Tax practice

It’s getting near the end of the year, and ’tis the season to be compiling lists.

The owner of New York bagel maker H&H Bagels has been indicted and arrested for stealing withholding taxes and evading unemployment insurance tax in connection with his wholesale and retail bagel business.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., introduced the Senate’s version of the health care reform bill, which includes a new 5 percent tax on elective cosmetic surgery.

Approximately 203,000 taxpayers erroneously claimed a total of over $300 million in Hope Credits for higher education in 2006, and over 169,000 claimed over $232 million in credits, according to a new report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

Over 14,700 holders of foreign bank accounts told the Internal Revenue Service about the existence of the accounts under a voluntary disclosure program.

President Obama has established an interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force that will work with state and local authorities to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes.

A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate and House would reduce the penalties assessed by the IRS on tax shelter investments by small businesses to put them in proportion with the tax benefits received.

The Making Work Pay Credit, a tax credit that was a signature part of President Obama’s economic stimulus package in February, could lead to more than 15.4 million people owing additional taxes, according to a new government report.

Limited liability companies continue to grow in popularity as a choice of business entity. The combination of limited liability, pass-through tax treatment if partnership treatment is elected, ability of members to be actively involved in the management of the business, and lack of many of the restrictions imposed on S corporations have made it a very attractive form of entity.

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The conversion to International Financial Reporting Standards, coupled with the movement towards fair value accounting and Congress' need for revenue, could result in the repeal of the last-in/first-out, or LIFO, method of inventory accounting.

WASHINGTON, D.C.-About a quarter of all sole-proprietor businesses report losses on their tax returns, but many are doing so by understating their income or overstating their expenses, leading to billions of dollars in lost tax revenue, according to a new government report.

Washington, D.C.-Tax rate brackets and various tax benefits will remain unchanged or change only slightly in 2010 due to low inflation, and many pension plan limitations will remain unchanged, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS has decided not to assess extra employment taxes for 2004 to 2006 on FedEx for the delivery drivers that the company considers to be independent contractors.

The Internal Revenue Service has released guidance to employers paying wages to nonresident alien employees for services performed within the U.S.

President Barack Obama said Thursday he plans to hold a forum in December at the White House on jobs and economic growth.

Although I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, and I would have to get very lucky very soon to be concerned with the estate tax rate, it has always seemed an unfair proposition to tax a person or business when it is most vulnerable.

CCH has added Smart Charts, checklists and decision trees to its Business Entity Planning Library to provide further guidance to tax practitioners analyzing and comparing the entities used by small- and midsized businesses.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has disallowed a “midco” tax shelter, becoming the first appellate court to disallow one.

Government tax authorities around the world are requiring multinational companies to provide more documentation to support their transfer pricing strategies as countries seek additional tax revenue.