Tax practice

The Senate has unanimously approved a clarification to the Federal Trade Commission’s oft-delayed Red Flags rule after lobbying by the American Institute of CPAs and a variety of state CPA societies.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin, D-Mich., introduced legislation Wednesday that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts only for those making less than $250,000 a year, and provide a two-year AMT patch.

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman has written to congressional leaders informing them that he has directed the IRS’s technology team to reprogram its computers with the assumption that the Alternative Minimum Tax will be patched by the end of the year.

One promising sign of President Obama’s meeting with congressional leaders Tuesday was that he didn’t emerge with his lip bleeding from a fresh elbow jab in the face.

The Senate failed Tuesday to pass legislation to continue eligibility for federal unemployment benefits for one year.

President Obama met with congressional leaders on Tuesday to discuss the fate of the Bush tax cuts, along with other tax extender items and the extension of unemployment benefits.

The Internal Revenue Service could unearth as much as $1.3 billion in unpaid taxes, penalties and interest by making better use of currency report data to identify taxpayers with potentially unreported income, according to a new government report.

The Senate voted Monday evening on a competing pair of amendments to repeal the expanded 1099 information reporting requirements that were included in the health care reform bill, but failed for the second time this fall to roll back the controversial requirements.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., introduced legislation Monday to continue for one year eligibility for federal unemployment insurance benefits for jobless workers.

The Internal Revenue Service has published revenue procedures setting forth the discount factors that property and casualty insurance companies can use for accidents and other types of claims this year.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance to manufacturers and importers of branded prescription drugs on the annual fee imposed by the health care reform bill.

I was always convinced that the quickest way to start an inflamed argument was to broach one of two topics: politics or religion.

President Obama described his negotiating position on the soon-to-expire Bush tax cuts during a visit to a Chrysler transmission plant in Indiana.

The Internal Revenue Service is increasing its oversight of taxpayers with foreign financial assets and collecting four times as much in penalties, according to a new government report.

The incoming Congress already appears intent on weakening the financial reform legislation passed by the outgoing Congress.

The Internal Revenue Service has selected seven new members and a chairman for the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee.

California’s Franchise Tax Board said it would no longer directly mail tax booklets to taxpayers in the Golden State, as more taxpayers and preparers migrate to electronic filing.

A group of 45 millionaires has signed a letter to President Obama urging him to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire for those earning over $1 million a year.

Warren Buffett said that wealthy people should be paying “a lot more” money in taxes, and that the Bush tax cuts should expire for “people at the high end.”

The Senate has approved funding for a $3.4 billion settlement in a long-running dispute involving the mismanagement of Indian Trust lands and the federal government’s failure to provide a regular accounting for the beneficiary trust funds and assets.