Tax planning

The Taxpayer Advocate Service needs to do a better job of processing requests from taxpayers for relief from Internal Revenue Service enforcement actions, said a new report from the Treasury Department's watchdog group.

The Internal Revenue Service said that economic stimulus payments directly deposited to individual retirement accounts and other tax-favored accounts may be withdrawn tax-free and penalty-free.

Comedian and Senate candidate Al Franken pointed the finger at his accountant for paying his taxes incorrectly and said he would make good on the mistake.

At least 485 cities across the U.S. increased their sales tax rates last year, according to a newly released study.

IRS Narrows Tax Gap

The American Institute of CPAs found a range of responses when it surveyed Americans on how they intend to use their tax rebates.

Pop singer Britney Spears' company has been slapped with a tax lien by the state of California for owing nearly $24,000 in back taxes.

Fed Cuts Rate to 2 Percent

The government won its second victory in the past month in a lease-in, lease-out tax shelter case, after the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed with a federal district court that BB&T Corp. is barred from obtaining a tax refund of approximately $4.5 million.

The Internal Revenue Service stepped up its compliance activities last year and saw its revenues jump, according to a new report.

Entertainment and sports accountant Mike Vaden and his Vaden Group have allied with regional accounting and business advisory firm Joseph Decosimo & Co. to form a business management practice aimed at the entertainment industry and high-net-worth individuals.

Accounting firm Plante & Moran said it was seeing optimism among the businesses it surveyed in the Midwest despite general worries about the economy.

President Bush said the Treasury Department would begin distributing the first batch of tax rebates by direct deposit on Monday.

Wesley Snipes was sentenced to the maximum of three years in prison for failing to file his income taxes.

The federal government has lost a Son of Boss tax shelter case involving taxpayers who invested in foreign currency options.

The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the tax aspects of a cap-and-trade program to control carbon emissions.

An Ohio jury ruled that Fifth Third Bancorp is not entitled to a $5.6 million tax refund for its 1997 tax year after the bank sought to take tax deductions related to complex leasing transactions involving passenger rail cars.

The Internal Revenue Service has withdrawn proposed regulations that would have treated mortgage loans as capital assets and restricted the deductibility of mortgage defaults.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has voted to adopt a new ethics and independence rule concerning communications with audit committees, as well as an amendment to its existing tax services rule.

Financial Executives International filed an amicus curiae “friend of the court” brief on April 4 in support of a court decision in a case involving Textron to protect certain tax work papers and supporting notes from disclosure to the Internal Revenue Service.