This Week in the Circuits: Tenth Circuit to Hear IRS Microcaptive Insurance Clash

Welcome to This Week in the Circuits, a look at the most significant cases before federal appeals courts.

The Tenth Circuit will hear a case Tuesday that has the potential to significantly impact the IRS’s ability to pursue tax abuse in “microcaptive insurance” arrangements—where a company creates its own in-house insurance ostensibly because the business’s unique risks put traditional insurance coverage out of reach. The IRS scrutinizes the arrangements as a potential means to facilitate phony insurance premium deductions.

Utah-based Standard Insurances Co. is trying to revive its suit over a 2016 IRS notice implementing stronger reporting requirements for microcaptive ...