Supreme Court Briefing Underway and Argument Date Set in Home Concrete

The Supreme Court has set January 17 as the date for the oral argument in Home Concrete, the case in which it will decide the “Intermountain” issues concerning the applicability of the six-year statute of limitations to overstatements of basis, on which we have reported extensively many times before.  (See here and here for a sample.)  In the meantime, the briefing has commenced with the filing of the government’s opening brief (linked below).

The brief covers what is mostly familiar ground at this point, but it does further develop some of the arguments that have emerged … Read More

Tenth Circuit Hears Oral Argument in Anschutz

On November 16, the Tenth Circuit heard oral argument in the Anschutz case, involving the taxpayers’ appeal from the Tax Court’s decision to collapse two transactions involving the use of prepaid variable forward contracts (“PVFCs”) and concurrent share lending agreements (“SLAs”), and treat them as a taxable sale of stock.  A fuller description of the case and the parties’ briefs can be found in our prior reports here and here.

The panel hearing oral argument was Chief Judge Briscoe (a Clinton appointee and former Kansas state court judge and Assistant U.S. Attorney), Senior Judge McKay (a Carter appointee who … Read More

NPR Calendared for Argument

The NPR case (involving penalty application and TEFRA issues in the context of a Son of BOSS transaction: see latest substantive discussion here) has been calendared for argument in New Orleans on December 7th in the East Courtroom.… Read More

Tax Court Addresses Character and Sourcing Issues for Golfer’s Endorsement Income

In what appears may be the first in a series of cases on the endorsement income of non-resident aliens, the Tax Court was tasked with characterizing and sourcing the endorsement income for golfer Retief Goosen.  The court’s decision may impact how other athletes and entertainers structure their endorsement deals and indicates how taxpayers should expect the IRS to source royalty income in similar cases. 

Goosen, a native South African who is a U.K. resident, is subject to U.S. tax because playing professional golf in the U.S. amounts to engaging in a U.S. trade or business.  He had endorsement agreements with … Read More