumping law. Writing for a unanimous court, Justice David H. Souter said the Commerce Department’s treatment of enriched uranium as goods rather than services…

Jan 26, 2009 6:09 PM CST

NY Lawyer Fined $10K for Not Filing State Tax Returns

A New York real estate lawyer who reportedly didn’t file personal state income tax returns between 2001 and 2006 has been fined $10,000 after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor tax charge. Roger Roisman also paid $189,000 in back taxes and interest, reports the North Country Gazette. The article says the…

Jan 16, 2009 7:59 PM CST

Ex Allegedly Outwits NY Tax Attorney in ‘Sexcapades’ Case

A New York tax attorney has been federally charged with extortion and harassment after allegedly threatening to send a secretly recorded, sexually explicit DVD to an unidentified former lover’s family members if she didn’t e-mail him revealing photos of herself. Instead of sending the photos, however, the woman reportedly went…

Jan 7, 2009 7:30 PM CST

IRS Warns Detroit Lawyer to Pay Up—Five Cents, or Maybe a Penny

Detroit criminal defense lawyer James Howarth received an ominous warning from the Internal Revenue Service in mid-November. The notice told Howarth that he owed five cents on his FICA account, and he better pay promptly “to avoid additional penalty and/or interest,” the Detroit Free Press reports. It was followed by…

Jan 5, 2009 5:03 PM CST

In-House Tax Lawyer Acquitted of Filing False Return for his Ex-Employer

The former global tax manager for the Bechtel Corp. has been acquitted on charges he was responsible for a false tax return filed by the company. A federal jury in California acquitted Mark Muntean after deliberating for slightly more than an hour, the Recorder reports. Prosecutors had claimed Muntean advocated…

Dec 19, 2008 4:07 PM CST