United States: Corporate Tax

Taxes are often one of the biggest factors shaping decisions about joint ventures. While the business deal may drive the “why” of the collaboration, tax planning often determines the “how.”

Illinois has enacted the nation's first digital asset transaction tax, effective January 2027, imposing a 0.2% levy on cryptocurrency exchanges, transfers, and storage. Brokers must register before conducting any Illinois transactions, with the state presuming all receipts are taxable unless proven otherwise. The groundbreaking legislation faces potential constitutional challenges while creating new compliance obligations for digital asset platforms nationwide.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act introduced Trump Accounts, a novel tax-advantaged savings vehicle for children under 18, with employer contribution provisions beginning in 2026. The Department of Labor's Technical Release 2026-02 addresses critical questions about whether these accounts and employer contribution programs fall under ERISA's regulatory framework. Employers must navigate specific conditions and distinctions between accounts benefiting employees versus their dependents to avoid unintended ERISA

Congress is considering multiple legislative proposals to modernize cryptocurrency taxation, ranging from targeted bills addressing specific issues to a comprehensive bipartisan measure. The proposals tackle critical questions about wash sales, mining rewards, staking income, and stablecoin transactions that could reshape how digital assets are taxed in America.

Greenberg Traurig shareholder Breen Schiller has submitted formal comments and testimony to Illinois tax authorities regarding proposed amendments to regulations governing addbacks for interest and intangible expenses in transactions with 80/20 companies. The comments address concerns about conduit exception narrowing, limitations on the "unreasonable" standard, and reliance on private letter rulings that may create administrability challenges for Illinois businesses.

Virginia's legislature has approved a groundbreaking tax on electricity consumption by data centers, marking the first levy of its kind in the United States.

A coalition of crypto firms urges Senate action on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, while New York proposes comprehensive stablecoin regulations and the House Ways and Means Committee prepares to modernize cryptocurrency tax rules. Meanwhile, community banks push back against stablecoin rewards and the EU expands sanctions targeting Russia-linked crypto platforms.

Founders and early-stage investors often spend months negotiating deal terms like valuation and governance rights, only to discover years later that they overlooked one of the most valuable economic provisions: whether their stock qualifies for the Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) capital gain exclusion under Internal Revenue Code Section 1202.

On June 4, the House Ways & Means Committee released drafts of seven tax bills designed to address various issues regarding the taxation of digital assets.