Tax practice

Tax strategy patents have been around for more than a decade, ever since a federal appeals court in 1998 validated business method patents, including tax strategies.

The Justice Department has filed six lawsuits in five states to stop tax return preparers from fraudulently claiming the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The city of San Francisco is reportedly considering offering Twitter massive tax breaks to keep the growing social media company from moving outside the city to nearby Brisbane.

The Internal Revenue Service has done a turnaround on the deductibility of breast pumps as medical expenses.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to begin accepting tax returns with itemized deductions and other delayed forms after 11:00 am next Monday.

The Internal Revenue Service has made little improvement in reducing improper Earned Income Tax Credit payments since 2002, when it was first required to report estimates of these payments to Congress, according to a new government report.

The Obama administration is expected to propose a way for states to raise more money in payroll taxes to pay for the cost of unemployment insurance.

A group of 10 Senate Democrats has written to Speaker of the House John Boehner and other House leaders asking them to reduce the budget deficit by eliminating unneeded subsidies and tax breaks for oil companies.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun a new voluntary disclosure program aimed at convincing more taxpayers to tell the U.S. government about any funds they have been hiding in foreign bank accounts.

The five states with the highest combined state and local tax rates are Tennessee at 9.44 percent, California at 9.08 percent, Arizona at 9.01 percent, Louisiana at 8.69 percent and Washington at 8.64 percent, according to a new report.

There are many important new tax breaks for U.S. individuals on the 2010 Form 1040, and several more have been eliminated, noted one tax expert.

U.S. taxation of international operations and financial statement disclosure issues were the top two concerns of leading corporate tax executives, according to a new survey.

President Obama urged business leaders to begin creating jobs and taking advantage of the tax breaks offered by his administration during a speech Monday at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

A Mississippi woman has pleaded guilty to paying $2,000 in cash to an IRS employee in an attempt to get her federal tax liability reduced.

A Southern California tax preparer was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges that he helped clients claim more than $3.6 million in fraudulent refunds.

The Internal Revenue Service has published final regulations on how to treat the sale or exchange of a musical composition or of the copyright in a musical work.

After prodding by a group of senators and an embarrassing report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Internal Revenue Service has signed an agreement with the Bureau of Prisons to end fraudulent tax returns filed by prisoners.

The new cost basis reporting rules won’t affect this year’s returns, but they are already in effect.

The American Institute of CPAs is providing a checklist developed by leading CPA financial planners to help accountants identify financial planning opportunities during tax season.

President Obama urged businesses to make their buildings more energy efficient and called on Congress to provide tax incentives to help.