Federal Excise Tax Adjustments

The United States cryptocurrency regulatory landscape has undergone its most dramatic transformation in history. The signing of the GENIUS Act into law on July 18, 2025 — the first comprehensive federal crypto statute ever enacted — marks a before-and-after moment for American digital asset law.

Recent federal legislation has permanently extended the historically high unified exemption amount for federal estate and gift tax purposes. The current exemption of $13.99 million per individual remains in place through December 31, 2025...

Washington voters will decide the future of the state’s new 9.9% tax on annual taxable income above $1 million after a repeal initiative qualified for the November ballot.

California's Proposition 40 would impose a one-time excise tax of up to 5 percent on billionaires' worldwide net worth, measured as of December 31, 2026, but based on residency as of January 1, 2026. The measure faces significant legal challenges and could be nullified by competing ballot initiatives that have also qualified for the November 2026 ballot.

California's proposed Billionaire Tax Act would impose a onetime 5% excise tax on individuals and trusts with assets exceeding $1 billion, creating unprecedented challenges for estate planners. The retroactive application and anti-abuse provisions raise critical questions about the treatment of grantor trusts, non-grantor trusts, and beneficiary interests that deviate significantly from established federal wealth transfer tax principles.

Selling an S corporation involves complex tax and legal considerations that can significantly impact after-tax proceeds. This comprehensive analysis examines stock sales versus asset sales, IRC Section 338(h)(10) elections, F reorganizations, and other transaction structures, revealing how different approaches affect both sellers and buyers through detailed tax modeling and strategic planning insights.

Among the many changes included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is one relevant to brands and agencies running sweepstakes, contests, and other consumer promotions.

The US Treasury and IRS have proposed regulations that would eliminate longstanding exceptions allowing tax-exempt private schools to maintain race-conscious admissions and scholarship policies. Following the Supreme Court's decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, these rules would apply to all private educational institutions, including K-12 schools not directly affected by that ruling, and could result in loss of tax-exempt status for noncompliance.

Foreign owners of single-member U.S. limited liability companies often assume their entities are completely disregarded for tax purposes, but since 2017, these structures face significant reporting obligations...

On September 3, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued proposed regulations under Section 501(c)(3) that could materially affect private education in the United States. The proposal would apply a broad nondiscrimination standard based on race, color and national or ethnic origin, with significant implications for private schools, colleges and universities seeking or maintaining tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3).

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has begun processing IEEPA tariff refunds through its CAPE system, but Phase III covering finally liquidated entries faces delays and requires court orders. With the Department of Justice appealing the universal refund order and class certification pending, importers with finally liquidated entries may need to file individual lawsuits at the Court of International Trade to preserve their claims before statutory deadlines expire.

On Aug. 30, AB-1883 received final legislative approval and now heads to California Governor Gavin Newsom for signature or veto. If enacted, AB-1883 would prohibit employers from using workplace surveillance tools that rely on artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize, infer, or predict an employee’s emotional state, or to collect “neural data.”

A federal district court has struck down the U.S. Department of State's prohibition on immigrant visa issuance to nationals of 75 countries, finding it violates federal immigration law and the Administrative Procedure Act. The ruling requires the Department to resume visa processing for affected individuals, though the decision remains subject to appeal or potential stay.

President Trump has signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, introducing sweeping new tariffs of up to 100% on countries purchasing Russian energy and up to 500% on Russian-origin goods. The legislation also codifies existing executive order sanctions into statute, requiring congressional action to lift restrictions and creating mandatory secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions transacting with designated Russian banks. Companies face immediate compliance challenge

A company that receives a demand letter under California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA) should assume that a California consumer class action may be coming.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's Executive Order 2026-05 establishes a comprehensive regulatory framework for data center development, creating a two-track permitting system that distinguishes between facilities willing to comply with new GRID Requirements and those that decline.

On Dec. 2, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced a new set of rules strengthening export controls to restrict China's capability to produce advanced semiconductors.

As a business and intellectual property attorney, I spend much of my practice helping corporate clients protect and enforce their intellectual property through patents. But patents are not the only game in town. Trade secrets offer an equally valid, and in many cases, a more practical and affordable means of protecting valuable proprietary information, provided a company implements and maintains reasonable protective measures.

A federal court has vacated USCIS policies that froze immigration benefit adjudications for nationals of 39 countries under an expanded travel ban, but the State Department's separate pause on immigrant visa issuance for 75 countries remains in effect. Employers must now distinguish between domestic USCIS benefits that can proceed and consular processing that remains suspended when planning for affected workers.

Artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping the role of in-house legal teams, pushing general counsel from traditional reviewers of business decisions to active participants in shaping them. As AI-enabled products...