Michael Cohn

A funny thing has been happening with the $7,500 plug-in electric vehicle tax credits that GM has been dangling before prospective buyers of its Chevrolet Volt: In many cases dealers rather than customers have been getting the tax breaks.

An agreement to raise the debt ceiling in Congress appears to be linked increasingly to a deal to cut both taxes and Medicare spending.

The American Institute of CPAs held its annual ritual this week of visiting lawmakers’ offices on Capitol Hill to press the case for tax simplification, a ban on tax patent strategies, changes in tax-filing due dates, and other legislative priorities.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun sending letters to political donors asking why they didn’t report their 2008 donations on their gift tax forms.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board appears to be once again on the slow path to convergence with International Financial Reporting Standards, but it will probably get there in the end.

The tax-related talk in Washington lately has shifted from overall tax reform to specific fixes like eliminating about $4 billion in tax breaks for major oil companies.

The eleventh-hour budget deal struck by the White House with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders to avert a government shutdown over the weekend depends to a large extent upon some accounting sleight of hand to achieve the claim of $38 billion in spending cuts.

As Washington moves closer to the brink of a federal government shutdown, the battle lines are already being set for the next budget turf war.

General Electric is a company that has long been known for innovation going back to the days of founder Thomas Alva Edison, but now some of its greatest innovations may be in the way it avoids paying corporate income taxes.

One of the dilemmas facing many accountants and tax preparers this tax season is the problem of how to account for uncertain tax positions and deal with them on the IRS’s new Schedule UTP.

State budget deficits are prompting governors to slash spending, but also shift the tax burden away from corporations.

Actor Charlie Sheen has certainly managed to keep his name in the news in recent weeks, and now that his starring role on “Two and a Half Men” appears to have come to an end, we wondered what it would be like if he took a job overseeing tax legislation and accounting standards.

A tax credit that is supposed to help poverty-stricken communities is instead being used to finance at least two luxury hotels, an antique car museum, a small theater in an upscale neighborhood, and other dubious projects, while lining the pockets of wealthy banks and investors.

The unveiling of the Obama administration’s budget this week appeared to be only the opening act for what promises to be a long-running series of episodes involving spending, taxes, and cuts to favored and not-so-favored programs.

President Obama has launched a new initiative to fund small business entrepreneurs known as Startup America, which sounds like something that might better belong on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley than on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.

President Obama placed an unusual degree of emphasis Tuesday during his State of the Union address on tax reform, and while there appears to be more bipartisan spirit in Congress in the wake of the tragic shootings in Tucson, the prospects for getting an agreement are murky at best.

President Obama has issued an executive order directing federal agencies to consider the costs and benefits of regulations both new and old.

What full faith and credit? That’s the question many are asking as Congress is coming under increasing pressure to raise the debt ceiling yet again to avoid a possible default on the federal government’s credit obligations.

Every few years, as regularly as clockwork, Washington starts talking about “simplifying” the Tax Code.

The past year witnessed plenty of head-spinning developments in the worlds of accounting and taxes, and AccountingToday.com (along with its predecessor site WebCPA) was there to chart the latest developments.