Tax practice

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.

Complaints from Internal Revenue Service employees that supervisors urged them to ignore potential fraud in a program that reviews and verifies applications for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers have been validated in a new report.

A new Web site offers taxpayers free access to answers from local tax professionals who pay to be listed in its search engine.

Two defendants who received hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent tax refunds have pleaded guilty in federal court.

An inmate at a Missouri prison has pleaded guilty to preparing false tax returns for his fellow inmates.

With record-setting temperatures across the country this summer reminding people that the weather has been getting pretty hot lately, it was only a matter of time before the notion of imposing carbon taxes would return to the heads of policy makers.

A group of 10 Republican senators have written a letter to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman urging him to resist changing regulations for tax-exempt organizations organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the Tax Code.

The Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday that effective Oct. 1, 2012, applications to become an IRS e-file provider must be submitted online.

The House approved legislation last week that would allow federal employees with seriously delinquent tax debts to be terminated.

President Barack Obama criticized Republican rival Mitt Romney’s tax reform plans during a campaign appearance, referring to them as “Robin Hood in reverse” and “Romney Hood.”

Jackson Hewitt Tax Service has unveiled a mid-year list of top areas taxpayers should be considering or have pointed out to then by preparers to help put them in a better position when filing their tax returns next April.