Roger Russell

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.

It looks as though the time has come for comprehensive patent reform, which includes the banning of tax strategy patents.

Maybe it was the time of day. Or maybe I was just lucky. That’s what the CPA who prepares my tax return told me when we were able to reach the Philadelphia office of the IRS twice in a row, to speak with someone about some pesky notices I had been receiving.

While Congress tackles long-term tax reform, it continues to consider and enact piecemeal legislation aimed at specific areas. As a result, there are several bills afloat that, if enacted, would impact the ability of business to do business.

Typically, accounting industry job supply and demand vary with proximity to tax season.

It’s good that tax reform is high on the political agenda these days.