Tax practice

As tax season enters its last two weeks, the IRS has offered a number of tips on how taxpayers can make sure that their charitable gifts also lower their tax liability.

Preparers share more of their favorite promotional tips

Major new requirements and obligations under the Affordable Care Act go into effect in 2014. Many individuals and employers are only vaguely aware of them; fewer still appear to be aware of how to react.

Highlights of tax news from the previous month

Worker classification has long been an area only vaguely understood by many employers.

The widely followed R&D Tax Credit case involving Union Carbide Corporation and the cost of supplies used during production has finally come to an end. On March 18, the Supreme Court denied review of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision, which had affirmed the earlier Tax Court ruling.

With the clock ticking down to April 15, Ernst & Young is offering taxpayers some last-minute tips if they haven’t yet filed their taxes.

The Internal Revenue Service is expanding a program nationwide to help law enforcement get access to tax return data.

Amazon.com Inc., the world’s biggest online retailer, and discount Internet seller Overstock.com Inc. lost a challenge to New York’s Internet sales tax law as the state’s highest court rejected their arguments that it was unconstitutional.

The top 10 issues that are most likely to prompt an indirect tax audit, when uncovered, according to the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters:

The Internal Revenue Service has reduced the amount of time it is estimating it will take to process hundreds of thousands of delayed tax returns claiming refunds from education tax credits.

A federal appeals court has refused to lift an injunction by a lower court against the Internal Revenue Service’s tax preparer regulation regime.

The U.S. Supreme Court will use a case involving billionaire Billy Joe “Red” McCombs to decide whether the federal government can impose hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties for the use of abusive tax shelters.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said that a new cooperative effort between the IRS and business taxpayers to conduct real-time audits is receiving positive feedback.

While its figures for the overall season were flat, Intuit reported today that from January 30 through March 16, sales of TurboTax Online units increased 29 percent versus the comparable prior-year period, and that total TurboTax federal units were up 26 percent in the same span.

The Internal Revenue Service has released its annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams, advising taxpayers to be aware of identity theft, phishing scams and several other red flags that can cause financial mayhem.

The Internal Revenue Service has stepped up its examinations in the past year of taxpayers with high adjusted gross incomes, according to newly released IRS figures.

The U.S. has asked Liechtenstein to hand over data on foundations that may have been used to hide untaxed American money from the Internal Revenue Service, a step that may threaten Swiss banks.

Back in 1925, a taxpayer won the first case in the Board of Tax Appeals involving the deduction for horse-breeding activity expenses. Deducting expenses related to the “sport of kings” was so attractive that the estate of Cornelius Vanderbilt tried, and lost, two years later. In the intervening 88 years, about 200 taxpayers have litigated the issue, most with unattractive results. The IRS and the courts have essentially told taxpayers to “stop horsing around.”

The Senate narrowly passed a budget for the first time in four years on a mostly party line vote, calling for $975 billion in additional tax revenue over the next 10 years along with state sales tax collections on online sales.