The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division has launched the Task Force on Health Care Monopolies and Collusion. This new Task Force, made up of lawyers, economists, industry experts, data scientists, and technologists from across the Division, will work on investigations and policies across the healthcare space. In particular, the Task Force will focus on consolidated markets, particularly where business operations affect customer care, the use of healthcare data, labor issues, and technology services in the healthcare space.
On 26 March 2024, the IRS Advance Pricing and Mutual Agreement (APMA) Program issued their 25th annual Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) report describing the experience, structure, and activities of the APMA Program during calendar year 2023. The report provides statistical information about the numbers of APA applications received and resolved during the year, including countries involved and transfer pricing methods employed. This article identifies key takeaways based on the data from the report and our experience advising companies during the APA process.
Esparza v. Kohl’s, Inc., confirms that sharing electronic data with third-party applications or service providers without the website visitor’s consent creates a risk of lawsuits and potential liability for website defendants in states that require all parties to consent to interception of communications.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued its highly anticipated final rule on noncompetes, imposing a near-total ban on worker noncompetes in the United States. Barring injunctive relief from legal challenges (which have already started), the rule will take effect 120 days from publication in the federal register.
On April 10, 2024, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division announced that it had secured a guilty plea from a fuel truck company owner for conspiracy to monopolize trade in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. This policy shift has expanded the scope of the DOJ’s criminal antitrust enforcement agenda. Accordingly, companies should ensure that their employees are properly complying with antitrust regulations and continue to monitor as this revived area of antitrust law develops.
On 9 April 2024, Treasury released two sets of proposed regulations regarding the excise tax on repurchases of corporate stock under section 4501. The proposed regulations were published in the Federal Register on 12 April 2024. Comments are due on the procedural matters by 13 May 2024, but taxpayers have until 11 June 2024 to submit comments on the substantive guidance.
Both the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (collectively, “Agencies”) have submitted a joint Statement of Interest in a third-party dispute currently active in the Federal District of New Jersey. The Statement clarifies the Agencies’ positions on price fixing through the use of algorithms. The third-party dispute involves a class action against casino hotels in the Atlantic City, New Jersey area.
On 15 September 2023, the IRS released private letter ruling 202337007 (PLR). The PLR provides that a conversion of an entity disregarded for federal income tax purposes into a domestic corporation does not, by itself, give rise to a deemed exchange of debt.
On 9 March 2024, the Biden Administration released its proposed budget for fiscal year 2025, and the Treasury Department released its General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposals, commonly known as the “Greenbook.” Many of the proposals in this year’s Greenbook appeared in earlier years, but a few proposals are new or modified. Due to the divided Congress and competing political priorities during a general election year, there is little chance that any of the Greenbook proposals will be passed into law in 2024. However, the Greenbook illustrates the consistency of the President’s tax policy objectives during his first term and maps out priorities for a possible second term.
On 5 March 2024, Treasury and the IRS published Treas. Reg. § 1.48D-6 (“Final Regulations”), which implements the section 48D(d) election allowing eligible taxpayers to treat the amount of the advanced manufacturing investment credit (“CHIPs Credit”) established under the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act of 2022 as a payment against Federal income tax liabilities, i.e., a “direct pay election” For eligible taxpayers seeking to treat the CHIPs Credit allowed in any tax year as a payment against Federal income tax liabilities in lieu of claiming the credit, the Final Regulations generally retain the structure and framework for administering the election laid out in proposed and temporary regulations, with welcome modifications to clarify key issues relating to the limitations for making the elective payments, the ‘denial of double benefits’ rule, and the election’s pre-filing requirements.