Tax practice

An IRS agent has been charged withsoliciting and accepting a $9,700 bribe from two business owners in exchangefor lowering the amount of taxes they owed.

The Internal Revenue Service will hosta webinar on tax preparer registration this Wednesday, June 9, at 2 p.m. EST.

Following earlier announcements foretelling their arrival, the Internal Revenue Service, with Announcement 2010-30 on April 19, 2010, released a draft schedule, Form UTP, and instructions for reporting uncertain tax positions. The IRS hopes to finalize the schedule and instructions for the 2010 tax year after comments are evaluated on the proposals. Comments were due by June 1, 2010.

The Internal Revenue Service has provided guidance on how tax-free health insurance coverage should now be provided for employees' children who are under 27 years of age under the recently passed health care reform law.

An estimated 1.2 million tax returns filed in 2007 reported wages earned by taxpayers who used another taxpayer's Social Security number, according to a new government report.

The first set of proposed regulations on preparer registration requirements has generated a host of comments from several of the major tax professional organizations.

U.S. TO PURSUE MORE OFFSHORE TAX EVADERS

The State of California, struggling with a $19 billion budget deficit, is considering legalizing and taxing marijuana in a referendum on the November ballot.

The Swiss Parliament’s upper house voted Thursday in favor of Switzerland’s deal with the U.S. government to share the identities of 4,450 U.S. clients of UBS with numbered bank accounts.

Both the American Institute of CPAs and the American Bar Association Tax Section have told the Internal Revenue Service it should withdraw its proposed rule that would require companies with more than $10 million in total assets to disclose uncertain tax positions on the new Schedule UTP, Uncertain Tax Position Statement.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a private letter ruling recognizing California’s community property laws in regard to the tax treatment of registered domestic partners, potentially benefiting same-sex couples.

The Supreme Court unanimously reversed a federal appeals court decision in a case challenging Ohio’s taxation of independent marketers of natural gas, and said the case should be tried in state court.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., wants to put a stop to U.S. companies that transfer customer service calls halfway around the world.

The House approved a bill to extend many expiring and expired tax breaks through the end of the year, as well as extend unemployment insurance benefits through the end of November.

Although we’ve been waiting for an “extenders” bill for some time, the one now before the Ways and Means Committee contains some controversial provisions that have generated quick and vociferous opposition.

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 new survey of CFOs and senior comptrollers by Grant Thornton LLP.

CCH has undertaken a nationwide research project on the sales and use tax treatment of drop shipment transactions, and used the information to update its tax research.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun mailing out questionnaires to 401(k) plan sponsors to assess compliance with retirement plan regulations.

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman defended the increased amount of information reporting that the agency will be expecting from businesses in the next few years.

A top Internal Revenue Service official outlined the agency’s plans for tax preparer registration and testing at the National Society of Accountants’ board of directors meeting.