2015 was undeniably the most significant year for tax legislation since the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, despite starting out with the assumption that significant tax legislation would be in a holding pattern until after the 2016 Presidential elections. For starters, December 2015 legislation made permanent certain tax provisions, such as the research credit, that required annual renewal. 2015 also closed with a long list of regulations and rulings to its credit, despite concerns that a reduced IRS budget would slow guidance to a crawl. And the Supreme Court, appellate courts and the U.S. Tax Court all showed that taxpayers could still score some decisive victories.