Tax research

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.

President Barack Obama presented his budget for fiscal 2010, including about $318 billion in tax increases mainly targeted at the wealthy.

The Internal Revenue Service is not doing enough to crack down on tax preparers who use illegal tax shelters and to keep track of complaints against them by clients, according to two new reports.

More than two-thirds of the 100-plus CPAs present at a New York State Society of CPAs breakfast indicated they had clients affected by the Bernard Madoff scheme. For investors who need funds soon, the IRS may be the best bet.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued information to help employers claim credit for the COBRA medical premiums they pay for former employees under provisions of the recently passed stimulus bill.

Swiss bank UBS has been sued by a group of wealthy U.S. account holders who want to keep their identities and accounts from being revealed to the Internal Revenue Service.

Children with investment income may have part or all of this income taxed at their parent’s tax rate rather than at the child’s rate, according to the IRS.

A former tax return preparer who worked from an office at a local gym has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for preparing false tax returns for customers.

During his Fiscal Responsibility Summit on Monday, President Barack Obama discussed the possibility of lowering the statutory corporate tax rate while also closing tax loopholes that allow companies to reduce taxes.

This past year has produced an unprecedented amount of new tax legislation and regulations affecting preparers and taxpayers.

Congressional leaders are looking to clamp down on offshore tax havens after a Government Accountability Office report found that 83 of the 100 largest publicly traded U.S. corporations have subsidiaries in jurisdictions listed as tax havens or financial privacy jurisdictions, while 63 of the 100 largest publicly traded federal contractors reported having subsidiaries in such jurisdictions.