In the estate planning context, defective can be ideal. Selling property to an intentionally defective grantor trust (“IDGT”) has become one of the most popular estate planning methods available for transferring substantial wealth to heirs while avoiding the estate tax.
Read MoreContinuing the recent scrutiny into the IRS and the IRS’s secretive and questionable practices, IRS Chief Commissioner John Koskinen is now facing a possible impeachment—again.
Read MoreIn short, the Terry Doctrine allows police officers to stop individuals if they have reasonable suspicion that the individual has committed or is committing a crime, notably without a warrant.
Read MoreVirtually every business has intellectual property (IP) assets in need of protection. While some such IP assets enjoy federal protection (via patents, trademarks, and copyrights), trade secrets have historically only been protected by state statutes.
Read MoreToeing the line of data security regulations by using the bare minimum security available could be doubly risky for businesses. Not only does inadequate data security make breaches easier, but regulators are ramping up efforts to fine companies whose policies led to breaches
Read MoreSubrogation. Few outside of the legal or insurance profession could probably define the term. That said, few inside the legal profession can define the term in such a way as to make the average person understand what it is, and how it works.
Read MoreEquity stripping, the process of encumbering an asset with liens as a means of protecting the asset from future creditors, is one of the oldest asset protection strategies.
Read MoreLast week, the Obama administration unveiled measures to help stop the use of anonymous shell companies engaged in tax evasion, money laundering, and other nefarious schemes by requiring disclosure of actual company owners.
Read MoreLast week, the Obama administration unveiled measures to help stop the use of anonymous shell companies engaged in tax evasion, money laundering, and other nefarious schemes by requiring disclosure of actual company owners.
Read MoreThe Fourth Amendment protects us against unlawful searches and seizures by the government. Usually, a search and/or a seizure is unlawful if done without a warrant or if an exception to the warrant requirement does not apply.
Read MoreBack in February, I wrote about a pending case before the United States Supreme Court styled Heffernan v. City of Patterson, New Jersey, where at issue was whether “the First Amendment bars demotion of a public employee based on the employee’s support of a particular political candidate.”
Read MoreTens of thousands of California voters who mistakenly registered to vote in affiliation with the American Independent Party rather than as “independent” voters may be prevented from voting in California’s June 7 primary.
Read MoreThe idea of paying taxes and filing tax returns can be unsettling, especially for the many Americans who don’t intimately understand all the rules of the IRS[1] and federal income tax. There are time limitations though known as statute of limitations.
Read MoreMost people are at least generally familiar with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. constitution and the right it protects—for a person to be free from illegal searches and seizures.
Read MoreWith little notice or attention, U.S. Tax Court Judge Diane L. Kroupa retired from the bench four years before her 15-year term ended. At the time, it was unclear what prompted her sudden retirement.
Read MoreLess than six weeks since it was criticized in a published opinion of a federal court, in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit admonished the IRS for the professional conduct of its attorneys,[1] the IRS now faces sanctions more serious than a verbal reprimand.
Read MoreState taxes, the less popular news target than oft-cited federal taxes, often shape business and political decision-making that stretches beyond a single state. Tax considerations affect which companies do business where and even where taxpayers choose to live.
Read MoreThe IRS Whistleblower Office pays a handsome reward to those who provide information to the IRS that leads to the collection of unpaid taxes. I call it a “handsome” reward because the IRS awards a whistleblower between 15% and 30% of the total proceeds it collects as a result of that information.
Read MoreSenate Bill 2123, currently colloquially called “Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015,” finally brings some reasoned reforms to the often too-harsh federal sentencing system.
Read MoreAt least 90% of American adults own a cell phone[1], the vast majority of which are smartphones[2]. Arguably, these devices have had a more profound effect on the way we live and work than any other invention in history
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