Tax practice

It’s no surprise that tax rates affect economic behavior.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to let taxpayers deduct state sales taxes on their federal returns, a victory for residents of Texas, Florida and other states that lack an income tax.

A new study of consumer spending of tax refunds finds a correlation between how the refunds are perceived and whether taxpayers opt to spend the money right away or save it for later.

The U.S. House voted to repeal the 99-year-old U.S. estate tax amid a partisan clash over whether the government should break up concentrated wealth or make it easier to pass along assets to the next generation.

Faced with steep budget cuts, the Internal Revenue Service directed more taxpayers to consult Web sites and its mobile app for answers to their questions this year rather than visiting the IRS’s walk-in Taxpayer Assistance Centers or calling its phone lines, while also using technology to detect tax refund fraud.

In 2011, the federal government stopped the Advance Earned Income Tax Credits program. Today, Earned Income Tax Credits still exist, but on a 1040 personal tax return level only.

Tax directors at many organizations anticipate their companies will grow by entering into new domestic and international markets in the years ahead, according to a new survey by BDO USA.

A new tax prep franchiser called Happy Tax is hoping to make a dent in an already crowded industry with a new business model involving CPAs.

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen has sent a message of thanks to tax professionals and their partners for managing to get through a “challenging” tax season.

When it comes to taxes, corporate America is getting a bit less corporate. And a bit less American.

The American Institute of CPAs has sent a set of proposals outlining its recommendations for permanent tax provisions related to disaster relief.

Senate Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, sent a letter Tuesday to Internal Revenue Service commissioner John Koskinen questioning the agency’s expenditures on office furniture, toys and surveys at a time when the IRS chief has been complaining about budget cuts at the hands of Congress.

The nonprofit organization Tax Analysts has created an interactive bar graph of audit rates to provide information on the chances of being audited by the Internal Revenue Service depending on different business types and individual income levels.

MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization that tracks money's influence on politics, has released a new analysis of how major tax and accounting organizations are spending funds on lobbying Congress and federal agencies.

Every year, millions of taxpayers miss out on chances to lower their tax bills. They miss deductions or don’t exploit tax breaks designed to lower the costs of education, retirement, and health care.

Swiss banks, for decades the bastions of secrecy, are preaching the virtue of transparency to their U.S. clients as they try to head off billions of dollars in potential fines for helping Americans evade taxes.

Comedian John Oliver, host of the HBO series, “Last Week Tonight,” defended the Internal Revenue Service on his show Sunday evening, with the assistance of singer Michael Bolton.

The Internal Revenue Service is asking tax professionals to refrain from directing their clients to call the IRS’s e-help desk, saying that it is causing longer hold times on the phone line, which is only supposed to be used by practitioners.

Congressional Republicans have narrowed the estate tax so much that it affects only about 5,500 wealthy American households a year. Now they want to eliminate the tax altogether—with a bonus for heirs.

Consumer demand is not affected as much by sales taxes that are tacked onto purchase prices, as opposed to excise taxes that are included in the purchase price, according to a new study.