Tax practice

2008 was to be the year that companies and their tax advisors worked to get their nonqualified deferred-compensation plans in order to comply with the new requirements under Code Section 409A and the regulations thereunder. Recent positions from the Internal Revenue Service are, however, expanding the focus of compensation concerns for 2008 beyond deferred compensation to include deductions for current performance-based compensation.BACKGROUND

The Internal Revenue Service is making progress on devising a strategy to narrow the tax gap, but significant challenges remain, according to a new report by the Treasury Department's inspector general.

The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures held a hearing to discuss tax incentives for post-secondary education.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed enforcement actions against global advertising network McCann-Erickson Worldwide, its parent company Interpublic Group of Companies, and two of its former executives, charging them with accounting fraud.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service needs to do a better job of processing requests from taxpayers for relief from Internal Revenue Service enforcement actions, said a new report from the Treasury Department's watchdog group.

The Internal Revenue Service said that economic stimulus payments directly deposited to individual retirement accounts and other tax-favored accounts may be withdrawn tax-free and penalty-free.

IRS Narrows Tax Gap

The government won its second victory in the past month in a lease-in, lease-out tax shelter case, after the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed with a federal district court that BB&T Corp. is barred from obtaining a tax refund of approximately $4.5 million.

The Internal Revenue Service stepped up its compliance activities last year and saw its revenues jump, according to a new report.

Accounting firm Plante & Moran said it was seeing optimism among the businesses it surveyed in the Midwest despite general worries about the economy.

President Bush said the Treasury Department would begin distributing the first batch of tax rebates by direct deposit on Monday.

The federal government has lost a Son of Boss tax shelter case involving taxpayers who invested in foreign currency options.

The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the tax aspects of a cap-and-trade program to control carbon emissions.

An Ohio jury ruled that Fifth Third Bancorp is not entitled to a $5.6 million tax refund for its 1997 tax year after the bank sought to take tax deductions related to complex leasing transactions involving passenger rail cars.

The Internal Revenue Service has withdrawn proposed regulations that would have treated mortgage loans as capital assets and restricted the deductibility of mortgage defaults.

The Senate Finance Committee proposed a new tax bill that seeks to prevent the alternative minimum tax from spreading to more taxpayers next tax season.

Tax preparer Matthew Carl Berry was convicted of federal tax fraud charges for operating a scheme that earned him, family members and associates more than $1 million, according to the Justice Department.

Right on time for the conclusion of tax season, the House has passed a bill that promises to make tax preparation easier, while also repealing the IRS Private Debt Collection Program.

The Internal Revenue Service said it would be watching to make sure charities and religious organizations don't violate their tax-exempt status by engaging in political activities this campaign season.

The Internal Revenue Service has put out a call for a priority list of items it should address with its upcoming guidance.