In this episode of Tax Notes Talk, a Tax Notes investigation unveiled how money sheltered in offshore insurance investment vehicles has eluded IRS auditors hampered by poor training and silos within the agency. Three members of the Tax Notes investigations team explain their reporting process, from choosing the topic to final follow-ups. 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: insurance investigators. The Tax Notes investigations team recently published a series…

Direct Relief, No. 5 on Forbes’ 2024 Top 100 Charities list, quickly delivers medical supplies. World Food Kitchen, No. 82, shows up with the food. By William P. Barrett, Senior Contributor In late September, as Hurricane Helene unleashed record floods on the Appalachian region of western North Carolina, killing more than 100 and causing an estimated $50 billion in damage, Americans turned to their phones and laptops for the latest updates—and to donate millions to numerous reputable charities, including a state-approved disaster fund run by United Way. On streaming platform Twitch, gamers began raising money for Direct Relief, which was…

The 2024 tax year is coming to a close, and as with any year, there’s the usual jockeying to make payments before year-end that you can deduct. There’s other tax planning too, and this year is different than most. With the Trump tax cuts expiring, there’s sure to be changes. A classic tenet of tax planning says that you should generally try to accelerate tax deductions and defer income where you can. Timing invoicing and “pay me next year” requests are common with employers, suppliers, vendors, and customers, but is there any tax risk? On a cash basis, it might…

In 1798 and 1799, several communities in eastern Pennsylvania mounted an armed challenge to federal taxation. The Fries Rebellion (pronounced “freeze”) was the third of three important tax revolts in the 1780s and 1790s. The first two — Shays’s Rebellion of 1786-1787 and the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791-1794 — are better known. Both involved some actual bloodshed, which probably accounts for their relative fame. By contrast, the Fries Rebellion was less violent and more performative. But it was still important, at least politically. While President John Adams crushed it quickly and decisively, his actions cost him dearly in the pivotal…

An old German proverb states that “to change and to change for the better are two different things.” As 2024 ends, the legal and business communities who must navigate government scrutiny are seeing the signs of change in the regulatory landscape on the horizon. The pencils for redrawing the lines of government involvement in economic activities were sharpened in 2024; in 2025 those pencils will be put to paper as a changing of the guard occurs at the presidential, congressional, and administrative agency levels. Businesses, individuals, trade organizations, and advocacy groups should remain watchful in 2025 to see that there…

As 2024 draws to a close, it is essential to review the key VAT developments set to take effect across Europe in January 2025. The year 2025 will introduce significant changes to VAT regulations in many European countries, with reforms aimed at modernizing systems, improving compliance, and addressing the challenges of a rapidly evolving digital economy. With expanded e-invoicing mandates, simplified schemes for small businesses, more flexible VAT rate applications, and new rules for virtual events, these updates are likely to impact many businesses operating across Europe. E-invoicing mandates gain momentum E-invoicing is gaining significant traction across Europe as governments…

This is a published version of our weekly Forbes Tax Breaks newsletter. You can sign-up to get Tax Breaks in your inbox here. I’m guessing that you—like me—are staring down a calendar filled with year-end obligations. There are work parties, personal and family commitments (we always go see It’s A Wonderful Life together as a family in the theater), and year-end deadlines to meet. If you thought that you might get a break—and that things might slow down in the tax world as we approach the end of the year—I have some news for you. Actually, a lot of news.…

Earlier this week, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas threw the fate of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) into question, blocking the U.S. Department of Treasury from enforcing the beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements across the country. Now, the U.S. government has appealed the nationwide preliminary injunction—and FinCEN has backed off of its position that filings should continue. Texas Ruling In Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., et al. v. Garland, et al., Judge Mazzant, an Obama appointee, granted the request of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) for a preliminary injunction,…

The global digital economy is entering a critical period—as the incoming Trump administration signals a likely resurgence of US protectionism, countries face mounting pressure to rethink their digital service taxes (DSTs). These taxes, designed to ensure tech giants pay their fair share in the regions where they generate their revenue, are a source of international contention—particularly with the United States. The stakes are about to become higher than ever. The US has historically framed DSTs as discriminatory measures targeting American technology firms and responded in kind with threats of trade retaliation against individual countries. The question is no longer whether…

Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin investor renowned as “Bitcoin Jesus” for his evangelism of cryptocurrency since 2011, now finds himself in a legal maelstrom. Ver, a controversial figure in the blockchain world, was arrested in April 2024 in Spain on U.S. criminal charges stemming from allegations of mail fraud, tax evasion, and filing false tax returns. The indictment, originally filed in February 2024 but unsealed in May, has now been challenged by Ver and in parallel has reignited discussions about the U.S. expatriation tax regime. Ver’s case also serves as a reminder that with criminal tax matters, the U.S. government…