Edward L. Froelich
Subscribe to Edward L. Froelich's PostsEdward L. Froelich represents domestic and foreign public corporations, privately held companies, partnerships, trusts and individuals across the spectrum of federal tax controversies, including audits, trials and appeals. Ed’s clients include businesses, business owners and investors with operations and interests in the financial services, technology, real estate, healthcare and other industries. Read Edward Froelich's full bio.
IRS Roundup January 20 – 31, 2025
By Evan Walters, Samuel F. Hamer, Edward L. Froelich and Michael J. Scarduzio on Feb 13, 2025
Posted In Court Procedure Matters, IRS Appeals, IRS Guidance, Tax Reform, Tax Refunds
Check out our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the weeks of January 20, 2025 – January 24, 2025, and January 27, 2025 – January 31, 2025. TAX-CONTROVERSY-RELATED DEVELOPMENTS January 22, 2025: The IRS reminded taxpayers that they have rights – outlined in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights – any...
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IRS Roundup January 13 – 17, 2025
By Evan Walters, Samuel F. Hamer, Edward L. Froelich and Michael J. Scarduzio on Feb 4, 2025
Posted In Alternative Dispute Resolution, IRS Appeals, IRS Guidance, Tax Reform
Check out our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of January 13, 2025 – January 17, 2025. TAX CONTROVERSY-RELATED DEVELOPMENTS January 15, 2025: The US Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the IRS published final regulations, providing guidance on the resolution of federal tax controversies by...
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DOJ Announces Largest Employee Retention Credit Fraud Indictment
By Michael J. Scarduzio, Samuel F. Hamer and Edward L. Froelich on Jan 28, 2025
Posted In Uncategorized
On January 22, 2025, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the indictment of seven individuals in the largest Employee Retention Credit (ERC) fraud scheme to date. According to the indictment, the defendants filed more than 8,000 refund claims for ERCs and Sick and Family Leave Credits (SFLCs), totaling more than $600 million. The ERC...
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IRS Roundup January 6 – 10, 2025
By Evan Walters, Samuel F. Hamer, Edward L. Froelich and Michael J. Scarduzio on Jan 22, 2025
Posted In IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Tax Reform, Tax Refunds
Check out our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of January 6, 2025 – January 10, 2025. January 6, 2025: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2025-2, which includes Announcement 2025-2. The announcement states that, if finalized, certain portions of proposed regulations on required minimum distributions...
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United States v. Eaton: IRS Summons Power Overrides EU Privacy Laws
By Edward L. Froelich and Susan E. Ryba on May 31, 2024
Posted In Court Procedure Matters, IRS Audits, Trial Courts
A US federal district court judge recently endorsed the broad investigative powers of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in United States v. Eaton Corp., No. 1:23-mc-00037, May 16, 2024 (N.D. Ohio). During its audit of Eaton’s transfer pricing of a royalty arrangement with Eaton’s Irish affiliate, the IRS sought performance evaluations of certain employees of...
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Understanding the IRC’s Excessive Refund Claim Penalty
By Kevin Spencer, Edward L. Froelich and Samuel J. Preston on May 8, 2024
Posted In Court Procedure Matters, IRS Audits, Tax Refunds, Trial Courts
Recently, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been asserting the Internal Revenue Code Section 6676 penalty much more frequently in examinations and in court. For example, in 2023, a government counterclaim in the US District Court for the Middle District of Georgia sought to recover Section 6676 penalties in Townley v. United States. And, internal IRS guidance requires examiners to consider...
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Can the IRS Assert IRC Section 6676’s Erroneous Refund Penalty on Protective Refund Claims?
By Kevin Spencer, Edward L. Froelich and Samuel J. Preston on Mar 25, 2024
Posted In IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Tax Refunds
We once again want to bring to your attention the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) new favorite penalty provision: Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 6676. We have reported on this provision several times before (See here, here and here), but this time we’re analyzing it in the context of protective refund claims. As background, IRC Section...
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IRS (Belatedly) Strikes Back Against FedEx in Ongoing Foreign Tax Credit Case
By Edward L. Froelich on Mar 14, 2024
Posted In Court Procedure Matters, Trial Courts
FedEx Corporation, previously the victor in a closely watched dispute regarding the government’s regulatory attempt to prevent taxpayers from claiming foreign tax credits on offset earnings (131 AFTR 2d 2023-1284 (W.D. Tenn. 2023)), recently filed a motion for judgment in the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee to confirm its resulting refund...
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Taxpayer Loses Claim for Research Credit
By Edward L. Froelich on Nov 30, 2023
Posted In Appellate Courts, Court Procedure Matters, Trial Courts
In United States v. Grigsby, Docket No. 22-30764, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a refund claim based on claimed Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 41 credits was erroneous. Cajun Industries LLC, a subchapter S corporation, filed a refund claim that identified four highly specialized construction projects (two refineries and...
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IRS Announces New Compliance Initiatives to Collect More Corporate Tax Using Inflation Reduction Act Funds
By Kevin Spencer, Edward L. Froelich and Shawn O’Brien on Oct 24, 2023
Posted In IRS Audits, IRS Guidance
On October 20, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced new initiatives “to ensure large corporations pay taxes owed.” These initiatives leverage the substantial additional congressional funding that was given to the IRS thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). (We previously reported on how IRS enforcement is impacted by IRA funding here.)...
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