Tax practice

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.

The Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board has sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate Finance Committee saying it is "gravely concerned about the serious risks to the 2008 filing season" if legislation to change the alternative minimum tax is delayed much longer.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued the optional standard mileage rates for calculating the deductible costs next year of operating an automobile for various purposes.

Presidential candidate Fred Thompson issued a tax plan that would give taxpayers the option of choosing a simplified flat tax.

IRS EASES LATE S CORP ELECTIONS

While the word is that defined-benefit plans are no longer in favor, they can still provide a tax savings for the right client.“A lot of the press would lead you to believe that defined-benefit plans are on the way out,” said Karen Shapiro, chief executive of Dedicated DB, a San Mateo, Calif.-based provider of such plans. “But for some small-business owners, it’s a terrific tax strategy.”

In a special area on its Web site (in a Q&A on home foreclosure and debt cancellation), the Internal Revenue Service advised, “Insolvency can be fairly complex to determine and the assistance of a tax professional is recommended.”Also, in recognition of the important role that the “insolvency exception” plays in excluding a beleaguered homeowner’s forgiveness-of-indebtedness income, the site further advised, “Consider the tax consequences before foreclosure.” This article explores what planning can be done to maximize the use of the insolvency exception to reduce or eliminate forgiveness-of-indebtedness income for the individual caught in the current mortgage financing or similar credit squeeze.

Immigration attorney Grisel Ybarra got back a canceled check from the Internal Revenue Service for the two cents the IRS had billed her as a late fee.

President Bush plans to nominate Douglas Shulman as Internal Revenue Service commissioner.

Tax software vendors Intuit and H&R Block were hit with a potential multi-billion-dollar class-action lawsuit alleging that they charge excessive fees for electronic filing.

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have introduced a bill to prohibit the Patent and Trademark Office from granting any further patents for tax strategies and tax-planning inventions.