Tax practice

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.

An $18.7 million system that the Internal Revenue Service has developed to keep better track of the caseload in its Tax Exempt/Government Entities Division has failed to live up to its promises, according to a new report.

Approximately 51.6 million tax filers paid no federal income taxes in 2008, including some families making more than $50,000.

house, chile, earthquake, donations

The Senate has passed a bill to extend unemployment benefits through the end of the year as well as a number of tax cuts that expired at the end of last year.

Amazon.com has cut off its affiliates in Colorado in response to a new law that requires Web retailers to send a statement to their customers every year of how much tax they should be paying on their purchases.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin, D-Mich., and ranking member Dave Camp, R-Mich., have introduced legislation to allow taxpayers to claim charitable deductions in 2009 for Chilean earthquake relief.

The Internal Revenue Service intends to take several additional steps this tax season to help people who are having trouble meeting their tax obligations because of unemployment or other financial problems.

A California tax preparer who controlled two bank accounts with the same initials as the Internal Revenue Service and the state’s Franchise Tax Board has pleaded guilty to fraud and tax evasion.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance designating last month’s earthquake in Chile as a qualified disaster for federal tax purposes.

A federal appeals court has ruled that the electronic filing fees charged by Intuit, H&R Block Digital Tax Solutions, and other members of the Free File Alliance are not illegal and the IRS’s agreement with them did not violate antitrust laws.