Tax practice

A pilot program aimed at providing tax refunds on prepaid debit cards ran into a series of problems before the Treasury Department ultimately discontinued it.

The IRS is providing tax relief to individuals and businesses affected by Hurricane Isaac.

The Internal Revenue Service is providing tax relief to individuals and businesses that were affected by Hurricane Isaac, which ravaged the Gulf Coast last week.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued new procedures to help nonresident U.S. taxpayers, including dual Canadian citizens, comply with U.S. tax laws even if they have previously undeclared foreign bank accounts.

CFOs at multinational companies are beginning to change their minds about using tax policy as a way out of the economic doldrums.

A Bloomfield, N.J., tax return preparer has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for preparing returns with false deductions to secure large refunds for clients.

A federal court has permanently barred tax lawyer Scott A. Waage of San Diego and his law firm from providing tax advice and from preparing federal tax returns for others.

As hurricane season begins, the IRS directs preparers and taxpayers to its disaster-planning primer designed to help preserve tax records before and after catastrophes.

Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting has acquired the assets of BSI, a provider of international tax, legal, business and investment information.

The Internal Revenue Service is making changes in its letter-forwarding program and no longer intends to try to locate a missing taxpayer who may be entitled to a retirement plan payment or other financial benefit.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service is revising the criteria it uses to accept cases from taxpayers who are having trouble dealing with the Internal Revenue Service to cut down on its caseload.

Congress has a lot of tax issues on its plate between now and the end of the year.

Recent tax news

Proponents of states' ability to require remote vendors to collect and hand over sales tax are positioning themselves for hoped-for legislative action before the end of the year.

California’s State Board of Equalization is warning that beginning Sept. 15, a new law will take effect expanding the types of out-of-state retailers who are required to register with the board and requires them to begin collecting and remitting use tax on sales of tangible personal property to California consumers.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney told an enthusiastic Republican National Convention that unlike his rival Barack Obama, he would not raise taxes on small businesses or the middle class.

The Internal Revenue Service took the wraps off its new Web site Thursday, with new navigation and language features.

The American Institute of CPAs has written a letter to Internal Revenue Service Commission Doug Shulman saying that new interim about how taxpayers must apply for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers for 2011 returns are burdensome and may prevent some taxpayers from getting the documentation they need to qualify for an ITIN.

The experience for new employees at the Internal Revenue Service is not always positive, even though the IRS has taken steps to improve the onboarding process, according to a new report.

The IRS has completed its six-city swing through America, with forums staged in Orlando, Atlanta, San Diego, Las Vegas, Chicago and New York.