Insights

Washington, D.C. – January 13, 2015: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce the publication of its third annual "Litigation Forecast: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know in the Coming Year," and the introduction of its first-ever "Regulatory Forecast 2015: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know in the Coming Year."

Washington, D.C. – January 2, 2015: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that it has elected six attorneys to the firm's partnership effective January 1, 2015. The firm has also promoted eight associates to the position of counsel. The new partners and counsel have been promoted from within the ranks of the firm's Washington, D.C., Brussels, New York, Orange County, and San Francisco offices.

The China State Taxation Administration (“STA”) recently published its eleventh “China Advance Pricing Arrangement Annual Report (2019)” that summarized the circumstances under which the STA signed advance pricing arrangements (“APA”) and introduced the latest APA regulations and requirements for the implementation of the APA program in China. The report included data for the period from January 1, 2005 until December 31, 2019. In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS”) Advance Pricing and Mutual Agreement program (“APMA”) issued its annual report on activities of the U.S. APA program during 2020. The two reports underline the importance of APAs as tax planning tools for multinational companies operating in China and the United States. The two tax authorities have been meeting regularly for years to discuss APA and competent authority cases, have developed a productive working relationship, and are handling an increasing number of cases.

Washington, D.C.-based partner and member of the firm's Tax Group, David J. Fischer, talks with Law360 about the expert tips and best practices taxpayers should keep in mind when negotiating an advance pricing agreement (APA)."You have to think about the likelihood of succeeding with an APA and whether you're willing to take a somewhat less aggressive position. Most APAs involve transactions with affiliates in jurisdictions with tax rates similar to the U.S. rate, so the IRS's tendency to push of the results toward the middle has less impact on the overall effective tax rate," said Fischer.

Washington, D.C.-based partner and member of the firm's Tax Group, David J. Fischer, talks with Law360 about the major high-stakes tax cases that closed in 2014. Fischer provided his viewpoints on three of the cases, including U.S. v. Clarke, which the court said taxpayers have a right to examine their IRS agents if they can point to specific facts or circumstances — including circumstantial evidence — that raise an inference of bad faith. "Tax law is like a pendulum, and right now our pendulum is swinging toward procedural fights because the IRS has changed its summons process and the Supreme Court has changed the litigation standards for looking behind an IRS summons," stated Fischer.

Join the Section on Taxation for the 46th Annual Tax Law Conference on March 3-4, 2022. This newly formatted two-day program will offer the same great content in-person and online. Programming will be held exclusively in-person on Thursday, March 3 and exclusively virtually on Friday, March 4.

Please join us for the 30th Annual Managing Tax Audits and Appeals seminar. We are offering this program in two locations: Marina del Rey, CA (near Los Angeles) and Washington D.C.

Please join us for the 30th Annual Managing Tax Audits and Appeals seminar. We are offering this program in two locations: Marina del Rey, CA (near Los Angeles) and Washington D.C.

China’s advance pricing arrangement (“APA”) has been a valid tax planning tool for multinational companies. In fact, the China’s State Taxation Administration has developed a productive working relationship with the IRS’s Advance Pricing and Mutual Agreement (“APMA”) program.