Tax practice

A former Internal Revenue Service revenue agent and tax preparer has pleaded guilty to charges that he tried to hire a hit man to kill four of his former clients who were scheduled to testify against him in a tax fraud case.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has signed legislation imposing a new tax on strip clubs that will be used to fund assistance to victims of sexual assault.

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan paid effective federal tax rates of 20 percent in 2011 and 15.9 percent in 2010, tax returns released Friday night show.

To maximize your accounting firm’s overall efficiency, effectiveness and productivity in researching and resolving a tax issue and determining the sustainability of a client’s tax return filing position, the appropriate tax research processes must be meticulously designed, implemented and executed.

On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission leveled charges and an emergency asset freeze on the perpetrators of an alleged $600 million Ponzi scheme that was on the verge of collapse.

"Sister, Sister" Producers Sue Accounting Firm

The IRS offers advice to recently married couples on how to avoid tension during tax time

The Obama campaign offered to stop asking for copies of Republic presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s tax returns if he would release five years’ worth in total. The Romney camp declined.

PTINdirectory.com has launched a searchable database of more than 700,000 federally-registered tax preparers. Preparers can be found by IRS-sanctioned credentials and industries, as well as by services offered and geographic criteria.

A federal court has barred a Michigan couple, Damian and Holly Jackson of Detroit, from preparing federal tax returns for others, preparing their own federal tax returns using false 1099 forms, and promoting an alleged tax-fraud scheme based on the frivolous “redemption” theory, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges and an emergency asset freeze against a Denver-based company and two Colorado residents for allegedly carrying out a $15.7 million Ponzi scheme that dragged in more than 120 investors nationwide.

Three former employees of J.P Morgan Chase Bank pled guilty in Manhattan federal court to participating in two separate tax refund schemes that used the identities of Puerto Rican citizens to obtain fraudulent tax returns.

The Tax Court has applied the “self-rental rule” to recharacterize the income that the taxpayer-owner of a trucking company received from a separate leasing company that he owned as nonpassive income.

The Internal Revenue Service has made a series of enhancements to its Preparer Tax Identification Number system.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Mitt Romney’s choice as vice presidential running mate, said he planned to release two years of tax returns to the public, even though he submitted several more years of tax returns to the Romney campaign during the vetting process.

President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign stepped up its attacks on Republican rival Mitt Romney’s tax history with a new negative ad highlighting Romney’s tenure as head of the audit committee of Marriott International during a period when the committee used a tax shelter that has since been ruled illegal.

A federal court in Central Islip, N.Y., has permanently barred a tax preparer who allegedly claimed improper Indian Employment Tax Credits for her clients.

Every year, it seems that the tax profession is faced with year-end legislation, late forms and radical changes that add to the complexity and headache of preparing a return. Despite all of the above, most practitioners realize that it’s the complexity and confusion that drives new clients their way.

CCH has upgraded its CCH Mobile app to enable CCH IntelliConnect users to access, save and send tax research using Apple iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

The Justice Department has asked a federal court in Chicago to bar Bruce E. Grant and his business, Quick Check Limited, from preparing tax returns.