Stephen Kranz, Diann Smith, and Eric Carstens were the authors of a McDermott “FCA Alert,” cited here, which warned that jurisdictions like the District of Columbia and Michigan are seeking to expand False Claims Act/whistleblowing laws to create a tax bounty system focused on larger taxpayers.

Diann Smith said regarding delayed effective tax dates that once an effective date nears, “legislatures will frequently delay it again. We’ve seen that happen with the states that have gone to combined reporting and have had special provisions that account for the financial statement impact to companies.” Stephen Kranz agreed that “an articulated, expressed effective date from a fiscal analysis perspective” is essential for business taxpayers in such instances, particularly if the law applies to open tax years.

Stephen Kranz and Diann Smith discussed the complexities of tax disputes. Mr. Kranz asserted that, “whether regulatory, legislative, audit-based, or litigation, every tax problem can and should be seen through the lens of human experience.” As an illustration Ms. Smith noted that “having some type of pared-down visual aid that you can point to” and explain the importance of complex data, “for example in an apportionment formula, can be very useful in clarifying the discussions” during courtroom presentations.

Carsten Böhm led a Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich corporate, labor, antitrust and tax team that advised the owners of transport systems company AAT Antriebstechnik on its sale to Swedish company REAC AB. The team included Germar Enders, Paul Melot de Beauregard, Steffen Woitz, Holger Weiß, Christian Krohs, Markus Hill, Nina Siewert, Patryk Wcislo, Maximilian Baur, Matthias Weingut and Ralf Richter.

William Díaz led the multi-office team of William Hutchens, Byron Kalogerou, Sarah Kitchell, Andrew Liazos, Veleka Peeples-Dyer, Alejandro Ruiz, Albert Sokol, Kristian Werling and Daniel Zucker, which advised Neurovance, Inc. on its acquisition by major Japanese pharmaceutical company Otsuka Pharmaceutical.

Ulrich Flege and Marc Oberhardt (insolvency law), Nina Siewert (tax law) and Andreas Herzig (real estate) advised Oaktree Capital Management on the realization of a loan by a private purchase (in cooperation with the insolvency administrators) involving a portfolio of six office properties throughout Germany. The insolvent sellers in the complex deal were from Germany and Luxembourg. Read the full article.

Todd Finger led the corporate, IP and tax team from New York, Chicago and Dallas that advised New York-based Skip Hop, a provider of child care products, on its sale to Carter’s Inc. The team for the $140 million deal included Frank Steinherr, Lindsey Reighard, Dan Zucker, Tom Young, Scott Regan and Nicole Yoon.

McDermott state and local tax lawyers wrote an article, cited here, which explained that a Delaware revision to the state’s unclaimed property law is not entirely clear regarding the overlaps between audits, voluntary disclosure agreements (VDAs), and compliance reviews.