Tax research

Congress hopes to partially remedy the tax gap by making tax preparers more responsible for the positions their clients take on returns.Because paid preparers prepare over 62 percent of all individual income tax returns, they are a critical quality control for tax administration by helping to prevent noncompliance, according to an April report released by the Government Accountability Office.

Pope Benedict XVI plans to issue an encyclical denouncing tax evasion and the use of offshore tax shelters as Italy embarks upon a campaign to crack down on tax avoidance.

The United States Tax Court has ruled on a case involving a taxpayer, David Billings, who asked to be relieved from liability for the tax owed on money his wife embezzled from his employer without his knowledge, and has decided in his favor.

This coming January officially marks the three-year countdown before the axe falls on the lower individual capital gains rates now in place.Since May 6, 2003, thanks to the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, gain from the sale of most long-term capital assets is subject to a maximum tax rate of 15 percent (5 percent for individuals in the 10 percent or 15 percent tax bracket). Starting in 2011, however, these rates are scheduled to revert to their former pre-May 6, 2003, levels of 20 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Nevertheless, before the party ends, a 0 percent rate will replace the 5 percent rate for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2007.

Sabrix introduced a subscription-based, outsourced service that handles tax determination, return preparation and audit administration for sales and use taxes.

The Internal Revenue Service received a double barrel of criticism from Treasury Department watchdogs for not validating the amount of savings it claimed it would generate from various taxpayer service projects, and for laxness in security.

Fed up with his high semiannual property tax bills, landlord Cary Malchow lugged $12,656.07 in $1 bills and coins to the Delaware County, Ind., treasurer's office to watch employees there count it out.

Potential Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson has written a letter indicating that he would be willing to support an overhaul of the Tax Code called the FairTax, which could replace the income tax system and all payroll taxes with a non-regressive national retail tax.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued notices warning about two kinds of transactions that could arouse their interest: "toggling" grantor trusts and contributions of a successor member interest in a limited liability company.

At least 61 percent of sole proprietor companies are underreporting their net business income, but a small proportion of them account for the bulk of understated taxes, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department's Office of Tax Policy have released a "priority guidance plan" for 2007-2008, outlining the 303 projects they plan to complete through June 2008.

An Atlanta federal court has permanently barred two Jackson Hewitt franchise employees from preparing taxes for others.

CCH and H&R Block signed an agreement that gives Block tax preparers and franchisees access to tax-training courses from the online CCH Learning Center.

A federal court has permanently barred a Queensbury, N.Y., man, Robert L. Schulz, and his organizations, We the People Congress and We the People Foundation, from promoting a tax scheme that encouraged businesses to stop withholding taxes from their employees' wages.

Grant Thornton named David Auclair as head of the accounting firm's National Tax Office.

President Bush said he is mulling the possibility of simplifying the corporate tax system, as long as the changes don't affect the amount of taxes the government collects.

Thomson Tax & Accounting received a U.S. patent for its ePropertyTax software's ability to manage multi-jurisdictional property tax information.

The American Institute of CPAs is criticizing proposed regulations for how post-death events might be considered in determining the value of a taxable estate.

The Internal Revenue Service wants teachers to know that a recent tax law change won't affect the way their tax is paid in the upcoming school year.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has removed the Marshall Islands from its list of "uncooperative" and "harmful" tax havens as the group continues to pare down the destinations for money laundering.