Tax practice

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.

The Treasury Department has launched a new initiative to dramatically increase the number of electronic transactions, including quarterly tax payments, in order to reduce paperwork.

In an economy still struggling on many fronts, installment sales offer a useful tool for many taxpayers to create liquidity to buy and sell property in an otherwise "credit-sparse" environment. With correct planning, the installment method can also defer taxable gain on these sales and, therefore, provide an additional reason to commit to an installment sales strategy.

At last count, 11 parties have submitted amicus curiae briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court as it considers whether to hear an appeal from the First Circuit decision in the highly charged Textron case, which centers on a corporation's tax accrual workpapers.

COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF IRS AND FREE FILE ALLIANCE

A federal grand jury has indicted a California tax preparer on charges of tax evasion and possession of stolen government money after he was accused of stealing over $320,000 in tax refunds.

The First-Time Homebuyer Credit turned the 2010 tax filing season into a briar patch for the Internal Revenue Service, a frustrating experience for many taxpayers, and a new opportunity for scammers to rip-off the public, an IRS official told Congress.

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service have filed charges against seven individuals who collectively hid over $100 million in secret bank accounts at the Swiss bank UBS.

The Senate has approved a two-month extension of eligibility for unemployment benefits and tax credits to help cover the cost of health insurance premiums for the unemployed.

Internal accounting errors by the Internal Revenue Service reduced federal funding available for unemployment benefits by $63 million, according to a new report.

Recent tax law changes continue to bedevil the Internal Revenue Service, according to a new government report on tax season.