Roger Russell

Beyond the expected calls for tax fairness and middle-class relief, the President’s State of the Union address touched on a number of other significant topics.

IRS PALS (Property Appraisal and Liquidation Specialists) has auctioned off Darryl Strawberry’s contractual right to receive payments under his deferred compensation agreement with the New York Mets.

Working together with a number of agencies, including Customs and Border Protection, the FBI, Interpol and local police departments, the IRS Criminal Investigation unit has helped bring to justice dozens of members of the Sinaloa Cartel.

The number of purchases and sales of small businesses, at an all-time high in 2013, grew even more during 2014. In addition to further showing signs of a reviving economy, this is good news for baby boomer business owners who want to retire, and for entrepreneurs who want to own their own business.

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson released her 2014 Annual Report to Congress, which expresses concern that taxpayers this year are likely to receive the worst levels of taxpayer service since 2001 when the IRS implemented its current performance measures.

The Tax Court has held that a former special agent in the IRS Criminal Investigation division was liable for additional tax and penalties.

The Internal Revenue Service announced that it anticipates opening the 2015 filing season as scheduled in January.

The District Court for the Southern District of Ohio has upheld the Internal Revenue Service’s imposition of penalties totaling more than $1 million on an estate that failed to file its estate tax return on a timely basis and timely pay the estate tax it owed even though the estate attorney was battling cancer and lost her license to practice law..

The House of Representatives passed the first piece of legislation of the 114th Congress on Wednesday, the Hire More Heroes Act of 2015 (H.R. 22), with overwhelming bipartisan support.

State regulators are now collecting nearly $400 billion in sales tax as compared to 2003 when they collected just over $250 billion.

The Internal Revenue Service announced that it anticipates opening the 2015 filing season as scheduled in January.

The Tax Increase Prevention Act extends the provision that allows certain IRA owners to make tax-free distributions to charity.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has released its Semiannual Report to Congress, with a special focus on how the Internal Revenue Service has handled its responsibilities under the Affordable Care Act.

Next month, the IRS will auction off Darryl Strawberry’s right to receive payments under his deferred comp agreement with the New York Mets.

The Tax Court held that the owner of a construction company who paid to sponsor his son’s motocross racing activities could deduct the payments since he was able to show that this helped him bring in business.

In the past few months there has been a significant increase in the frequency of wire transfer scam attacks against accounting firms, according to Rickard Jorgensen, president of Jorgensen & Company, with more than a dozen CPA firms successfully targeted.

With the advent of the holiday season, now may be just the time to market yourself and your staff to potential clients, according to Chuck McCabe, president and chief executive of Peoples Income Tax and The Income Tax School.

While the traditional end-of-year tax tip checklist contains such tried and true suggestions as defer income and accelerate deductions, there are a number of other steps Tom Wheelwright takes in advising his small business clients.

If the lame duck session of Congress fails to address the tax extenders, it will fall to incoming House Ways and Means Committee chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to see that they get passed early in the next session of Congress.

For the tax preparation office that relies on seasonal hires, this is the make or break time of year.