Tax practice

A former Internal Revenue Service agent turned tax preparer has been accused of ordering the killings of two witnesses against him who were scheduled to testify against him for preparing bogus tax returns and stealing clients’ tax refunds.

The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division needs to strengthen its controls over the undercover operations used to detect and probe criminal tax activities, according to a new government report.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service's new software system for handling electronic tax returns has experienced problems during the tax filing season, angering some taxpayers whose refunds have been delayed.

The Internal Revenue Service’s National Tax Forums are now open for registration.

The Internal Revenue Service is providing an update on the status of the tax refund delays that plagued the agency this season.

The Internal Revenue Service is warning senior citizens, working families, church members and other potential victims to beware of an emerging tax scam that tempts them into filing fraudulent tax returns claiming bogus refunds.

The Internal Revenue Service is facing renewed pressure over its reluctance to grant tax-exempt status to political fundraising and advocacy organizations, particularly Tea Party-affiliated groups.

On April 1, the tax rate for U.S. corporations will go from second highest to the highest tax rate in the world. That’s when Japan will lower its rate by five points from its current 39.5 percent.

A self-employed New Mexico tax preparer has been sentenced to six months in prison and six months of home confinement for failing to file tax returns for four years in a row.

Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., has proposed closing a tax loophole that would give Facebook an estimated $3 billion tax break on stock options for CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The release of tax returns of presidential candidates has again brought popular media coverage of the issue of what is reasonable compensation for S corporation shareholders.

KPMG BUYS INDIRECT TAX BIZ FROM THOMSON REUTERS

If FATCA isn't keeping you awake at night, it should be, according to practitioners. Ditto for FBAR.

Every business owner knows the drill: We made a profit this year so we need to spend our cash to save on taxes. I want to challenge you to think differently this year to “save cash,” not “save taxes.”

The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs conducted a two-week-long enforcement sweep of tax preparers across the city and issued violations to one out of every three preparers it inspected, mainly for violating laws governing refund anticipation loans and disclosure of their true qualifications and fees.

The Internal Revenue Service disallowed nearly $1.6 billion in erroneous First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credits, but could have flagged even more, according to a new government report.

Now that the payroll tax cut extension is safely out of the way, the latest tax legislation gambit in Congress appears to be a tongue-in-cheek effort to provide an annual $250 tax deduction for people with mustaches.

The American Institute of CPAs told the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board at a hearing Tuesday that the IRS needs to improve its correspondence audit program to lessen the burden on taxpayers.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is allowing some extensions and exemptions to its new requirements that all FineCEN reports be filed electronically starting July 1, 2012, while pushing back the requirement for mandatory e-filing of FBAR reports until June 30, 2013.

The Internal Revenue Service is taking steps to discourage tax preparers and other taxpayer representatives from dropping off completed tax returns at its local Taxpayer Assistance Centers instead of mailing or electronically filing them.