Tax practice

The Internal Revenue Service plans to hold the last of its public forums on improving tax preparer standards at the end of the month, featuring panelists from the tax software industry and unenrolled preparers.

A federal grand jury has indicted an Arizona accountant and an attorney for participating in an offshore tax shelter scheme.

Linda Stiff, the former acting commissioner of the IRS, plans to retire this fall.

The Internal Revenue Service has opened a new section of its Web site dedicated to various back-to-school tax breaks for college savings and tuition credits.

The IRS’s use of computer formulas is paying off for the agency, improving productivity and picking out returns that taxpayers agree to settle for the recommended additional amounts.

The U.S. and Monaco have signed a tax information exchange agreement to allow the two countries to share information on tax matters, including bank accounts used to stash money abroad.

The IRS faces challenges in recruitment, training and retention of employees to replace the increasing number of employees who are eligible to retire, according to a new report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission “never took the necessary and basic steps” that would have led to the agency uncovering Bernard L. Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme, according to the full report issued Friday by the agency’s Inspector-General.

H&R Block reported a consolidated net loss for the first quarter of $133.6 million, or 40 cents a share, with much of the loss attributed to tax operations.

Former All-Star baseball pitcher Jerry Koosman received a six-month sentence for not paying his federal income taxes for 2002-2004.

The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association has asked the IRS to repeal an old tax rule that required employees to maintain logs detailing their business usage of mobile phones.

The Sept. 16 deadline is nearing for submitting a preliminary application for the federal government’s Section 48C tax credit program for manufacturers of clean energy equipment.

A Florida tax preparer has been barred by a federal judge after he falsely told clients he was a former IRS employee and that the IRS had “pre-audited” their tax returns.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has released the executive summary of a report from its inspector general detailing the agency’s failures to stop Bernard Madoff from carrying out his Ponzi scheme.

Although it's often pointed out that the Internal Revenue Code has become lengthy and complicated due to all of the things that Congress tries to accomplish through the code other than simply raising revenue, it's less often observed that a complicated Tax Code also puts a tremendous burden on the Treasury and IRS to interpret it and provide timely guidance.

Agency compiles possibilities, but makes no recommendations

COURT ORDERS TEXTRON TO RELEASE TAX PAPERS

A federal court has denied a $473 million tax refund to Schering-Plough after the drug maker sought to avoid taxes on $690 million in profits it repatriated from offshore subsidiaries into the U.S. through some dubious transactions.

The government is about to start offering a Cash for Clunkers type of program for old inefficient appliances this fall, so why not cash for clunker tax returns and financial statements?

States get aggressive with sales and use tax to close gaps