The House of Representatives has voted to repeal a Biden-era rule focused on decentralized finance—or DeFi. The bill reverses the “DeFi Broker Rule” published by Treasury in December 2024. The rule created reporting requirements for trading front-end service providers that work directly with users on digital asset transactions. DeFi refers to peer-to-peer financial services on the blockchain. In simple terms, it’s crypto and digital currency without banks, financial service companies, or other middlemen. DeFi brokers are a little more challenging to define, as stakeholders pointed out after the final regulations were made public. This was a new rule, but not…

Millions of Forms 1099 are sent out every year. Most arrive in late January or early February, reporting payments for the prior year. The IRS relies heavy on them because they allow IRS computers to keep tabs on millions of payments. Even though the IRS audits only a small fraction of tax returns, the IRS matches nearly all Forms 1099 against your Form 1040, sending automated notices to pay up if you forget to report one. Yet despite their importance, there is considerable confusion about these forms. Not Every Payment Triggers A Form 1099 The basic Form 1099 rule is…

The IRS may have your money. The tax agency says that more than $1 billion in outstanding refunds remain unclaimed from the 2021 tax year. The agency estimates that more than 1.1 million taxpayers might have qualified for a refund but did not file a federal income tax return to claim it. Tax Refund Deadline If you are due a refund, typically, you must file a federal income tax return to get your money. Taxpayers usually have three years to file and claim their tax refunds—if you don’t file within three years, the money becomes the property of the U.S.…

IRS data from the fifth week of the tax filing season—the week ending February 28, 2025—continues to suggest that taxpayers are not excited about filing this tax season. Numbers for tax filing and processing of tax returns remain low, a mark that has not changed throughout the filing season. Filing and Processing Dips Early filing data reflects a continued downturn in tax returns received compared to the prior year. The dip is 3.0% compared to last year (and almost 10% down from the same filing period in 2023). As I noted last week, the IRS has apparently given up on…

In the third of a three-part series, Damien Martin and Tony Nitti of EY discuss their top tax cases from 2024, focusing on two C corp cases: Ju et al v. United States and Stead v. Commissioner. Tax Notes Talk is a podcast produced by Tax Notes. This transcript has been edited for clarity. David D. Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I’m David Stewart, editor in chief of Tax Notes Today International. This week: top 2024 tax cases, part 3. We’re back this week with the last part of our 2024 tax cases series. Damien Martin and Tony Nitti, both…

If you received a lawsuit settlement, you may also have received an IRS Form 1099 the following January, a reminder not to forget to pay your taxes that goes to you and the IRS. IRS Forms 1099 feature prominently in lawsuit settlements. Sometimes they are expressly mentioned in the settlement agreement, but even when they are not mentioned, they conventionally are issued to the plaintiffs, the plaintiffs’ lawyers or both. The forms generally report income and are matched to tax returns based on Social Security Numbers. That makes them extremely important at tax time. When $600 or more is paid…

Coca-Cola has finally filed its long-awaited brief with the Eleventh Circuit in the company’s appeal of Coca-Cola Co. v. Commissioner, 155 T.C. 145 (2020). Although the brief is loaded with colorful analogies and provocative accusations, it does little to strengthen the company’s case. Coca-Cola’s appellant brief, filed February 25, is the most recent development in a lengthy and contentious transfer pricing battle between the company and the IRS. The saga began with an examination that led to a closing agreement in 1996, which established a formula for computing intercompany royalties for the 1987-1995 tax years and that Coca-Cola could use…

Alaska proved to be an adventure. While I wasn’t chased by a bear, I did experience a few bumpy flights, was grounded by a blizzard, skipped across a frozen tundra in a snowmobile, and maneuvered around a SWAT team at my hotel (yes, really). I also did a lot of taxes. Our team of trained tax preparers (we also happened to be tax attorneys) traveled to four villages on the northern slope of Alaska, including the longest continually inhabited area and the northernmost community in North America. Each morning, we would set up and wait for our first customers. In…

With a government shutdown likely on March 14, President Trump and Congress are getting serious about preventing it—or at least discussing it. Congressional procedures mean avoiding a shutdown will require bipartisan support. But Democrats don’t trust Trump to keep any bargain he agrees to, making it hard to see what the solution might be. Shutdown Because Regular Congressional Budget Process Is Broken Why is a shutdown looming? Because the regular Congressional appropriations process has broken down. Congress hasn’t used its regular budgeting procedures to cover all spending since 1996—29 years ago. Instead, Congress now routinely authorizes spending extensions for the…

Can doing nothing grow the economy by trillions of dollars over the next decade? Congressional Republicans may be on the road to making that extraordinary assumption. In effect, Congress may choose to assume, simultaneously, that extending the expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) does not change tax policy and that, even though nothing is changing, it would substantially increase economic growth. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) seems to be warming to a Senate Republican plan to build a budget that assumes key provisions of the TCJA already are permanent, even though they are due to expire…