Roger Russell

Despite delays in expected tax reform, companies are engaging, modeling and planning in order to manage uncertainty, according to survey findings released at Ernst & Young LLP’s Ninth Annual Domestic Tax Conference in New York.

State tax policies need to be updated to better address new business models such as cloud computing, as well as a change that began long ago—the nation’s shift toward a service-based economy, according to the just-published Bloomberg BNA’s 14th annual Survey of State Tax Departments.

As a tax preparation business owner for more than 30 years, Chuck McCabe considers his success due in part to being proactive in structuring his business policies and procedures.

In a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on March 17 and scheduled for a hearing April 23, Michael Clarke and his partners in Dynamo Holdings LP argued that they are entitled to a limited evidentiary hearing to show that summonses were issued improperly by the IRS as retribution for their refusal to extend a statute of limitations.

The number of purchases and sales of small businesses, at an all-time high in 2013, continues to show evidence of a reviving economy. This is good news for baby-boomer business owners eager to retire and aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to own their own business.

While the tax code definition of useful life for business assets is intended to correspond to their actual life, this isn’t always the case.

April is National Financial Literacy Month, and in recognition of the importance of the topic New York-based CPA John Vento is partnering with members of Congress from the Financial and Economic Literacy Caucus to speak at high schools and universities in the New York metropolitan area.

A decade ago, few of us had heard of identity theft. Now, most of us know someone who has been a victim. And of course, a large portion of ID theft affects tax preparers and taxpayers directly, since tax refunds are a huge target of identity thieves.

A like-kind exchange, also known as a Section 1031 exchange after the section of the Tax Code that governs it, is essentially a tax-deferral tool that postpones tax on the exchange of a property for another property of a “like kind.”

U.S. business executives are concerned about global competitiveness in light of the disparity between tax rates charged to their overseas competitors and the rates they are charged as U.S. corporations.

There weren’t a lot of surprises in the President’s Budget, set at $3.9 trillion for fiscal year 2015, which was released on March 4.

If the tax reform proposal unveiled earlier this week by Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp is really “dead on arrival,” as some have suggested, why has virtually every organization with a stake in the tax process made an effort to comment on it? After all, it’s just a discussion draft.

Although audits are a fact of taxpayer life, they're not particularly pleasant, and they can take up a lot of otherwise free time. So what should preparers say to their clients about audits?

Businesses often take a risk in the development of new products and processes.

While President Obama mentioned taxes a number of times in his State of the Union speech last night, the details were scant.

While many taxpayers look forward to filing season as the time they can get “free money” in the form of their tax refund, those with more complex returns are focused as well on avoiding situations that might lead to an audit.

One of the indicators of a reviving economy—purchases and sales of small businesses—is picking up steam. According to the just released BizBuySell Insight Report, the number of business exits by small business owners was up 49 percent in 2013 compared to 2012.

There are already numerous studies attempting to peg the effect of tax rates on economic activity. There will undoubtedly be more, as politicians, economists and tax experts seek the magic formula to maximize both economic activity and government revenue.

An additional tax of 10 percent is charged on premature withdrawals from a qualified retirement plan, SIMPLE plan or IRA. The additional tax is 10 percent of amounts withdrawn that are includible in gross income. The rules and exceptions are intricate enough that they don’t need to be complicated by things like fraudulent withdrawals by a soon-to-be former spouse. But that’s what happened to Andrew Roberts, whose wife withdrew funds from his IRAs without his knowledge.

“It’s never too late for tax planning,” a wise CPA once told me. “You’ve got till the ball drops to take action, and if you do it later than that, then you’ve got an early start for next year.”