Tax practice

President Obama has signed legislation that provides employers with tax incentives to hire unemployed workers.

The House Ways and Means Committee has approved legislation to provide tax relief to small businesses and extend financing measures for creating jobs.

One week after California CPA Phil Liberatore announced he was running for a congressional seat in that state's 42nd district, former New York lawmaker and Arthur Andersen partner Joseph DioGuardi announced he is challenging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., for her Senate seat.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will offer amnesty to those who owe back state taxes, for only the second time in its history.

The Senate has approved legislation that provides companies with a payroll tax exemption for hiring new employees.

The Internal Revenue Service has been making good on its promises to step up its audits of wealthy taxpayers, and sites like Facebook could be a big help.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued its annual list of common tax scams to avoid, with tax preparer fraud and phishing schemes topping the list.

Calls to the Internal Revenue Service’s toll-free phone lines for tax help may exceed the agency’s projections this tax season.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin, D-Mich., has unveiled a draft of a new bill that would provide tax incentives to small businesses to spur job creation.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., has released a draft version of the financial regulatory reform legislation that he has been working to write since the House passed its own legislation last December.

Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., has introduced legislation to encourage small business investment and job creation by expanding the research and development tax credit.

The first piece of tax legislation likely to emerge from Congress in 2010 is expected to be focused on job creation. The House passed a bill at the end of 2009, and the Senate is crafting a response as we go to press. It appears unlikely at this point that the Senate will adopt the House bill.

OBAMA PROPOSES SMALL-BIZ TAX CUT

Despite its significant tax increases, President Obama's 2011 $3.8 trillion budget plan contains a number of revenue provisions calculated to encourage business expansion and move the economy upward.

A group of senators has asked executives overseeing the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to account for the high salaries, perks, executive retirement plans and lobbying expenses at the nonprofit group.

The Internal Revenue Service is collecting information on approximately 20 Swiss banks, according a letter from UBS, one of the main banks it has been investigating.

Two IRS Service Center employees in Covington, Ky., were charged in a 29-count indictment with stealing thousands of dollars in money orders.

An IRS employee in the U.S. Virgin Islands and her husband have been charged with filing 32 false federal tax returns using the names of friends and family members.

Phil Liberatore, a CPA and the founder of a business called IRS Problem Solvers, has launched a congressional campaign challenging a Republican incumbent from the right.

The Treasury and Energy Departments, along with the IRS, said billions of dollars in government investment grants for smart grid technology would be non-taxable, paving the way for the technology to move forward.