Tax practice

Americans avoided paying taxes on a record $1 trillion in income in 2003, according to a new federal government report.

The Internal Revenue Service announced the release of the fall 2005 issue of the Statistics of Income Bulletin.

The Congressional Budget Office recently released its long-term budget outlook. The report doesn't offer specifics in terms of a solution to the country's increasing debt burdens, but does point out a number of reasons why the current system won't be able to solve itself.

GAO SAYS CHALLENGES REMAIN IN IRS FINANCIAL CONTROLS: While the Internal Revenue Service has made "great strides" in addressing financial management challenges and internal control deficiencies, a report from the Government Accountability Office stated that the service still faces substantial hurdles in that area.Citing audits of the IRS's 2004 and 2005 financials, the GAO report said that the service had to rely heavily on "resource-intensive compensating processes to prepare its financials," as a result of its inability to maintain effective internal controls.

When Congress managed to agree on a budget resolution this year with $70 billion set aside for tax breaks, it seemed to assure smooth passage for extending President Bush's expiring tax breaks by avoiding risk of a Senate filibuster. In reality, however, the legislation is proving to be very difficult.First, there are more expiring provisions than the $70 billion will protect, so the tax writing committees have been struggling with what to leave in and what to leave out. Then, as deficits started swelling again following Hurricane Katrina, Congress decided that they should not use the full $70 billion, but no more than $60 billion, leaving space for even fewer provisions.

There is a clear link between Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 compliance work and dramatically higher profiles for senior tax executives, particularly with audit committees and boards of directors, according to a survey of senior tax executives conducted by KPMG.Some 57 percent of respondents to the KPMG survey said that they believed both their role and stature had grown with peer groups over the past year, while 58 percent and 42 percent of respondents reported greater visibility and prominence before audit committees and boards of directors, respectively. That heightened attention has also resulted in support from top management for additional tax department resources, as nearly all (92 percent) respondents indicated plans to add staff over the next 12 months.

Until now, individual taxpayers who were unable to meet the April 15 tax return filing deadline could file a Form 4868 and receive an automatic four-month filing extension until August 15. And if August 15 didn't provide enough time to get the tax return completed, taxpayers could provide a good reason for the delay on a Form 2688 and request another extension for two months until October 15.Effective for tax returns due after Jan. 1, 2006, the kinder, gentler, more cost-effective Internal Revenue Service has done away with the second extension request and changed the initial automatic extension period from four months to six. Not only will this action remove the need for taxpayers to come up with a reason for requesting the extra two months to file tax returns, it will cut back on lots of paperwork and processing time.

Public companies, for better or worse, have completed the first year of compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Now is a good time for CPAs in industry and their external auditors to reflect on the Year One experience, identify lessons learned, and change their compliance strategies accordingly.For example, many companies only cleared the Year One Sarbanes-Oxley hurdle via an "all hands on deck" approach. Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, however, is not a one-time event; it is an ongoing requirement. So this tack is too disruptive to be allowed to continue.

The Ohio Department of Taxation will begin accepting tax amnesty applications on Dec. 15.

A new study out of think tank the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says that despite recent revenue growth and budget surpluses in some states, most states continue to feel the after-effects of a recession that hit in 2000.

Tax scam promoters John J. Rizzo and his wife, Carol, were sentenced to 43 months and 24 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a tax evasion scheme, the Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service announced.

The House of Representatives has already passed three tax cuts and had the details of a fourth nearly pinned down, cutting taxes by $94.5 billion over the next five years.

The Internal Revenue Service issued proposed guidance on the disclosure or use of tax return information by tax return preparers.

Reports from inside the White House are that President Bush's administration may wait until 2007 to begin pushing a proposal to overhaul the tax code.

After checking with the state's attorney general, a Texas nepotism law will prevent the Kerr County tax assessor/collector, Paula Rector, from marrying one of the district's tax appraisers.

The Internal Revenue Service issued its 2006 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a consumer alert about an Internet scam where taxpayers receive an e-mail informing them that they are owed a tax refund. The e-mail, which claims to be from the IRS, directs the consumer to a link that requests personal information, such as Social Security number and credit card information.

As most every tax practitioner in town makes their pitch on year-end tax planning to clients, research organization the Tax Foundation recently released a new report making an economic case against the federal deduction for charitable gifts.

Tax protestor Larken Rose of Hollywood, Pa., was sentenced to serve 15 months in prison for failing to file tax returns for the years 1998 to 2002, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service announced.

A new study from the Tax Foundation says that the federal tax deduction for charitable gifts is highly regressive and subsidizes many organizations that are questionably charitable.