Organizations tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, often referred to as charities, cannot, at risk of loss of exemption, “participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements) any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition...

The Supreme Court waited until the last day of the 2009-10 Term to issue its pronouncement on business method patents, Bilski v. Kappos. It then came “not with a bang but a whimper.” Those who thought, based on statements in earlier Court opinions or the tenor of oral argument in Bilski,...

In Notice 2022-50, the Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service requested public comment on guidance to be issued in connection with § 6417, one of the provisions enacted as part of the Inflation Reduction Act to encourage clean energy. This letter discusses treatment of § 115...

The notion of charitable class bedevils tax law. The IRS has issued no precedential guidance regarding its scope or application. After the 9/11 terrorist attack, Congress enacted special provisions applicable only to victims of that disaster. In response to statements in the legislative history...

Recently, patents for tax strategies have drawn attention from Congress, tax policymakers, the press and tax practitioners. The phenomenon of tax strategy patents worries many tax practitioners as a matter of both policy and practice. This article reviews four categories of concerns - patent...

Federal tax treatment matters to churches, the term the IRS uses for all types of religious congregations, including synagogues, mosques, and temples. The federal tax provisions most significant for churches and certain entities closely related to them, however, are not those that the public and...

Recent discussions of whether gifts to section 501(c)(4) organizations that engage in candidate-related activity are subject to the federal gift tax have failed to make clear an important distinction. This important distinction is whether the contributor is making the gift to the organization as...

This paper discusses hurdles that the IRS and Treasury would face following tax reform in their efforts to respond quickly with guidance that courts will uphold. These hurdles include the impact of the Tax Anti-Injunction Act and the Declaratory Relief Act, heightened interest in the course of...