Tax research

The Internal Revenue Service said that taxpayers are filing their taxes earlier and receiving larger refunds so far this year, citing early filing season statistics.

All taxpayers dread the prospect of facing an Internal Revenue Service audit. Here is some advice from the New Jersey Society of CPAs on some steps taxpayers can take to minimize the likelihood they will be audited or ensure a more positive experience if they are:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told lawmakers that he was open to finding other ways to close the budget deficit besides limiting tax deductions for charitable contributions and mortgage interest for high-income taxpayers.

Sage North America has sold its tax compliance services business and enterprise-level customer base to Empower Corp.

A UBS executive told a congressional committee probing tax shelter abuses that approximately 47,000 U.S. customers had accounts with the Swiss bank, but declined to release the names of the vast majority of them.

If your mortgage debt is partly or entirely forgiven during tax years 2007 – 2012, you may be able to claim special tax relief and exclude the debt forgiveness income, said the IRS.

Sabrix has debuted Taxcast, an online, interactive tool to help businesses stay on top of the latest sales and use tax obligations from 13,253 U.S. taxing jurisdictions.

One third of public companies did not satisfy the minimum requirements of disclosure of their tax reserves last year as required by new rules put in place by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

American International Group, which is receiving between $152 billion and $163 billion so far in taxpayer bailout funds, has sued the federal government to recover over $306 million for 1997 taxes, penalties and interest that the insurance company claims it was illegally charged.

Taxpayers will file 240 million federal tax returns and supplemental documents during calendar year 2009, according to projections from the IRS Office of Research, but that’s down 4.3 percent from estimated return filings of 250.8 million for 2008.

The Internal Revenue Service said it has approximately $1.3 billion in unclaimed refunds waiting for people who did not file a federal income tax return for 2005.

Ron Kirk, the Obama administration’s nominee for U.S. Trade Representative, has agreed to pay $9,975 in back taxes he owed on $37,750 in speaking fees.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner explained the Obama administration’s budget and tax plans, and his handling of the financial industry bailout, to wary lawmakers in a congressional hearing.

The Internal Revenue Service could be doing more to encourage businesses to report miscellaneous income payments on 1099-MISC forms, according to a new report.

Here are a few tax law changes that taxpayers may want to note before filing their 2008 federal tax returns, according to the IRS:

Although admittedly many people look upon January 1st as the trigger-point for resolutions, an organization known as Savvy Ladies figures that April 15th is really the better date. “Tax time is often the only time of the year when a lot of people sit down and look at how much they’ve earned and how much they’ve been able to save,” says Stacy Francis, founder of Savvy Ladies and a certified financial planner,. “It’s a bit of a shock for many to see how much cash slips through their fingers every month.” Savvy Ladies is dedicated to providing financial education to women in their quest for financial independence. It has free monthly newsletters, seminars, and teleconferences that are pegged at fostering a sense of community and are specifically designed to educate, amuse, and fulfill savvy women who want to take control of their financial future. There are currently 2,100 members and growing rapidly. The founder of this organization is Stacy Francis who is the president of Francis Financial, a New York City-based firm that specializes in helping individuals create more fulfilling lives through financial freedom.

Taxpayers’ rights were violated when the Internal Revenue Service filed liens on their accounts while they were in bankruptcy, according to a new report by a government watchdog.

Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., has written to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman asking him to provide tax relief to investors who were swindled by Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

Approximately 40 percent of online households plan to file their federal taxes via the Internet this year, up from less than 34 percent four years ago, according to a new report.

A federal court has permanently barred a Florida tax preparer who called himself “The Tax Doctor” from doing other people’s returns after he allegedly cost the Treasury at least $750,000 in bogus claims.