Tax research

The Internal Revenue Service said it would begin sharing the results of employment tax examinations with 29 different state labor agencies to cut down on avoidance schemes and fraudulent employment tax filings.

Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh's former attorney cannot write off the value of the papers he donated from the case to the University of Texas at Austin, according to a U.S. Tax Court decision last week.

During the month of November, a number of accountants will be getting a telephone call or an e-mail from clients all asking the same question. “What is the little-known tax break that makes investing In GPS-tracking technology more affordable than ever?” Be careful what you say if asked because that inquiring client already has the answer.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could end state income tax breaks for municipal bonds.

H&R Block CFO William L. Trubeck has stepped down, the company announced.

Thomson Tax & Accounting released an online tax research service, QuickFinder Tax Manager, aimed at sole practitioners and small accounting firms.

The continuing business boom, rising client demand and the movement of tax professionals toward other accounting niches has generated varied responses to staffing needs, as firms turn to remote technology, outsourcing, part-time former employees and retirees and college students to fill the personnel void.Meanwhile, the overall demand for accountants has dried up the available supply of tax professionals, according to industry observers.

Jackson Hewitt Tax Service has ousted chair and chief executive Michael Lister after more than 125 of the company's franchises faced charges of fraudulent tax return preparation.Michael Yerington succeeded Lister as CEO, while Margaret Richardson was elected non-executive chair of the board. Yerington joined the company in 2006. Richardson, who joined the company's board in 2004, was a former commissioner at the Internal Revenue Service.

The Internal Revenue Service is sending out free copies of its CD-ROM, the Small Business Resource Guide, to help small business owners comply with federal tax laws, and it's ready to ship them in bulk.

A federal judge sentenced a man to a year and a day in jail for flying an airplane without a license and failing to file federal income tax returns four years in a row.

The House Ways and Means Committee has passed a bill by a margin of 22 to 13 that would keep the Alternative Minimum Tax from spreading to more than 23 million families, which the full House is expected to debate this week.

Small and midsized companies are facing increased scrutiny from tax authorities both in the U.S. and in foreign jurisdictions to ensure that the transfer pricing of transactions among their subsidiaries is treated as if they were at arm's length - or what two unrelated parties would pay."Transfer pricing is something that a lot of small and medium-sized companies need to be paying attention to and thought they were under the radar in the past," said Meril Markley, a principal at UHY Advisors in Houston. "But because of FIN 48, they're really going to have to take a close look for the first time."

The Internal Revenue Service has softened its opposition to contingent fees charged by Circular 230 practitioners. Originally, the IRS proposed permitting a contingent fee only in connection with an IRS examination or the challenge of an original return, or an amended return filed before a notice of examination was received.Under the final rules, a tax practitioner will be allowed to charge a contingent fee for services rendered in connection with the IRS examination of, or challenge to, an original return, or an amended return or claim for refund or credit where it was filed within 120 days of the taxpayer receiving a written notice of the examination, or a written challenge to the original return.

Leaders of the congressional tax-writing committees told the Internal Revenue Service that they planned to make imminent changes in the alternative minimum tax, and that the IRS should start producing accurate tax forms for the 2007 filing season.

The Internal Revenue Service is looking to fill some vacancies on its Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities.

The American Institute of CPAs said that it supports H.R. 3359, a bill pending in Congress that would create a uniform national standard for state withholding of nonresident income tax.

The House Ways and Means Committee began considering a bill that would give tax breaks to members of the military and their families, as well as volunteer firefighters and emergency workers.

No sooner was House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel's proposal for overhauling the alternative minimum tax released than it was pronounced "dead on arrival."

Furniture dealer Jordan's Furniture hopes to avoid sending tax notices to its customers after a special promotion that promised to refund the cost of furniture purchases if the Red Sox won the World Series.

The House passed a bill extending the moratorium on Internet access taxes by seven years, putting the period on par with a recently passed Senate bill and sending the bill to President Bush for his signature.