Kevin Spencer
Subscribe to Kevin Spencer's PostsKevin Spencer focuses his practice on tax controversy issues. Kevin represents clients in complicated tax disputes in court and before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at the IRS Appeals and Examination divisions. In addition to his tax controversy practice, Kevin has broad experience advising clients on various tax issues, including tax accounting, employment and reasonable compensation, civil and criminal tax penalties, IRS procedures, reportable transactions and tax shelters, renewable energy, state and local tax, and private client matters. After earning his Master of Tax degree, Kevin had the privilege to clerk for the Honorable Robert P. Ruwe on the US Tax Court. Read Kevin Spencer's full bio.
Supreme Court Tackles Tax-Related Cases
By Kevin Spencer and Roger J. Jones on Feb 26, 2020
Posted In Appellate Courts, Court Procedure Matters, IRS Guidance, Tax Refunds, Trial Courts, Uncategorized
The United States Supreme Court has picked up the pace this week, already issuing eight regular opinions and four opinions relating to orders as of today. We discuss the tax-related items here. In Rodriguez v. FDIC, the question was how to decide which member of a consolidated group of corporations is entitled to a tax...
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Stats Show Active Tax Whistleblower Caseload
By Kevin Spencer and Le Chen on Jan 7, 2020
Posted In IRS Guidance, Privilege and Non-Disclosure, Uncategorized
On January 6, 2020, the IRS Whistleblower Office released its annual report to Congress. The Office reported that it collected $616.8 million in fiscal year 2019 as a result of information provided by whistleblowers, out of which $120.3 million was paid out as whistleblower awards, for net collections of $496.5 million. This is a decrease from the...
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President Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Two More Tax Court Judges
By Kevin Spencer and McDermott Will & Emery on Nov 7, 2019
Posted In Court Procedure Matters, Trial Courts, Uncategorized
On November 6, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Ms. Alina Ionescu Marshall and Mr. Christian N. Weiler to serve as Judges on the United States Tax Court (Tax Court). Mr. Travis Greaves was previously approved by the Senate Finance Committee to be a Tax Court Judge and is awaiting confirmation by the...
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IRS Issues Transition Tax Compliance Campaign
By McDermott Will & Emery, Kevin Spencer and McDermott Will & Emery on Nov 6, 2019
Posted In IRS Appeals, IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Tax Reform, Uncategorized
On November 4, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a new Large Business and International (LB&I) compliance campaign regarding Section’s 965 transition tax under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). This is one of several dozen compliance campaigns that LB&I has announced since the initial 13 campaigns were identified in 2017, and is...
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Government Questions the Benefits of IRS Audit Campaigns
By Kevin Spencer and McDermott Will & Emery on Oct 25, 2019
Posted In IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Transfer Pricing Resource, Uncategorized
On September 28, 2019, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) issued a report titled Initial Compliance Results Warrant a More Data-Driven Approach to Campaign Issue Selection. As the name of the report describes, the TIGTA analyzed whether the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audit campaigns were effective and efficiently administered. We have written at...
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Finally the IRS Clarifies Its Position on Cryptocurrency
By Kevin Spencer and McDermott Will & Emery on Oct 10, 2019
Posted In Court Procedure Matters, IRS Appeals, IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Uncategorized
It took five years, but the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has finally released some guidance on the taxation of cryptocurrencies! On October 9, 2019, the IRS released Revenue Ruling 2019-24 and several “frequently asked questions” (and answers) which deal with some (but not all) of the federal income tax issues involved with cryptocurrencies. Over the...
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The Internal Revenue Service Is Expanding the 2020 Compliance Assurance Process
By Kevin Spencer and Macdonald Norman on Sep 17, 2019
Posted In IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Transfer Pricing Resource, Uncategorized
The Large Business and International Division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) developed the Compliance Assurance Process (CAP) program to improve large corporate taxpayer compliance with US federal tax obligations through the use of real-time issue resolution tools and techniques. On September 12, 2019, the IRS announced that it was accepting applications—for the first time...
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IRS Resumes Examinations of Stock Based Compensation in Cost Sharing Agreements
By McDermott Will & Emery, Kevin Spencer and McDermott Will & Emery on Aug 8, 2019
Posted In IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Transfer Pricing Resource, Uncategorized
On July 31, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Large Business and International (LB&I) division formally withdrew its Directive (LB&I-04-0118-005) instructing examiners on transfer pricing selection related to stock based compensation (SBC) in Cost Sharing Arrangements (CSAS). See here for IRS Notice of Withdrawal. The Directive was issued January 12, 2018, after the Tax Court’s...
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More IRS “Campaigns?! IRS Announces Six More Examination Campaigns
By Kevin Spencer and McDermott Will & Emery on Jul 23, 2019
Posted In IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Transfer Pricing Resource, Uncategorized
On July 19, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Large Business & International (LB&I) division announced the approval of six new campaigns. As in the past, the IRS stated that “LB&I’s goal is to improve return selection, identify issues representing a risk of non-compliance, and make the greatest use of limited resources.” This brings the...
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Taxpayer First Act: Changes to the IRS Appeals Process
By Kevin Spencer and McDermott Will & Emery on Jul 2, 2019
Posted In IRS Appeals, Uncategorized
The enactment of the Taxpayer First Act, H.R. 3151 (116th Cong.) (TFA) brings with it several changes to the procedures and operations of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The TFA touches on the following subjects: Establishing the IRS Independent Office of Appeals Improving customer service Changes to enforcement Modernization of the Office of the National...
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