Tax practice

Under the heading, "Nothing in the tax law turns out to be easy," add the temporary motor vehicle sales tax deduction enacted in the 2009 Recovery Act. The concept sounds simple enough: Give consumers a tax incentive to purchase new vehicles in an effort to help the ailing auto industry. Its execution, however, has left many tax advisors scratching their heads over the number of issues that have been raised in connection with this new deduction.

Nexus for state corporate income and sales and use taxes remains widely variable between states.

The Internal Revenue Service said that 112 U.S. companies, partnerships, individuals and other entities reported receiving almost 2,300 requests to participate in boycotts unsanctioned in the U.S. in 2005 and 2006.

Silicon Valley chip manufacturer Xilinx has lost an appeals court ruling in a tax dispute with the IRS that could have implications for other multinational companies that use transfer pricing.

The IRS offered guidance to businesses that plan to claim a newly expanded work opportunity tax credit for eligible unemployed veterans and unskilled younger workers.

It’s all too easy to confuse the Treasury Department’s recently issued greenbook outlining the Obama administration’s tax policies with the venerable women’s magazine, so here are a few examples of the ways they differ.

A Texas restaurant owner has been sentenced to two years in jail after he was convicted of trying to bribe an IRS agent by offering her free pizza and a job.

An influential group of financial executives is urging Congress to oppose the Obama administration’s proposals for reforming the corporate tax system, especially the rules used by multinational companies to defer paying taxes on foreign earnings.

The House has introduced a bill to ban patents on tax-planning methods and strategies after previous versions of the legislation died in the last congressional session.

The Internal Revenue Service spent nearly two years and $19.5 million to develop its new Web portal, but canceled the project six months before its scheduled completion date, according to a new report.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a House subcommittee that he intends to simplify the Tax Code and devote more money to IRS enforcement.

The IRS should be doing a better job of ensuring that the sensitive personal and financial information on taxpayers’ paper documents doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, according to a new report.

The Internal Revenue Service has increased its audit rates of the wealthiest individuals and corporations, according to testimony by IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman.

A California congressman has introduced legislation that would require federal agencies to use interactive data-tagging technology to track the use of government bailout funds by companies.

Accounting firm Marks Paneth & Shron has assembled a team to help clients with holdings in Swiss bank accounts comply with the IRS’s stepped-up enforcement efforts.

The Senate Finance Committee released a set of policy options for financing health care reform, including modifying the current tax treatment of health-related expenses.

The Making Work Pay Credit is this year's economic stimulus to help get the economy going, just as the economic stimulus payments and related recovery rebate credit were last year's effort to stimulate the economy.

Proposed legislation that was written initially to target hedge fund managers could impact a much larger array of partnerships in areas such as real estate.

COS. FORESEE MORE TAX AUDITS

H&R Block said it is re-aligning its tax and corporate structures and putting CEO Russ Smyth in charge of tax operations.