Tax practice

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.

Micro Focus, a company that provides software for modernizing enterprise applications, has been awarded a contract by the Internal Revenue Service.

As 2010 winds to a close, tax and accounting information and software provider CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, has released a short list of four tax-planning moves for companies to make the most of current federal tax laws.

Congressman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., faces censure from his colleagues in the House for ethical violations involving taxes, unreported income and other matters.

The Government Accountability Office has produced a report looking at the tax compliance benefits and costs of 1099-MISC information reporting, which has been expanded under the health care reform bill.

House Republicans blocked a three-month extension of unemployment benefits, which are set to expire on Nov. 30.

The IRS Advisory Council has released a report criticizing the IRS’s revised schedule for reporting uncertain tax positions and its plans to regulate non-signing tax preparers.

The Internal Revenue Service is looking to return $164.6 million in undelivered refund checks.

Democratic lawmakers in the House have introduced legislation to extend unemployment benefits for three months until the end of February.

The meeting on the Bush tax cuts between President Barack Obama and congressional leaders that was scheduled for Thursday has been postponed until Nov. 30 at the request of Republican congressional leaders, who cited “scheduling conflicts.”

Senate Finance Committee ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has asked the Government Accountability Office to analyze who benefits from the federal Build America Bonds program, and the proportion of tax dollars that go to Wall Street banks for fees rather than for the infrastructure projects themselves.