Tax practice

The Internal Revenue Service has added new lines to the Schedule M-3 for research and development costs and Section 118 exclusions.

The Internal Revenue Service has released a draft Form W-2 for 2011, which employers use to report wages and employee tax withholding.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued final regulations under a law change that will require reporting of basis and other information by stock brokers and mutual fund companies for most stock purchased in 2011 and all stock purchased in 2012 and later years, making it easier for investors to report their gains and losses next year on their tax returns.

The average U.S. state sales tax rate increased to a record average of 5.52 percent in the first nine months of 2010, the highest level since at least 1982, according to a new report.

The Internal Revenue Service continues to prepare the rollout for the registration of return preparers, with the first step being Preparer Tax Identification Numbers, followed by testing and continuing education requirements. Although the rules with respect to practice before the IRS as set forth in IRS Publication 947 are not changing, there continues to be a great deal of confusion, which will only be increased by the new registration requirements.

IRS RELEASES HEALTH CARE TAX CREDIT FORM

While some states are now passing legislation that favors lenders, at the same time there are tantalizing federal and state tax benefits being offered to distressed homeowners who are facing foreclosure or considering short-selling.

Brooklyn attorney William Halby has lost his latest try at deducting his expenses for prostitutes, erotic massages, and pornography from his tax returns.

Four members of Congress have written to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman asking him to investigate potential tax irregularities by three tax-exempt groups that run college football bowl championships.

Father and son hotel developers were convicted of tax fraud after they were accused of concealing more than $150 million in assets and failing the report $49 million in income.

Watchdog groups Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center have called on the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether Crossroads GPS, a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization reportedly founded by former George W. Bush advisors Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie, is operating in violation of its tax status.

With the IRS hearings scheduled for today on the proposed Circular 230 regulations on education and testing of tax return preparers, it’s becoming somewhat confusing to remember just where we are in the process of registering preparers.

Patrice Tierney, the wife of Rep. John F. Tierney, D-Mass., has pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns in connection with an offshore Internet gambling scheme.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, criticized the U.S. Small Business Administration after it missed a deadline to send comments to the Treasury Department and the IRS about a controversial new 1099 reporting requirement for businesses.

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal judge has halted the business operations of American Tax Relief, a company that heavily advertised its ability to help taxpayers who were in trouble with the IRS and allegedly bilked consumers out of more than $60 million by falsely claiming it could reduce their tax debts.

The Internal Revenue Service is preparing for the potential transition of U.S. publicly held companies to International Financial Reporting Standards and the impact IFRS will have on tax administration, according to a new government report.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has agreed to the request from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, and six other committee members to conduct an investigation of whether Obama Administration officials illegally accessed and disclosed confidential taxpayer information involving a particular taxpayer.

The IRS plans to take a closer look at businesses that don't file their tax returns, and identify more of them.

The Internal Revenue Service is getting the word out to employers about a provision in the recently passed Small Business Jobs Act that allows them to amend their 401(k) or 403(b) plans to allow participants to transfer an eligible rollover distribution into a Roth 401(k) or 403(b) account.

The dog days of summer are ending and the 2010 tax season isn’t far behind.