Tax practice

Our weekly roundup of tax-related investment strategies and news your clients may be thinking about.

Tax issues surrounding marijuana

House Speaker John Boehner said a long-sought overhaul of U.S. corporate tax law has barely an even chance of being enacted by Congress this year, though both chambers are under Republican control.

The Clinton Foundation is reportedly planning to re-file five years’ worth of tax returns after questions arose over donations by foreign governments to the charitable foundation run by Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.

Bankrupt ex-billionaire Samuel Wyly told a judge it’s too soon for regulators to fret over what he’ll do with as much as $50 million from the planned sale of his family’s Colorado ranch, the site of six custom-built mansions.

Ontario’s government is ending tax breaks to film producers and other businesses as it looks to double savings to meet its target for a balanced budget in two years.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., has introduced legislation that would provide relief to low-income and economically vulnerable Americans who would otherwise be subject to wage garnishments by the Internal Revenue Service.

Hedge fund managers including billionaire John Paulson won’t immediately face new limits on their use of insurance in offshore tax havens, after the IRS proposed rules and chose not to make them effective now.

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

The American Institute of CPAs recommended to the Internal Revenue Service that the de minimis safe harbor threshold amount under the tangible property regulations for small business taxpayers without an applicable financial statement be increased from $500 to $2,500.

To mark Earth Day, Congressman John K. Delaney, D-Md., said he plans to introduce legislation later this spring to tax greenhouse gas emissions in response to climate change concerns.

The House Ways and Means Committee released a new report Wednesday on the Internal Revenue Service’s declining level of customer service during the 2015 tax-filing season, blaming the IRS for diverting funds away from taxpayer service to finance other priorities such as implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

“The business tax system today is inefficient, overly complex, and too riddled with loopholes,” said Mark Mazur, assistant secretary for tax policy at the U.S. Department of Treasury.

The National Taxpayer Advocate has recommended that the reporting rules under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and for Foreign Bank Account Reports in effect be merged to simplify the duplicative disclosure requirements that make it difficult for American expatriates to have bank accounts in the foreign countries where they live.

New York City’s Museum of Sex hasn’t paid any sales taxes for four years and is now facing an $82,192 tax lien from state tax authorities.

The Internal Revenue Service has revised the form that employers can use to claim the Work Opportunity Tax Credit for eligible workers, but the certification form must be filed by April 30.

Tax season is finally over. For many, now is a time for some relaxation before ramping back up for summer work.

Thomson Reuters has introduced a Checkpoint Learning Health Care Reform Certificate Program for tax and accounting professionals.

The IRS is holding up its end of the chore of filing implications created by the ACA, according to Commissioner John Koskinen’s tax day testimony before a Senate committee.

A tax preparer in Queens, N.Y., has pleaded guilty to 38 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false federal income tax returns and four counts of filing false personal income tax returns.