Tax practice

The Internal Revenue Service has been unable to stop taxpayers from collecting billions of dollars in potentially erroneous education tax credits, according to a new government report.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released a report last week showing that the Internal Revenue Service has made significant progress in processing applications for tax-exempt status from organizations, but it’s not enough to satisfy critics of the agency.

Jackson Hewitt Tax Service reported the best results it has seen in over five years this tax season, in contrast with competing tax prep chains H&R Block and Liberty Tax.

The IRS is accepting applications for its Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council. Applications will be accepted through June 26.

Tax prep, bookkeeping and payroll services company and franchiser ATAX recently announced plans to double its U.S. presence over the next 20 months.

Major tax prep chains Liberty Tax Inc. and H&R Block reported that the number of returns they prepared this tax season were flat or down slightly.

The Internal Revenue Service has released the inflation-adjusted deduction limitations for annual contributions to health savings accounts in 2016.

A pair of senators introduced legislation Monday to expand access to tax-exempt bonds and federal tax credits to provide more money to state and local governments to spend on fixing the nation’s aging infrastructure.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is meeting with some success in prompting foreign banks to disclose the holdings of U.S. taxpayers to the Internal Revenue Service, according to a former IRS official.

Former pro football player Plaxico Burress has been indicted by a New Jersey grand jury in the first prosecution under a new statute that makes a failed electronic funds transfer the same as a bad check.

A roundup of some of our favorite recent tax fraud cases.

Highlights of some of our favorite tax-related blogs from the past week.

Check out the digital edition of the May 2015 issue of Accounting Today.

With Small Business Week approaching next week, the Internal Revenue Service reminded small businesses Friday that have failed to timely file certain required retirement plan returns that they have until Tuesday, June 2 to take advantage of a special penalty relief program.

An Internal Revenue Service revenue officer has been indicted for committing mail and wire fraud, filing false tax returns, identity theft and perjury.

The Internal Revenue Service has made big strides in processing applications from groups seeking tax-exempt status, according to a new report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, whose 2013 report precipitated the Tea Party targeting scandal that led to the ouster of several top IRS officials.

A convicted tax preparer who was sentenced to probation in 2012 has now received a prison sentence for continuing to prepare and file tax returns in violation of a court order.

Tim Loo learned early this year that his name and Social Security number had made their way onto a fraudulent tax return, and immediately wondered whether the identity thief might also have his bank-account details or his kids’ Social Security numbers.

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee are being inundated with suggestions for tax reform, despite the limited prospects for comprehensive reform ahead of next year’s elections.

The Internal Revenue Service needs to do better at ensuring that health insurance policy issuers and self-insured plan sponsors pay a fee required under the Affordable Care Act known as the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research fee, according to a new government report.