Tax practice

The Internal Revenue Service will get closer to its goal of providing state-of-the-art individual taxpayer account processing and technologies if it improves the processes it follows for developing its customer account software, according to a new government report.

The Internal Revenue Service has opened the 2011 tax season by announcing that taxpayers have until April 18 to file their tax returns as a result of a Washington, D.C., holiday.

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson released her annual report to Congress on Wednesday, focusing on the need for tax reform as the No. 1 priority in tax administration.

Every few years, as regularly as clockwork, Washington starts talking about “simplifying” the Tax Code.

The American Institute of CPAs told the Internal Revenue Service that tax preparers who will be visited under the IRS’s 2011 compliance program need more information about how client confidentiality will be protected.

The American Institute of CPAs has written a letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman urging more flexibility in implementing mandatory electronic filing of tax returns by tax preparers in 2011 for individuals, trusts and estates.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers are gearing up for a fight over a bill that would repeal health care reform and the tax credits associated with the law.

CCH has published a new tax briefing that provides an overview of the key tax law developments of 2010 and their impact on taxpayers.

Significant problems remain with efforts by the Internal Revenue Service to identify and prevent tax refund fraud by prisoners after the passage of a 2008 law aimed at curbing such issues, according to a new government report.

The House Republican leadership plans to introduce rule changes that would make it harder for Congress to pass tax increases or close tax loopholes.

The Internal Revenue Service has published updated guidance on the circumstances under which tax disclosures are adequate to avoid penalties for taxpayers and preparers.

The Internal Revenue Service is aiming to provide more Fast Track Settlements to small businesses and self-employed taxpayers and retool its Offer in Compromise mediation and arbitration procedures.

The principal owner of The Kettle Black, a popular sports bar and restaurant in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1.3 million in city and state sales taxes over a five-year period.

The Internal Revenue Service released more information Thursday on the implementation of the new Treasury regulations governing tax return preparers and the new requirements to obtain a Preparer Tax Identification Number, including those who work at CPA firms.

A pair of Long Island construction contractors have been sentenced to serve prison terms and ordered to pay restitution for engaging in payroll tax schemes.

The Senate extended two funding programs for small businesses carrying out innovative technology research on the final day of the lame duck session last week, but their fate in the House remains undecided.

The Internal Revenue Service should take immediate action to strengthen its controls over the processing of refunds issued to nonresident aliens to prevent such individuals from receiving erroneous refunds, according to a new government report.

As airline passengers around the country struggle to rebook flights in the wake of the blizzard that paralyzed the Northeast this week, the Internal Revenue Service has announced the 2011 inflation adjustments to the excise taxes on air transportation.

Employees at the Internal Revenue Service surveyed tax returns with Abusive Tax Avoidance Transaction issues without management approval, according to a new report.

White House officials said President Obama would delay delivery of his fiscal year 2012 budget by about one week after February 14.