Roger Russell

The IRS effort to combat identity theft couldn’t have come at a better time. With the IRS closing in on its goal of 80 percent e-filed returns (aided in part by the e-filing mandates on return preparers), the last thing it needs is a decline in confidence in the system. Yet that’s just what has happened, according to a survey commissioned by tax software developer Taxsoftware.com.

Sometimes it’s possible to predict a legislative outcome by comparing opening statements and testimonies of committee witnesses.

The President’s annual State of the Union speech is traditionally more than just a memo of the past or a blueprint for the future.

They say the third time’s a charm. And the third iteration of the IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program is likewise a good thing, according to Kevin Packman, a tax partner at Holland & Knight and chair of the offshore compliance team.

The Internal Revenue Code requires National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson to submit a report to Congress each year identifying, among other things, 20 of the most serious problems encountered by taxpayers, and to make administrative and legislative recommendations to mitigate those problems.

With individual filing season underway, it’s questionable how many taxpayers are aware of their use tax obligations, and actually track their Internet purchases during the year in order to accurately report and pay them.

A new federal court case is demonstrating the depth of information the IRS is seeking - and getting - from states regarding the financial affairs of residents.

Just when you think you know all you need to know about FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Reporting), a product of the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, the impending FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) requirements loom.

Even though the deadline has passed for taxpayers with foreign bank accounts to voluntarily step forward and disclose them to the IRS, it still makes sense to do so.

For those who had hoped that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, aka the Supercommittee, would find a way to reduce the deficit, the announcement that they had failed to reach an agreement came as a disappointment.

A 2008 Senate report estimated the costs of non-compliance by taxpayers using offshore bank accounts to be at least $100 billion annually.

Among the themes that IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman has emphasized since his swearing in is the balancing of the agency’s compliance function with its service mission.

Commissioner Doug Shulman has presided over the continued reorganization and modernization of the Internal Revenue Service since March 2008.

The IRS doesn’t make the laws, it just enforces them.

As with most legislation, the recently derailed American Jobs Act included some good ideas, some bad, and some that were mere political posturing. But now that it has been defeated in the Senate, the focus is on what parts of it might survive in separate future pieces of legislation.

Is it unfair to accountants that the attorney-client privilege is stronger than the accountant-client privilege?

The merchant card reporting program, in place since January of this year, may pose some problems that were unanticipated by Congress when it was passed as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

The plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction recently released by President Obama offers a view into specific tax provisions that Congress may be asked to enact before the end of the year.

Will $447 billion in new taxes help to create jobs, or kill them?

Despite all the new tax regulations, registration requirements, and the promise of new tax legislation, there’s one thing that return preparers can eliminate from their worry list: tax strategy patents.