Tax practice

The Internal Revenue Service will be sending out newly redesigned, less confusing notices to taxpayers that aim to improve the way it corresponds with its core constituency.

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman has decided against coming up with rules on the taxation of employer-provided cell phones and said the IRS would instead wait for congressional legislation.

Sometimes, being too quick to take advantage of a tax break from Congress can turn out to be a very bad thing.

1. What are the top challenges facing tax return preparers this tax season?

1. What are the top challenges facing tax return preparers this tax season?

The economic crisis and the downfall of the real estate market spurred a slew of tax law changes that will impact the upcoming filing season.

Tax return preparers who claim inflated personal or business expenses, false deductions, unallowable credits or excessive exemptions on returns prepared for their clients are a major concern for the Internal Revenue Service during the upcoming filing season, according to a spokesman for the service.

With each new year comes a wave of new technologies aimed at helping tax preparers work more efficiently through tax season.

While the shape of tax policy remains uncertain in some areas - at press time, Congress was considering a wide range of tax bills, including changes to the estate tax regime, and the extension of a number of tax credits and deductions, among other things - there are a few areas of certainty.

HOUSE APPROVES 45% ESTATE TAX EXTENSION

The ongoing economic downturn offers accountants the opportunity to extend their reach and help their clients at a time when they are most needed.

Attorney General Eric Holder said a newly established government task force would crack down on the kinds of financial fraud that led to the Madoff Ponzi scheme and other losses.

The Obama administration is handing out $2.3 billion in Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits for clean energy projects to provide jobs across the U.S. after announcing a disappointing employment report for December.

On the heels of the IRS’s plan to begin regulating tax preparers, the Justice Department announced that it has filed six lawsuits this week to stop preparers charged with generating fraudulent income tax returns.

The Internal Revenue Service proposals for registration, testing and continuing education of tax preparers has won praise from most stakeholders.

A former Internal Revenue Service employee has pleaded guilty to one count of receiving a bribe.

A San Fernando tax preparer has pleaded guilty to charges that she filed false tax returns and stole her clients’ refund checks.

A UBS banking client who pleaded guilty to concealing $6.1 million in secret Swiss bank accounts has been sentenced to five years’ probation, even as the whistleblower who helped expose the UBS tax evasion scheme is set to begin a prison term Friday.

The Internal Revenue Service said new user fees now apply to exemption applications for tax-exempt organizations, ruling requests and other matters for 2010.

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson said the IRS needs to do better than answering only 71 percent of the calls it receives from taxpayers, and it should stop filing tax liens against people who don’t have the ability to pay.