Tax practice

Two weeks after Goldman Sachs was charged by theSecurities and Exchange Commission for fraud, federal prosecutors have begun aninvestigation into the banking giant according to sources.

In comments submitted to the Internal Revenue Service,the National Society of Accountants supported the agency's proposed taxpreparer registration requirements, but suggested broadening them to includeeven more preparers.

The economic realities of budget shortfalls faced bygovernments worldwide will accelerate a shift toward indirect taxes such asvalue-added taxes and present new risks, challenges and opportunities for U.S.businesses operating globally, predicts a new report from KPMG LLP.

JPMorgan Chase has begun sending out notices to approximately 13,000 independent tax preparers that it is exiting the refund anticipation loan business.

The initial meeting of the White House deficit commission kicked off as a bipartisan panel considered ways to curb the growing federal budget deficit and the national debt.

The IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division needs to improve the way it manages the criminal tax investigations it refers to the Justice Department for prosecution, according to a new government report.

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.

A former UBS client who claimed he hid his money in a Swiss bank account because of his parents’ experiences fleeing the Nazis was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

An Arkansas tax attorney and an Oklahoma businessman he represented have each been sentenced to 15 years in prison for their involvement in a tax fraud scheme.

The Internal Revenue Service is helping spread the word that the COBRA subsidy eligibility period has been extended to May 31.

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 Internal Revenue Service is reportedly investigating Florida senatorial candidate Marco Rubio’s use of a Republican Party credit card.

An IRS employee has been ordered to pay back taxes and penalties after she sold over $36,000 worth of merchandise on eBay without reporting it on her tax returns.

A change in the structure of the taxation of carried interest, passed by the House last December and included in the Obama administration budget for 2011, is becoming more likely as the Senate searches for revenue offsets.

President Barack Obama visited the Great Hall at Cooper Union in New York to call on Wall Street executives to stop fighting efforts in the Senate to pass financial regulatory reform.

The Senate Agriculture Committee has approved bipartisan legislation that would require derivatives to be traded on regulated exchanges and cleared through central clearinghouses, advancing the financial regulatory reform effort.

The Senate Finance Committee held the first of a series of hearings on the Obama administration’s proposal to tax financial institutions in order to recoup losses from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The Internal Revenue Service has released a draft schedule and instructions for corporations to report uncertain tax positions on their tax returns.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun mailing postcards to more than 4 million small businesses and tax-exempt organizations to make them aware of the benefits of the recently enacted small business health care tax credit.

President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force has introduced a new Web site to educate Americans about how to protect themselves from fraud and report instances of fraud.