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.
IRS Revises Recent Begin Construction Guidance
By Gale E. Chan, Heather Cooper, Kevin Spencer, Madeline Chiampou Tully and Philip Tingle on May 20, 2016
Posted In IRS Guidance, Uncategorized
On May 18, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revised Notice 2016-31 (Notice), its recent guidance on meeting the beginning of construction requirements for wind and other qualified facilities (including biomass, geothermal, landfill gas, trash, hydropower, and marine and hydrokinetic facilities). For a discussion of the Notice, click here. The revisions clarify that the Continuity...
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New Issue of ‘Focus on Tax Strategies and Developments’
By McDermott Will & Emery, Gary C. Karch, Kevin Spencer, Madeline Chiampou Tully, Michael J. Wilder and Robbie H. R. Chen on May 12, 2016
Posted In IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Uncategorized
We recently released the May 2016 issue of “Focus on Tax Strategies and Developments,” which can be viewed in its entirety here or through the links below. The issue includes four articles of interest to taxpayers: Proposed Debt-Equity Regulations Have Dramatic Implications for Corporate Tax Planning and Compliance By Thomas W. Giegerich and Michael J. Wilder On...
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IRS Issues Guidance on the Beginning of Construction Rules for Renewable Projects
By Philip Tingle, Gale E. Chan, Heather Cooper, Kevin Spencer and Madeline Chiampou Tully on May 11, 2016
Posted In IRS Guidance, Uncategorized
The Internal Revenue Service recently issued Notice 2016-31, which provides much-needed guidance for wind and other qualified facilities on meeting the beginning of construction requirements in light of the 2015 statutory extension and modification of the production tax credit and the investment tax credit. The Notice also revises and adds to the list of excusable...
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IRS Adds More Enforcement Employees
By John Robert and Kevin Spencer on May 5, 2016
Posted In IRS Audits, Uncategorized
In an internal memo to agency employees, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John A. Koskinen announced the IRS’s intention to hire between 600 and 700 enforcement personnel. It is estimated that between 2010 and the end of 2016, the IRS will have lost more than 17,000 employees, 5,000 from the enforcement area. The hiring, which...
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Court Attack On FATCA Fails
By K. Christy Vouri-Misso and Kevin Spencer on Apr 28, 2016
Posted In Court Procedure Matters, Trial Courts, Uncategorized
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and six other plaintiffs’ efforts to challenge parts of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) were thwarted when the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio dismissed their claims for lack of standing. Crawford v. Dep’t of Treasury, S.D. Ohio, US District Court for the Southern District of...
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IRS Commissioner Asks Congress to Overturn Loving
By Joshua M. Ellenberg and Kevin Spencer on Apr 22, 2016
Posted In Appellate Courts, IRS Appeals, Uncategorized
Following a report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) that criticized the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for failing to protect taxpayer financial information from cybersecurity threats, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has requested that US Congress give the IRS the power to license tax preparers. Prior efforts by the IRS to regulate paid tax preparers...
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Death of the CAP Program?
By Kevin Spencer and McDermott Will & Emery on Apr 13, 2016
Posted In IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Uncategorized
According to participants in a recent webcast, the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) Large Business & International Division (LB&I) is no longer accepting applicants for its Compliance Assurance Process (CAP) program. CAP is a real-time audit program that seeks to resolve the tax treatment of all or most return issues before the tax return is filed. ...
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Former Tax Court Judge Indicted for Tax Evasion
By Kevin Spencer and McDermott Will & Emery on Apr 5, 2016
Posted In Trial Courts, Uncategorized
On April 4, 2016, the US Attorney for the District of Minnesota announced a federal grand jury indictment charging former US Tax Court Judge Diane L. Kroupa and her husband with conspiring to evade the assessment of taxes. In a multi-count indictment, both were charged with conspiracy, tax evasion, making and subscribing false tax returns...
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Tax Court Amends Evidence Rules
By Kevin Spencer, McDermott Will & Emery and McDermott Will & Emery on Apr 4, 2016
Posted In Court Procedure Matters, Uncategorized
On March 28, 2016, the U.S. Tax Court announced interim changes to its Rule of Practice and Procedure to incorporate changes made by Congress at the end of 2015. The interim changes impact several areas of the Tax Court’s Rules, including the impact of bankruptcy proceedings on the court’s jurisdiction, actions for review of failure...
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Preparing for Country-by-Country Reporting in 2016
By Kevin Spencer on Mar 30, 2016
Posted In IRS Guidance, Transfer Pricing Resource, Uncategorized
Country-by Country (CbC) reporting is on the horizon for large US multi-national enterprises (MNE). As part of the broader Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) project undertaken by the Group of 20 (G20) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United States will soon require the parent entity of large US MNE groups...
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