In January 2025, the US Supreme Court granted certiorari to review a tax case that provides the Court with an opportunity to rule on the narrow, yet contested, question of due process regarding mootness of Tax Court challenges. Commissioner v. Zuch, No. 24-416, 2025 WL 65915, at *1 (U.S. Jan. 10, 2025). Zuch reached the Supreme Court after the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) petitioned to reverse a Third Circuit opinion regarding I.R.C. § 6330 due process claims. The ruling disagreed with the IRS’s argument that underlying tax liability becomes moot upon fulfilled payment of unpaid taxes by any means. Zuch v. Commissioner, 97 F.4th 81, 94 (3d Cir. 2024), cert. granted sub nom. Commissioner v. Zuch, No. 24-416, 2025 WL 65915 (U.S. Jan. 10, 2025). This Third Circuit opinion conflicts with the D.C. and Fourth Circuits, which ruled that § 6330 claims are moot once the IRS abandons its levy and concedes that no tax liability remains. (Tristan Navera & John Woolley, Bloomberg); McLane v. Commissioner, 24 F.4th 316 (4th Cir. 2022); Willson v. Commissioner, 805 F.3d 316 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (affirming Tax Court's dismissal of claims as moot after the IRS abated taxpayer’s underlying tax liability upon which a levy could be placed). If the Supreme Court returns a ruling for Zuch, US taxpayers would gain confidence in disputing IRS levies under § 6330 and face less obstacles to obtaining jurisdiction in US Tax Court. This article recounts the details and events leading to Commissioner v. Zuch and analyses how a Supreme Court verdict could change how due process is weighed in US Tax Court cases.
Read MoreCompanies should brace for turbulence as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS” or “Service”) zeroes in on dishonest corporate jet tax breaks. The IRS disclosed internal training materials under the Freedom of Information Act that outline key data points auditors will focus on during their new corporate jet auditing campaign, which was announced early in 2024. (Erin Schilling, Bloomberg). Funded by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”), the corporate jet auditing campaign is part of the IRS’s Strategic Operating Plan which seeks to further the Service’s objective of expanding tax compliance enforcement to ultrawealthy individuals, corporations, and complex partnerships. (Erin Schilling, Bloomberg; Erin Slowey, Bloomberg; Daniel Werfel, Department of the Treasury; IRS). This article dives into why the IRS is implementing more audits on the use of corporate jets, how deductions could affect a company’s bottom line, and how this new focus will impact companies and the US moving forward.
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