Tax research

Women gave nearly $5 billion more to their heirs than men did in 2005, according to an analysis of Internal Revenue Service data by Grant Thornton.

The U.S. tax system is viewed as less fair and simple by tax professionals than the tax system in Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada, according to a new survey.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., revealed a decade's worth of his tax returns Friday, putting pressure on his Republican rival, Alaska governor Sarah Palin, to release her own returns.

Unenrolled tax preparers made mistakes on the majority of returns they prepared for undercover Treasury Department auditors, according to a new report.

The Internal Revenue Service has reached a settlement with the law firm Arnold & Porter, which has paid an undisclosed penalty for promoting tax shelters.

The Senate's Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing on how foreign investors dodge taxes on U.S. stock dividends with the help of U.S. banks and investment houses.

SpeedTax said its Web-based sales tax management service would soon be integrated with Intuit's QuickBooks Enterprise, Pro and Premier editions.

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., refused to resign his chairmanship of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee after revelations that he failed to pay taxes on rental income from a vacation villa in the Dominican Islands.

Influential tax protestor Irwin Schiff had his 151-month prison sentence extended by an additional 11 months after he was sentenced for criminal contempt.

The Treasury Department's decision to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and put them under conservatorship has prompted questions about the implications for accountants and their clients.

The Internal Revenue Service has recently added a page to its Web site for small businesses and the self-employed.

The Congressional Budget Office sees the deficit growing to $407 billion for the year ending Sept. 30 and ballooning to $438 billion next year, with the takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae threatening to send it far higher.

Actor Nicolas Cage, whose movie Bangkok Dangerous topped the weekend box office numbers, has settled his tax debts with the Internal Revenue Service for $666,000, plus interest.

Approximately $7.6 billion of potentially collectible taxes is lost annually due to withholding noncompliance, according to a report from the Treasury Department's inspector general.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department have issued new regulations that will make it easier for charities to gain tax-exempt status.

Federal taxes are the most important issue for small business owners, according to a survey by payroll processor PayCycle.

A tax practitioner has teamed up with a software engineer to create a new tax prep program aimed at preparers who service Spanish-speaking taxpayers, especially undocumented immigrants who are ready to begin filing tax returns.Latino Tax Software’s MultiTax distinguishes itself from more established tax packages by helping clients obtain Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers from the Internal Revenue Service and allowing them to file multiple years of tax returns that they have avoided filing earlier. The software also lets preparers toggle quickly between screens in English and Spanish.

While many of the non-tax provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, enacted on July 30, 2008, appear directly focused at the problems arising from the housing and mortgage crisis that has developed over the last year, the tax provisions appear at best to have only an indirect effect on the individuals most impacted by the subprime mortgages and declining home values.The tax title to the legislation includes many provisions focused on the low-income housing credit, housing and mortgage bonds, and real estate investment trusts. This column, however, will take a closer look at some of the individual tax breaks and revenue raisers most likely to impact individual taxpayers and their tax returns in 2008 and coming years.

Congressman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, never reported rental income from a vacation property he has owned in the Dominican Republic since 1988.

An Iowa man has been indicted for claiming a $240,009 refund of all the taxes he has paid, contending the Internal Revenue Service has no jurisdiction over him because the U.S. is a "fictional entity" and he is a "citizen of heaven."