Tax practice

As most exempt organizations know all too well, preparing a Form 990 can be a time consuming and complicated process.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday they will treat 19 countries that have reached agreements in substance with the U.S. on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act as having those agreements in effect, until the end of 2014, and they will also delay the registration deadline for foreign banks for 10 more days.

The Senate Finance Committee plans to hold a hearing next Tuesday to discuss how to protect taxpayers from incompetent and unethical tax return preparers.

The Internal Revenue Service needs to strengthen its processes to ensure compliance with the requirements for receiving the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit, according to a new government report.

Investors try to maximize investment returns while managing the level of risk in their portfolios. But only after-tax investment returns are truly available to the investor. Tax consequences should be considered before making any investments. Tax treatment, good or bad, can have a significant impact on an investment decision.

Republican Representative Paul Ryan unveiled a $1.014 trillion U.S. budget plan that envisions revamping the tax code and social-safety net in a declaration of party priorities seven months before the midterm election.

The Internal Revenue Service has released a new 2014 Form W-8BEN-E, “Certificate of Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Entities),” which can be used by foreign financial institutions and other entities in connection with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA.

A Caterpillar Inc. executive defended her company’s tax maneuvers today, telling a Senate panel that moving profits from its parts business to Switzerland from the U.S. was a legal and appropriate way to eliminate unnecessary expenses.

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee plan to markup long-awaited legislation to extend a long set of expired and soon-to-expire temporary tax breaks.

Compliance with, and capitalizing on, repair and MACRS regs

A roundup of tax news from the previous month.

Taxpayer satisfaction with personal interactions with the Internal Revenue Service remained high despite high-profile controversies in the past year.

Catch up on tax breaks we lost at the end of 2013

Whether they realize it or not, taxes ended up going up for most taxpayers last year, despite the extension of the Bush tax cuts at the beginning of last year.

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., has announced he will not seek reelection after his term ends this year.

Thomson Reuters has released a special report focusing on President Obama’s 2015 budget proposal, which includes tax proposals such as the expansion and permanent extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Research Tax Credit, a number of new international tax proposals, and a renewed push for pairing infrastructure investments with business tax reform.

Nearly half of Americans prepare their own taxes, according to a new survey, and most of them seem to be convinced they are taking advantage of all the tax breaks available.

The guidance issued by the Internal Revenue Service this week treating virtual currencies such as Bitcoin as property rather than currency for federal tax purposes may end up helping Bitcoin investors, even though it means Bitcoin users will need to be extra careful to report their transactions from now on.

The Internal Revenue Service is warning consumers to beware of a new email phishing scam in which fraudulent emails purport to come from the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service, complete with a bogus case number.

Some of our favorite recent tax fraud cases.