Tax practice

For tax year 2007, the Internal Revenue Service has implemented a new policy that assumes an e-mail substitute form submission has been approved if the IRS does not otherwise notify the taxpayer who submits it within 20 business days.

The U.S. Senate has passed a version of the energy bill after removing a controversial tax increase on major oil and gas producers from the version approved by the House.

The House passed a new version of its patch for the alternative minimum tax that eliminates a controversial provision to raise taxes on the carried interest earnings of managers of private equity firms and hedge funds.

The Internal Revenue Service said that payments under the Department of Veterans Affairs' Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) program are no longer taxable and disabled veterans who paid tax on these benefits in the past three years can now claim refunds.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are evaluating the single-rate business tax recently adopted by Mexico to determine whether it can be credited under the terms of a treaty aimed at avoiding double taxation.

Accountants already face plenty of compliance requirements when it comes to issues like accounting and auditing standards, the Tax Code and Sarbanes-Oxley, so the last thing they need to worry about is being connected to money laundering and terrorist financing investigations, but those problems are exactly what the government is urging them to keep in mind.

The Senate and House have passed a bill that will provide tax relief to the victims of the Virginia Tech University shootings and their families.

As increasing client demand for tax services often exceeds a firm's manpower and resources, many firms are turning to outsourcing services and solutions to save time and expenses while increasing profitability. Listen to how one firm did it during an online session on Tax Prep Outsourcing.

The Senate passed a bill that would keep the alternative minimum tax from spreading to 23 million taxpayers, but without including any of the offsetting revenue-generating provisions included in a version of the bill passed last month by the House.

Defying a veto threat from the White House, the House passed legislation that would encourage the use of renewable energy, raise automobile fuel efficiency standards and increase taxes on major oil and gas companies, but the measure promptly stalled when it reached the Senate.

The Internal Revenue Service auctioned off 21 lots of exotic animals, including tarantulas, pythons, wallabies and chinchillas, after seizing the assets of a group called the Living Science Foundation that fell behind in its tax payments.

The Internal Revenue Service's Office of Professional Responsibility said it has settled a case involving two attorneys and a $31 million bond issuance in Spokane, Wash.

The Tax Court issued a summary opinion acknowledging that a woman who owned a trucking business took her slot machine playing seriously enough to qualify her as a professional gambler.

The Internal Revenue Service issued a revenue procedure that describes the conditions under which changes to certain subprime mortgage loans will not cause the Internal Revenue Service to challenge the tax status of certain securitization vehicles holding the loans.

Tax pros have their own rituals for getting ready for tax season, including checking supplies, test-driving software, training staff, sending out organizers, and wrapping up year-end planning tips for their clients.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., unveiled a $21 billion package of energy tax legislation that Congress will consider this year, although opposition is expected from the White House as the bill would raise taxes on major oil and gas producers.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department issued a notice that allows taxpayers to make corrections for operational failures in complying with rules for nonqualified deferred compensation, but only when the failures are unintentional.

The National Association of Enrolled Agents is calling on the Internal Revenue Service to look into problems with the timing of its correspondence audits of taxpayers.

Tax pros have their own rituals for getting ready for tax season, including checking supplies, test-driving software, training staff, sending out organizers, and wrapping up year-end planning tips for their clients.

Mark Everson, the former Internal Revenue Service commissioner, has been ousted by the American Red Cross board as its president and CEO after the organization learned of a relationship with one of his employees.