Tax Impacts

On Friday, January 16, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in a 2-1 decision in Sirius Solutions, L.L.L.P. v. Commissioner that state-law limited partners in a partnership may qualify for an exemption from federal self-employment taxes on their distributive share of partnership income, regardless of whether that partner is a passive investor in the partnership or not.

The Supreme Court has released its 5–4 decision in Bittner v. United States, No. 21-1195, holding that the Bank Secrecy Act’s penalty for non-willful failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) applies on a per-form basis—and not on a per-account basis, as argued by the government. 

On November 30, 2021, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in U.S. v. Bittner, __ F.4th __ (5th Cir. Nov. 30, 2021), held that penalties for non-willful failures to report foreign bank accounts apply to each unreported bank account as opposed to each report not filed, as held by other courts.