Tax practice

New York Yankees co-owner and managing partner Hal Steinbrenner prevailed in a lawsuit brought by the Internal Revenue Service seeking to recover $670,494 from what the government alleged was an unwarranted tax refund.

The Internal Revenue Service, under a congressional microscope for conference spending and improper scrutiny of small-government groups, has fired fewer workers for misconduct this year than at any time since 2002.

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has sent a letter to committee chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., urging him to stop making unsubstantiated allegations about the IRS Tea Party targeting scandal being traced back to the White House.

The Internal Revenue Service reminded tax professionals Monday that its offices will be closed on June 14, July 5, July 22 and August 30 due to the current budget situation, and the closure will also affect the IRS’s Modernized eFile System.

The Internal Revenue Service said in an email to tax professionals Friday that it plans to retire and remove its Disclosure Authorization and Electronic Account Resolution applications from its online eServices on August 11, largely because of low usage and budget cuts.

The House Ways and Means Committee plans to hold a hearing next Thursday on the use of tax havens by multinational corporations to shift their profits.

While generally notices and other communications from the IRS are considered received by the taxpayer if they are delivered to the home by certified mail and signed for, such was not the case with a Letter 1153, received by and signed for by the taxpayer’s son but ultimately determined not to have made its final step on its journey from the IRS into the taxpayer’s hands.

The Internal Revenue Service executive who portrayed Spock in the agency’s Star Trek video parody apologized to lawmakers for inappropriate spending on a $4.1 million conference in 2010.

ADP said Thursday that it has helped U.S. businesses find more than $1.4 billion in tax credits in 2012.

George M. Cohan (1878 – 1942) is known to the public as the composer of classic songs like “Give My Regards to Broadway” and “You’re A Grand Old Flag.” To the entertainment business he is one of the legends of Tin Pan Alley and founders of ASCAP. However, to tax lawyers and accountants he is revered due to Cohan v. Commissioner, 39 F. 2d 540 (2d Cir. 1930).

The Internal Revenue Service placed two employees on leave for accepting free food during a party at a 2010 agency conference that will be the subject of a congressional hearing today.

Several factors have led an increasing number of states to implement specialized state tax tribunals to resolve state tax controversies.

A partisan divide is developing on how U.S. lawmakers view Internal Revenue Service actions, with Republicans seeing intimidation of their allies and Democrats citing agency mistakes and mismanagement.

The Internal Revenue Service is exploring ways to improve its verification process before issuing tax refunds, but it needs to do a better job of managing the risks, according to a new government report.

Senior tax professionals are most worried about the prospects for U.S federal business tax reform and the heightened regulatory environment in transfer pricing, according to a new survey by KPMG.

The Internal Revenue Service’s Small Business and Self-Employed division spent $4.1 million on a conference in Anaheim, Calif., in 2010 that included questionable expenses for planning trips, outside speakers, video productions, and promotional items and gifts for IRS employees, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

The Internal Revenue Service announced the selection Tuesday of several senior leaders to assist newly appointed Acting Commissioner Danny Werfel.

Acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Danny Werfel told lawmakers he is working to restore trust in the beleaguered U.S. tax agency and said he wants to make improvements before pressing for a bigger budget.

The Tax Court sided with a taxpayer after the IRS Appeals Office sustained the filing of a notice of federal tax lien against the property of the taxpayer, Antonio Lepore, to collect assessed trust fund recovery penalties for unpaid unemployment taxes. Lepore argued that the Appeals Office erred because it did not permit him to contest his liability for the trust fund recovery penalties on which the assessments were based. A person who has received a Letter 1153 from the IRS has already had an opportunity to contest trust fund recovery penalties, and is barred from contesting the liabilities before the Appeals Office in the context of its determination to sustain the filing of a notice of federal tax lien.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has suspended trading in 61 microcap shell companies in an effort to prevent stock fraud, in the second largest trading suspension in the history of the SEC.