Kostelanetz attorneys Michael Waalkes, Abigail Burke, and Jay R. Nanavati will be presenting on various tax topics at the American Bar Association Tax Section’s May Meeting May 8-10, 2025. Topics Kostelanetz attorneys will cover include the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to consider Zuch v. Commissioner, IRS guidance on the ability of fraud victims to take theft loss deductions, and subcommittee updates on civil and criminal tax penalties.

Zuch v. Commissioner: Supreme Court to Tackle Offsets and Mootness Issues

May 9, 2025, 8:00 a.m.

Michael Waalkes will participate in a panel addressing the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent grant of a writ of certiorari in Zuch v. Commissioner. The power to offset is the IRS’s most widely used enforcement tool to collect on an unpaid liability. Despite its frequent use, the offset power raises significant legal issues that have often escaped attention. With the Supreme Court’s acceptance of cert in Zuch v. Commissioner, some of these issues are now in the spotlight. In addition, Zuch raises fundamental questions about the roles of the IRS and the Tax Court in collection due process (CDP) proceedings. This panel will discuss some of these questions, including whether the IRS can unilaterally deprive the Tax Court of jurisdiction in a CDP case and whether the Tax Court should be able to exercise overpayment jurisdiction in cases raised under Section 6330(c)(2)(B).

Other participants include moderator Leslie Book of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, Caleb Smith of the Minnesota Law School, Audrey Patten of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic of Harvard Law School, and Deanne Morton of Andersen Tax.

Imposters, Unknowns, and Accession to Wealth: Revisiting the Tax Consequences of Scams in 2025

May 9, 2025, 9:00 a.m.

Abigail Burke will participate on a panel that will tackle the most recent IRS guidance regarding the ability for scam victims to take a theft loss under IRC section 165(c)(2) exception to casualty loss limitations under the TCJA. Topics will include a discussion regarding the recent IRS guidance as to what constitutes a profit motive and the timing considerations for when a loss becomes fixed and determinable vs simply an unknown. Additionally, this panel will debate the possibility for scam victims to claim non-recognition of income for amounts transferred to scammers pursuant to the criteria cited in Balint v. Commissioner T.C. Memo. 2023-118.

The moderator will be James Creech of Baker Tilly, and other panelists are TBD.

Civil & Criminal Tax Penalties

May 10, 2025, 8:30 a.m.

Civil & Criminal Tax Penalties

May 10, 2025, 8:30 a.m.

Jay Nanavati will participate in the subcommittee updates of the ABA Tax Section’s subcommittee updates and present on Important Developments in Criminal Litigation.

Additional participants include Bob Lyons, the Chief of the Criminal Appeals & Tax Enforcement Policy Section of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and Siana Danch of Ballard Spahr LLP.

For more information on the May Tax Meeting and to register, click here.