Tax practice

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has launched an investigation into the tax practices of Transocean Ltd., the owner of the offshore drilling rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico this past April, leading to the disastrous oil spill.

The Senate has introduced a bill aimed at helping small businesses access credit and capital and create jobs.

A set of tax provisions that are scheduled to expire at the end of this year will change the tax landscape for many investors who will need advice on how to adjust.

The House voted Tuesday to extend the closing deadline for taxpayers seeking the Homebuyer Tax Credit.

After the Senate failed three times last week to pass the mammoth tax extenders and unemployment benefits extension bill last week, the House and Senate have introduced stand-alone bills to extend unemployment benefits.

A dentist who owned a company that specialized in financial planning and aggressive tax management for medical professionals was found guilty of two felony counts of filing false tax returns after he claimed a charitable deduction for donating $800,000 in stock to his own nonprofit foundation.

A California man who fraudulently received stock as compensation from American Fire Retardant Corporation and subsequently sold the stock, was sentenced Monday morning to 18 months in federal prison after being convicted of conspiracy and subscribing to a false tax return.

H&R Block reported a decline in its fiscal 2010 net income, attributing it to a drop in its tax season business as a result of the economy, while its rival Jackson Hewitt reported that it had received a warning about its listing on the NYSE, also brought on by tax season problems.

Senate Democrats may be forced to set aside tax extenders and unemployment benefits legislation after they were unable to overcome a Republican-led filibuster for the third time.

A House and Senate conference committee has put the finishing touches to the financial regulatory reform bill.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance to individuals and businesses affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and announced new efforts to help affected taxpayers, including a special Gulf Coast Assistance Day on July 17.

An overwhelming majority of senior financial executives say their tax department’s top priority is not tax savings or their effective rate, but timely and accurate tax return and financial reporting, according to a national survey of CFOs and senior comptrollers conducted by Grant Thornton LLP.

Senate Democrats have introduced the latest version of their mammoth tax extenders and unemployment benefits extension legislation, further modifying provisions such as the taxation of carried interest of hedge fund managers and private equity firm partners and reducing the cost to under $110 billion in part by scaling back Medicaid aid to states.

Top companies were able to dramatically reduce their corporate risk profile, and maintain compliance with sales and use taxes and value-added taxes, by leveraging automated tax management tools, ranging from tax calculation engines, filing and remittance systems, to audit control solutions, according to a new report.

Nearly 1,300 prisoners claimed over $9 million in First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credits, according to a new government report.

Gulf Coast residents contending with the oil washing up on their shores could find that the checks from BP come with a few mucky strings attached.

The Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters has integrated the latest tax holidays into its Sabrix sales and use tax solutions.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has sent a letter to Congress in support of reinstating lapsed tax provisions that require polluters to pay for the Superfund for environmental cleanup.

An Internal Revenue Service agent has been indicted in a federal court for soliciting and accepting a $9,700 bribe from the co-owners of a Minnesota business in exchange for lowering the amount of taxes they owed to the IRS.

Peter Orszag, the White House Budget Director and one of the driving forces behind the passage of the $787 billion economic stimulus package, will step down from his post.