Tax research

President Bush signed into law a one-year patch for the alternative minimum tax, in addition to a $555-billion omnibus spending bill to fund government operations through 2008.

An IRS manager and his wife were arrested as part of the widening D.C. property tax scam that has led to the arrests of 10 people so far.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new tax form for employees who have been misclassified as independent contractors.

Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, and 2008 presidential hopeful, is hoping to gain the support of tax-reform advocates by promoting the Fair Tax, which abolishes the Internal Revenue Service as well as all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes, and replaces them with a single federal retail sales tax.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued an updated version of Form 990, which charities are required to file annually to retain their tax-exempt status, and is giving small tax-exempt organizations time to adjust.

The House has again passed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, an effort to help people whose homes have been foreclosed by canceling taxes on any mortgage debt they have been forgiven.

The House approved an amended version of a bill that delivers tax relief to members of the armed services, in addition to emergency volunteers.

The Internal Revenue Service has outlined new procedures under which informants could report violations of tax laws and possibly claim rewards based on the amount of additional tax, penalties and interest owed.

The House has passed a fix for the alternative minimum tax, voting 352-64 to keep up to 23 million taxpayers from falling prey to the AMT.

The Treasury Department has issued a report on improving the competitiveness of the U.S. business tax system, offering three alternative approaches designed to cut the corporate tax rate in the U.S. compared to other industrialized countries.

A majority of companies do not have a formal, documented tax risk management strategy in place, according to a newly released survey.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance on whether a taxpayer can claim a dependency exemption deduction for an unrelated child.

'Tis the season for holiday cheer and especially gifts, so herewith are some presents that accountants might like to find coming down the chimney this year in the company of a chubby bearded man.

The cost of preparing the average tax return rose just 2 percent in the past two years, according to a newly released survey.

The Internal Revenue Service improved most of its filing season services during 2007, but there are still opportunities for better performance this coming season, according to a new report.

IRS is driven in its desire to close the tax gap and views tax practitioners as being an obstacle in the middle, according to Charles Rettig with the law firm of Hochman, Salkin, Toscher & Perez, P.C.,in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Environmental whistleblower Marrita Murphy has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her civil rights tax appeal after another appeals court reversed its own original ruling.

A computer program the Internal Revenue Service has been developing to expedite tax-exempt status requests is behind schedule, over budget and not performing all that well either, according to a report from the Treasury Department's in-house watchdog.

The Internal Revenue Service has appointed Tim Hubbs, president and CEO of Drake Software, as the chairman of its Electronic Tax Advisory Committee.

Notice 2008-1 provides rules under which a 2 percent shareholder/employee in an S corporation is entitled to the deduction under Section 162(l) for accident and health insurance premiums paid or reimbursed by the S corporation and included in a shareholder or employee's gross income.