Tax practice

Merck & Co. disclosed four separate tax disputes that have combined potential liabilities for the drug maker of more than $5.5 billion.

The Government Accountability Office offered some recommendations aimed at upping efficiency, but said that the Internal Revenue Service Office of Appeals has been doing a good job handling its process for collection due appeals.Under the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, taxpayers facing liens or levies can request a collection due process appeal hearing with the IRS office. By 2005, those cases represented about one-quarter of the office’s workload.

Not that things were going super smoothly before, but the path to turning any of President Bush’s second-term agenda into meaningful change just got a lot harder following yesterday’s election.

H&R Block announced a number of refund lending enhancements in a recent news release. A side-by-side comparison chart will outline all filing options, fees, and the time that it takes to receive a refund.H&R Block will also provide a report that states, among other things, that selecting a refund anticipation loan product means that taxpayers get less of their refunds. This announcement follows H&R Block's September announcement that it is reducing the cost of refund.

The Internal Revenue Service announced the selection of five new members for the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee.

TOP HALF OF TAXPAYERS PAY HIGHEST TAX SHARE IN DECADES: The share of income taxes paid by the top half of taxpayers reached its highest level in decades, according to a report from the Joint Economic Committee.According to figures supplied by the Internal Revenue Service, the top half of taxpayers ranked by income paid 96.70 percent of the individual income taxes paid in 2004, compared to 86.05 percent in 1949, 89.35 percent in 1959, and 90.27 percent in 1969. The top 1 percent of tax filers paid 36.89 percent of 2004 income taxes, while the top 10 percent accounted for more than two thirds (68.19 percent) of those taxes. At least part of the increase in taxes paid by the higher percentile may be related to higher capital gains following the reduction of the capital gains tax rate in 2003.

New online payment options, changes to the Offer in Compromise program, and the impact of the National Research Program are, among others, key issues for the tax practitioner community.

The provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, enacted on Aug. 17, 2006, include a package of changes related to tax-exempt entities and charitable contributions. Many of the provisions were designed to tighten perceived abuses involving tax-exempt entities and deductions for charitable contributions. A few of the new provisions, however, liberalize the charitable giving rules.

The Internal Revenue Service is seeking applications for vacancies on the Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities.

The Tax Policy Center has released a series of data tables taking a look at the effect of the major tax changes enacted since 2001.

The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2007 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

It took some time and an issue as seemingly innocuous as Katrina tax relief for the Internal Revenue Service to get dragged into a public relations skirmish this election season.The trouble start a couple of weeks ago, when Commissioner Mark Everson made an announcement that the IRS will postpone collection activities against taxpayers in the hardest-hit areas struck by Hurricane Katrina until 2007. That’s essentially buys those taxpayers a couple more months -- through the holidays -- after a one-year filing extension expired Oct. 16.

A federal report says that the Internal Revenue Service needs to put a better system in place to evaluate the results of the private debt collection program it implemented this fall.The Government Accountability Office looked at a trio of issues, including whether the IRS addressed critical success factors before limited implementation, whether the IRS will assess lessons learned before fuller implementation, and finally, whether the IRS’s planned study will help determine if using private contractors is the best use of federal funds.

The Internal Revenue Service is pushing back the printing schedule for a number of its tax products, including several versions of the 1040 and 1099 forms.Earlier this month, the IRS warned the Senate Finance Committee tax staff that delays in enacting a number of expiring tax breaks could have an adverse impact on tax administration -- affecting outside contracts with vendors to get the forms and instructions printed, and possibly eventually having a negative impact on collections.

In recent interviews, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark Everson has said that the agency will postpone initiating collection activities against taxpayers in areas struck by Hurricane Katrina until next year.

In response to a senator’s inquiry, the Government Accountability Office will review the operations of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division and compliance department.

In a press conference timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of President Reagan’s signing the last major tax reform act into law, former Sen. Bill Bradley, D-N.J., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued a call for another tax reform push.Wyden has introduced his Fair Flat Tax Act in the Senate, which includes provisions to lower tax rates and broaden the overall tax base. The legislation would allow taxpayers to file their returns on a simplified, single-page 1040 form; collapse individual tax brackets from the current six down to just three; and set a single, flat corporate rate. The bill would also end the alternative minimum tax and contains a unique provision to provide a refundable 10-percent tax credit for every taxpayer’s state and local taxes -- a benefit for taxpayers who don’t itemize.

A federal panel is recommending changes to governmental accounting that would require the cost of future Social Security and Medicare payments to be accounted for year-by-year as workers accumulate entitlements.

Beginning in January, Link2Gov will be able to process credit card payments related to federal business tax Forms 941 and 940 for an expanded number of filing years -- 1997 through present balance due.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations addressing the tax treatment of an exchange of property for an annuity contract.