Tax practice

The House included a taxpayer accountability amendment in the economic stimulus bill that provides protections to federal workers who expose waste, fraud and abuse, drawing praise from whistleblower advocacy groups.

Over 33 million callers could not reach the Internal Revenue Service’s toll-free assistance number last year to ask about economic stimulus payments, and the IRS could get swamped again this year with calls.

A Republican congressman has introduced a bill that would provide all U.S. taxpayers with immunity from IRS penalties and interest, but the main goal seems to be tweaking his Democratic colleagues.

The House has approved an $819 billion economic stimulus package despite unanimous Republican opposition.

Former H&R Block Chairman and CEO Mark Ernst has taken a job with the Internal Revenue Service as deputy commissioner for operations support.

The Senate Finance Committee has approved approximately $522 billion in tax cuts, incentives and investments by a vote of 14-9.

Congress and the Obama administration are crafting what is shaping up to be the single most expensive spending bill in American history, and nobody can agree on whether it will work.

The Senate Finance Committee is considering President Obama's economic stimulus package as leaders call for increased tax cuts.

The House Ways and Means Committee has passed a bill containing $275 billion in tax cuts as part of the overall economic stimulus package, approving it on a party-line vote of 24 to 13.

The Internal Revenue Service's announcement of two new alternative dispute programs for offer-in-compromise and trust fund recovery penalty cases comes as welcome news to practitioners who regularly practice before IRS Appeals."The IRS should be complimented in trying to do programs like these," said Marty Davidoff, CPA, Esq., of E. Martin Davidoff and Associates. "It's the IRS at its best. They're looking for different ways to resolve controversies."

CONGRESS KILLS MINIMUM DISTRIBUTIONS FOR 2009Washington, D.C - Congress has passed a waiver of the minimum distribution rule for 2009, but not for 2008, for employer-provided qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts and annuities in H.R. 7327, the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008. The Treasury Department is studying whether to provide relief with regard to 2008 minimum distributions.

On Dec. 16, 2008, the Internal Revenue Service released the long-awaited final tax return preparer regulations. Although they had been expected to be issued in November, they were further delayed by the changes to Code Sec. 6694 included in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. In addition to the final regulations, the agency also promulgated Notice 2009-5, providing some interim guidance for the 2008 tax filing season, and Revenue Procedure 2009-11, updating the list of IRS forms that are subject to the preparer penalties.The final regulations do not differ significantly from the proposed regulations, but make several changes in response to comments received. The interim guidance responds to the statutory changes made by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and can be relied on by tax return preparers until final guidance is issued. Tax return preparers will want to make sure that they are familiar with these new requirements to avoid penalties as the 2008 tax return season gets underway.

The Senate has approved Mary Schapiro by a unanimous vote as the next Securities and Exchange Commission chairman.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has sent a letter to Congress signed by 27 U.S. companies asking for a two-year easing of taxes on debt purchases to be included in economic stimulus legislation.

The Senate Finance Committee has approved Timothy Geithner as the next Treasury secretary despite concerns over his taxes.

Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner apologized for his tax mistakes and promised reforms of both tax policy and the controversial Troubled Assets Relief Program during a confirmation hearing.

Taxpayers in Delaware, Illinois, New York and Rhode Island who file paper returns will be sending them to different Internal Revenue Service centers this year.

The House has approved legislation to close loopholes and provide more transparency in the controversial Troubled Assets Relief Program.

The inspiring inauguration of President Barack Obama marked a historic moment and is sure to signal some broad tax policy changes in his administration.

S corporations are the nation's most common corporate tax designations.