William R. Pomierski
Subscribe to William R. Pomierski's PostsWilliam (Bill) R. Pomierski focuses his practice on the taxation of financial products and capital markets transactions, as well as on executive compensation matters. He is a former chair of the Firm’s Executive Compensation Practice Group. Bill advises clients on the federal income tax implications of a variety of domestic, cross-border and global financial products and related transactions. Read William Pomierski's full bio.
IRS Releases Memorandum on Deducting Cryptocurrency Donations
By John T. Lutz, William R. Pomierski and Andrew Granek on Jan 20, 2023
Posted In IRS Guidance
On January 13, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a memorandum (CCA 202302012) concluding that a qualified appraisal is required when a taxpayer claims a charitable contribution deduction exceeding $5,000 for donated cryptocurrency. Valuations reported by cryptocurrency exchanges do not qualify as “qualified appraisals.” The memorandum is relevant to any taxpayer who has donated...
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Recent Tax Developments Concerning Staking Rewards
By Andrew Granek, John T. Lutz and William R. Pomierski on Feb 5, 2022
Posted In IRS Guidance
Stakers—taxpayers involved in proof of stake (PoS) validation of blockchain transactions—continue to operate in uncharted tax waters. PoS blockchains represent over half of the $1.68 trillion cryptocurrency market capitalization, with five of the top 10 PoS blockchains having a stake rate greater than 50%. Despite the remarkable growth of the PoS market in the last...
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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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IRS Releases Guidance on Cryptocurrency Hard Forks
By John T. Lutz, William R. Pomierski, Kevin Spencer and McDermott Will & Emery on May 6, 2021
Posted In IRS Guidance, Tax Reform
On April 9, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Chief Counsel Advice memo 202114020 (Hard Fork CCA), which details the potential tax consequences for taxpayers who held Bitcoin prior to the August 1, 2017, Bitcoin hard fork. While the Hard Fork CCA concerns the taxation of a particular cryptocurrency transaction, it has additional significance...
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IRS Issues Long-Awaited Initial Guidance under Section 162(m)
By Andrew Liazos and William R. Pomierski on Aug 27, 2018
Posted In IRS Guidance, Tax Reform, Uncategorized
On August 21, 2018, the IRS issued guidance regarding recent statutory changes made to Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code. Overall, Notice 2018-68 strictly interprets the Section 162(m) grandfathering rule under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Public companies and other issuers subject to these deduction limitations will want to closely consider this guidance...
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Proposed Regulations Address Applicable Adjustments to Stock and Stock Rights under Code Section 305(c)
By William R. Pomierski on Dec 8, 2016
Posted In IRS Guidance, Uncategorized
In an apparent response to coordination questions raised by comments to proposed regulations under Code Section 871(m) (relating to certain cross-border dividend equivalent payments), the US Department of the Treasury issued proposed regulations on April 12, 2016, (the Proposed Regulations) addressing deemed distributions of stock and stock rights under Code Section 305(c). Among other stated...
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Discussion Draft of Modernization of Derivatives Tax Act
By William R. Pomierski on Aug 24, 2016
Posted In Transfer Pricing Resource, Uncategorized
On May 18, 2016, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member, Senator Ron Wyden, released a financial product tax reform discussion draft that, if adopted, would significantly alter the current tax rules with respect to financial products (derivatives), as well as the tax treatment of certain non-derivative positions that are offset by derivatives. The discussion draft is...
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