Tax research

Gilman Ciocia's personal tax team is giving away tickets to New York Mets games as part of a contest it is holding for the second year in a row.

A federal judge has ruled against some of the main provisions of a New Jersey law restricting interest rates and fees that can be charged on tax refund anticipation loans, even though the annual percentage rates average 115 percent.

There are a lot of very good research tools on the market. But what's available for the small practitioner who needs less than high-powered products?

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I.-Conn., has written a letter to the Internal Revenue Service asking for an explanation of its investigation of a speech by Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., at the United Church of Christ.

The Internal Revenue Service is putting together its next Taxpayer Advocacy Panel to make the tax administration system more customer-oriented, but it's already contending with a growing chorus of people who want to see major changes in the agency, if not outright dismantlement.

RSM McGladrey and Axiom Solutions have signed an agreement to offer research and development tax credit services to companies.

There are a lot of very good research tools on the market. But what's available for the small practitioner who needs less than high-powered products?

The Internal Revenue Service said it would begin sending out more than 130 million economic stimulus payments in weekly installments starting May 2, with the distribution schedule based on the last two digits of the recipient's Social Security number.

The Senate has confirmed Douglas H. Shulman as the new commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

Sage Software has updated its Sage FAS software with a service update to reflect the economic stimulus package recently enacted by Congress.

There are a lot of very good research tools on the market. But what's available for the small practitioner who needs less than high-powered products?

The ink hadn’t dried on the new economic stimulus bill before federal tax authorities began receiving complaints about vicious new tax rebate scams targeting taxpayers and their accountants.The new flurry of fraudulent activity is directed at taxpayers expecting to receive the rebates of up to $1,200 per couple that Congress voted to send out after the close of this year’s tax filing season.

By the time this column appears, CPAs everywhere are going to be tackling stacks of paperwork for income taxes. This will be true whether they are up to their necks in client returns, or struggling in an audit to reconcile book and tax income in Schedule M.With those pains in mind, it only makes sense that accountants would prefer GAAP accounting for income taxes to be relatively simple.

The Government Accountability Office has issued a report on the Internal Revenue Service's performance so far this filing season, including a prediction that the IRS will lose hundreds of millions of dollars responding to calls about tax rebates.

There are a lot of very good research tools on the market. But what's available for the small practitioner who needs less than high-powered products?

The administration’s budget proposal to conform the penalty standards applicable to preparers and taxpayers has been welcomed by tax professionals concerned about possible conflicts of interest between preparers and their clients.The budget, the administration’s blueprint for legislative proposals, also calls for making permanent the 2001-2003 tax cuts, and offers measures to increase savings and investment and to improve compliance with the tax system. Rather than address Alternative Minimum Tax reform, it proposes a one-year patch to keep the number of taxpayers subject to the tax at around 4 million.

While many Washington observers have called much of the tax revenue side of the Bush administration’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget proposals dead on arrival, this year’s “Blue Book” of Treasury explanations nevertheless remains an important tax-planning tool.It underscores what the Bush administration considers are problems remaining to be solved. As such, they are problems that need to be either addressed or “planned around” in the meantime. Here is our take on some of the highlights in making that determination.

The Senate has voted to extend $340 billion worth of President Bush's tax cuts that were due to expire in 2010, but has rejected extensions of some other tax cuts.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a notice with procedures for vehicle manufacturers to certify that a fuel cell vehicle meets the requirements for a tax credit. It also provides guidance to taxpayers who purchase certified vehicles regarding what they must do to use the credit. Under the law, the new qualified fuel cell motor vehicle credit is available to purchasers of qualified vehicles. The amount of the new qualified fuel cell motor vehicle credit is based on the weight of the vehicle and on when the vehicle is placed in service. An additional credit may be available for a fuel cell passenger automobile or light truck based on a comparison of the city fuel economy rating of that vehicle with the 2002 model year city fuel economy of a vehicle in its weight class. For fuel cell vehicles that weigh not more than 8,500 pounds, the base credit amount is $8,000 if the vehicle is placed in service on or before Dec. 31, 2009. The base credit amount is reduced to $4,000 if the vehicle is placed in service after that date. The amount of the credit available for heavy vehicles varies from $10,000 to $40,000, depending on the weight of the vehicle. The purchaser may claim a credit for the certified amount for a fuel cell vehicle if it is placed in service by the taxpayer after Dec. 31, 2005, and is purchased on or before Dec. 31, 2014.

The Internal Revenue Service has awarded roughly $9 million in matching grants to low income taxpayer clinics for the 2008 grant cycle, which runs from Jan. 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2008. LITCs are organizations independent from the IRS that provide low-income taxpayers with pro bono or nominal fee representation in federal tax controversies with the IRS. The clinics also provide tax education and outreach for taxpayers who speak English as a second language. IRS Publication 4134, Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic List, provides information on local clinics and contains details about the languages each clinic serves in addition to English. Through the LITC program, the IRS awards matching grants of up to $100,000 a year to qualifying organizations. For the 2008 grant cycle, the IRS awarded LITC grants to 154 organizations representing all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.