Tax practice

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department have released final regulations and a revenue procedure requiring tax preparers to obtain consent before they can distribute taxpayer information to third parties, along with a proposal to restrict the marketing of refund anticipation loans and similar products.

The Internal Revenue Service kicked off tax season this week, saying it plans to mail 16.5 million tax packages to taxpayers this month who have filed paper returns in the past, but the packages won't include any tax credit forms because of delays in patching the alternative minimum tax.

The president of a company that hosted tax forums for the Internal Revenue Service has been sentenced to five years in prison for defrauding the IRS of more than $1 million.

The IRS often takes a beating in the reports from the Treasury Department’s inspector general, and two of the latest pointed to problems with security at the IRS and how the agency is spending money on security projects.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department have implemented enhanced standards of conduct for tax preparers.

The Internal Revenue Service said the upcoming tax-filing season would start on time in mid-January, except for up to 13.5 million taxpayers who will have to wait until Feb. 11 if they need to file any of five forms affected by the late enactment of a patch for the alternative minimum tax.

The Internal Revenue Service has told FedEx that it has been misclassifying its delivery drivers as independent contractors and is ordering the shipping company to pay back taxes and penalties.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has issued a ruling in a tax shelter case that could have far-reaching implications in similar cases.

The Internal Revenue Service has selected 10 new members for its Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council, a forum in which outsiders can discuss tax administration issues with IRS officials.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has announced his tax plan, saying he would permanently repeal the alternative minimum tax and make the Bush tax cuts permanent.

Just in time for the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service has expanded its online rebuttal of frivolous tax arguments to provide some amusing holiday reading.

President Bush signed into law a one-year patch for the alternative minimum tax, in addition to a $555-billion omnibus spending bill to fund government operations through 2008.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new tax form for employees who have been misclassified as independent contractors.

Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, and 2008 presidential hopeful, is hoping to gain the support of tax-reform advocates by promoting the Fair Tax, which abolishes the Internal Revenue Service as well as all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes, and replaces them with a single federal retail sales tax.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued an updated version of Form 990, which charities are required to file annually to retain their tax-exempt status, and is giving small tax-exempt organizations time to adjust.

The House has again passed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, an effort to help people whose homes have been foreclosed by canceling taxes on any mortgage debt they have been forgiven.

The House approved an amended version of a bill that delivers tax relief to members of the armed services, in addition to emergency volunteers.

The House has passed a fix for the alternative minimum tax, voting 352-64 to keep up to 23 million taxpayers from falling prey to the AMT.

The Treasury Department has issued a report on improving the competitiveness of the U.S. business tax system, offering three alternative approaches designed to cut the corporate tax rate in the U.S. compared to other industrialized countries.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance on whether a taxpayer can claim a dependency exemption deduction for an unrelated child.