Tax practice

A group of House Republicans whose committees have been investigating the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday they have found evidence of delays created by the IRS Chief Counsel office in the screening of applications for tax-exempt status by Tea Party groups.

The unthinkable happened to me. My office was burglarized and a computer stolen containing all of my clients’ personal information! This is my cautionary tale to my colleagues—we have become targets in the IRS identity theft epidemic.

The Internal Revenue Service told its employees and the union representing them Tuesday that it has taken various budget-related steps that will enable the IRS it to cancel the next planned unpaid furlough day for employees on Monday, July 22.

The American Institute of CPAs has written a letter to members of Congress to support legislation that would block the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2010 proposal to change its definition of fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to include appraisers of employee stock ownership plans.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is looking into findings from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration that the confidential tax records of political donors or candidates have been inappropriately accessed or disclosed in several instances since 2006 and why the Justice Department has declined to prosecute the perpetrators.

The Internal Revenue Service alerted taxpayers and tax professionals in an email Friday about an interest calculation error on certain notices mailed the weeks of July 1 and July 8.

The Internal Revenue Service said in an email to tax professionals Friday that it would begin sending letters to enrolled agents in late July when their enrollment status is being inactivated or terminated because of their failure to renew.

Thomson Reuters has released the 2013 edition of its annual Tax Planning Guide.

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., contended that the immigration reform bill approved by the Senate last month violates the Constitution because it contains revenue provisions that are supposed to originate in the House.

A man from the Houston area who was arrested late last month at an airport while attempting to flee the country was indicted Friday in the Central District of California in what authorities allege is a multimillion dollar identity theft and tax refund fraud scheme involving more than 300 victims.

House Democrats are demanding answers from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration about its report on the Internal Revenue Service’s screening of tax-exempt groups, demanding to know why some newly uncovered documents were left out of the report.

The Treasury Department said Friday that due to overwhelming interest from countries around the world, it will extend by six months the start of the withholding and account due diligence requirements of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, until July 1, 2014, to allow more time to complete agreements with foreign jurisdictions.

Seventy-nine percent of New Jersey CPAs anticipate their clients will pay more taxes in 2014 than 2013, according to a new survey.

The Internal Revenue Service has updated its static mortality tables for use by defined benefit pension plans in calculating the life expectancies of retirees.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a formal notice that officially delays the employer shared responsibility provisions of the Affordable Care Act, also known as the employer mandate, for a year and postpones the information reporting requirements.

The Internal Revenue Service reminded Boston area taxpayers Thursday and others affected by the April 15 Boston Marathon explosions that their individual income tax returns and tax payments are due Monday, July 15.

The American Institute of CPAs has sent a comment letter to the Internal Revenue Service recommending changes to final regulations (TD 9534) regarding methods of accounting to be used by corporations that acquire the assets of other corporations in certain corporate reorganizations.

The Internal Revenue Service has been consolidating several of its data centers in an effort to comply with a directive from the Office of Management and Budget to reduce data center space, cut costs, and save energy, but it needs a plan to achieve future savings goals, according to a new report.

A South Korean businessman who lost thousands of dollars in a California casino shouldn’t be taxed for each winning pull of a slot-machine lever, a U.S. appeals court found.

Unauthorized immigrants are already paying $10.6 billion a year in state and local taxes, according to a new analysis that estimates an additional $2 billion revenue increase for the 50 states and the District of Columbia if undocumented immigrants who currently in the U.S. are allowed to work legally.