Tax practice

The American Institute of CPAs plans to support a new tax simplification bill introduced earlier this month by a pair of congressmen that would make it easier to satisfy the tax-reporting requirements of workers who are employed in multiple jurisdictions.

Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has written to White House officials questioning why big banks are benefiting from a Small Business Lending Fund that was supposed to be used to help finance small businesses.

A group of six Republican senators has written to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman asking about the agency’s recent move to impose gift taxes on donors to tax-exempt political advocacy organizations.

The Internal Revenue Service cannot determine whether taxpayers claiming Residential Energy Credits are actually entitled to them, according to a new government report that found the tax credits going to hundreds of prisoners and minors.

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman described the IRS’s efforts at improving the agency’s technology to detect tax fraud and ferret out unreported sources of income during a speech Wednesday.

Senate Democrats failed to muster enough votes to advance a bill that would have eliminated tax credits for the five largest oil and gas companies.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun sending letters to political donors asking why they didn’t report their 2008 donations on their gift tax forms.

Not all of the state legislation drawing attention from accountants this year involves taxes (see States Enact Flurry of Tax Changes). Indeed, some of the most closely watched bills hit even closer to home for the profession.

Accountants across the nation barely had time to recover from the 2011 tax season before being buried under a blizzard of new tax law changes approved by dozens of state legislatures from Harrisburg to Honolulu.

To mark Small Business Week, the Internal Revenue Service is highlighting the tax benefits and resources available to small businesses this year.

The United States reached its statutory debt limit of $14.3 trillion on Monday and the Treasury Department took steps to create additional headroom to avoid a government default.

Roni Deutch, who heavily advertised her tax problem resolution services on television, has closed her law firm and surrendered her legal license after a California judge froze her assets.

Several years before the birth of the Tea Party movement, I caught one of the local town workers stuffing my mailbox full of anti-income tax materials that included scores of inaccurate legal references and precedents where the courts agreed with a plaintiff who refused to pay taxes.

The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on the current structure of international tax rules and how they might be hampering American employers in global markets.

A long list of organizations representing small and closely held businesses sent a letter to the leaders of the tax-writing committees in Congress urging them to include them in any upcoming tax reform legislation.

A longtime promoter of abusive trust schemes designed to hide clients’ income from the IRS has been convicted of tax charges.

While Congress tackles long-term tax reform, it continues to consider and enact piecemeal legislation aimed at specific areas. As a result, there are several bills afloat that, if enacted, would impact the ability of business to do business.

A group of nearly 30 congressional Democrats has written to the leaders of the Labor Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission expressing concern over a recent proposed rule redefining the meaning of the term “fiduciary,” saying it would have a negative impact on people with Individual Retirement Accounts and other retirement and savings plans.

The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing Thursday on tax breaks for oil companies, bringing together top executives from the largest oil companies to defend their tax credits.

The IRS Oversight Board said in its annual report to Congress on Thursday that despite a successful 2010 tax filing season the agency has been challenged in the past few years to implement and administer many new tax provisions intended to bring relief to taxpayers feeling the effects of troubled economic conditions.