Le Chen
Subscribe to Le Chen's PostsLe Chen focuses his practice on US and international tax matters. Read Le Chen's full bio.
Court Rules Taxpayer Can Offset Foreign Tax Credits With NIIT Liability Under Tax Treaty
By Steven Hadjilogiou and Le Chen on Oct 26, 2023
Posted In Court Procedure Matters, Tax Reform, Tax Refunds, Trial Courts
In 2013, the net investment income tax (NIIT) found in Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 1411 went into effect. Since then, United States taxpayers residing outside of the US have lived with uncertainty as to whether the taxes they pay in their local country can be used as a tax credit to offset the NIIT....
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Infrastructure Bill Provision Expands Cryptocurrency Reporting Requirements
By John T. Lutz, William R. Pomierski, Le Chen and McDermott Will & Emery on Aug 6, 2021
Posted In Tax Reform
On August 1, 2021, the US Senate unveiled the draft text of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Bill), a highly anticipated $1 trillion infrastructure package negotiated by the White House and a bipartisan group of senators. As discussed below, the Bill includes a provision (Section 80603) that, if enacted in its current form, would...
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Skip Jail and Clean Up Your Tax Problems
By Jenny L. Johnson Ware, Kevin Spencer and Le Chen on Jul 16, 2020
Posted In IRS Appeals, IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Tax Reform
If you have knowingly failed to report income or claimed deductions you know you are not entitled to, or just decided not to file your tax returns and pay the tax owed, you may be liable for civil penalties and even jail time for criminal tax evasion. Taxpayers with civil and criminal tax exposure may...
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Fifth Circuit Rules that Law Firm Clients’ Identities Are Not Privileged
By Kevin Spencer and Le Chen on Apr 28, 2020
Posted In Appellate Courts, IRS Appeals, Trial Courts, Uncategorized
In Taylor Lohmeyer Law Firm P.L.L.C. v. United States, No. 19-50506, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a Texas-based estate and tax-planning law firm (Firm) could not invoke the attorney-client privilege against an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) summons seeking the identity of its clients. According to an IRS revenue...
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New Revenue Ruling 2020-8 Helps Taxpayers Seek COVID-19 Tax Refund Claims
By Kevin Spencer and Le Chen on Apr 23, 2020
Posted In IRS Guidance, Tax Refunds, Uncategorized
Recently, in Revenue Ruling 2020-8, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that it was suspending Revenue Ruling 71-533, which had addressed the interaction of two Internal Revenue Code (IRC) provisions regarding limitations periods on refund claims, pending reconsideration of the holding of the earlier Revenue Ruling. Under IRC section 6511(d)(2)(A), a taxpayer generally must make...
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IRS Failed to Prove Supervisory Approval For Penalty Based Upon Redacted Document
By Kevin Spencer, Le Chen and McDermott Will & Emery on Apr 8, 2020
Posted In Court Procedure Matters, IRS Guidance, Trial Courts, Uncategorized
In a recent order in the The Cannon Corp. v. Commissioner, No. 12466-16, the US Tax Court (Tax Court) held that a redacted email from a revenue agent’s supervisor to the agent regarding a notice of deficiency was not sufficient to satisfy the approval requirement under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 6751(b) for the assertion...
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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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A Notice of Deficiency Is Not Set in Stone
By Kevin Spencer and Le Chen on May 28, 2019
Posted In Appellate Courts, IRS Guidance, Trial Courts, Uncategorized
A recent case decided by the United States Court of Appeals of the Tenth Circuit reminds taxpayers to be aware that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is not necessarily locked in to the positions and arguments stated in the Notice of Deficiency. In particular, the IRS is allowed to revise penalty determinations, or to make...
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What Happens At Exam, Stays At Exam!
By Kevin Spencer and Le Chen on Apr 25, 2019
Posted In Court Procedure Matters, IRS Appeals, IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Trial Courts, Uncategorized
A recent case decided by the US Tax Court reminds us that when you litigate a case in Tax Court, what happened during the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) examination and Appeals bears very little relevance (if any) once you get to court. Generally, Tax Court’s proceedings are de novo, and the court looks solely to...
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Tax Court Rules State Corporate Incentives Are NOT Taxable Income Under Federal Law
By Kevin Spencer and Le Chen on Apr 11, 2019
Posted In Court Procedure Matters, Tax Reform, Trial Courts, Uncategorized
Many states and localities give incentives for business to move or transact in their locations. There has always been a question of whether these incentives are taxable income under federal income tax law. Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 118, as amended by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, P.L. 115-97, provides that “[i]n the case...
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