On January 17, 2025, multiple news outlets and other sources reported the existence of a memorandum circulated by the U.S. House of Representatives Budget Committee to the House Republican Caucus (the “Memorandum”) containing an extensive list of budget proposals that may be considered in connection with the new Congress’s widely expected budget reconciliation legislation. The Memorandum, which is publicly available via link from a number of news outlets,[1] contains approximately fifty pages of proposals covering a wide range of policy areas and enumerating scores of potential specific legislative proposals (along with estimated budget effects in most cases), some of which are seemingly mutually exclusive. Included in the memo are a number of tax-related proposals, including tariff proposals, which are briefly set forth below.
In the news
Trump Administration Disavows the OECD Global Tax Deal
On January 20, 2025, the White House issued a memorandum (the “Memorandum”)[1], announcing that the “Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Global Tax Deal” (the “Global Tax Deal”) has “no force or effect in the United States” and disavowing “any commitments” previously made by the United States…
Tax Court Reaffirmed Soroban’s Holding that Active Limited Partners of State Law Limited Partnerships May Be Subject to Self-Employment Tax
On December 23, 2024, in Denham Capital Management LP v. Commissioner (T.C. Memo. 2024-114), the Tax Court reaffirmed its earlier ruling in Soroban Capital Partners LP v. Commissioner (161 T.C. No. 12.) that active limited partners of a state law limited partnership are not entitled to the “limited partner exception”…
Post Election – Expect Tax Legislation
I. Introduction
With clear Republican victories in the White House and the Senate, and a very slim majority for either side in the House of Representatives, we can expect tax legislation in the coming year. It is expected that the President elect will likely seek to enact his economic agenda…
Increase in Tax Audits of Use of Private Aircraft, a/k/a “Corporate Jets”
The IRS has announced a new audit campaign targeted at the use of private aircraft, a/k/a “corporate jets”. This has been an intensifying area of focus by the IRS over the last few years as a result of recently-increased tax benefits for private aircraft. Clients who use airplanes for business…
The IRS and Senator Warren Raise Concerns about Lodging and Health Care REITs
The IRS and Senator Warren Raise Concerns about Lodging and Health Care REITs
I. Introduction
On September 3, 2024, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) urging it to “increase enforcement scrutiny of REITs, especially large health and hospitality REITs that may be…
Treasury and IRS Announce New Attack on Partnership Basis-Shifting Structures and Establishment of “Passthrough Working Group” to Develop Further Partnership Guidance.
On June 17, 2024, the IRS announced the formation of a dedicated group in the Office of Chief Counsel specifically focused on developing guidance on partnerships, which is expected to work with a new “passthrough working group” being established in the Large Business and International Division of the IRS. At the same time, Treasury and the IRS launched an attack on a specific partnership strategy involving so-called “basis bump” or “basis shifting” transactions involving related parties through a combination of guidance challenging the substance of such arrangements and declaring such arrangements to be “transactions of interest” that are subject to the strict disclosure requirements of the “reportable transaction” rules.1
Supreme Court Rules on Moore v. U.S. – Upholds Mandatory Repatriation Tax
On June 20, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the so called mandatory repatriation tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 965 (“MRT”) is constitutional.
Justice Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion. Justice Thomas (joined by Justice Gorsuch) dissented. Justice Barrett (joined by Justice Alito) and Justice Jackson delivered separate…
Final Regulations on Domestically Controlled REITs
- Introduction
On April 24, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) issued final regulations[1] on the definition of “domestically controlled” real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) (the “Final Regulations”). The Final Regulations retain…
CTA – The Large Operating Company Exemption – Not Everybody Can Be A “Big BOI”
In 2021, the Corporate Transparency Act was enacted into U.S. federal law as part of a multinational effort to rein in the use of entities to mask illegal activity, including proposed rules (effective January 1, 2024) requiring certain types of entities to file a report identifying the entity’s beneficial owners…