Tax research

The financial rescue plan approved by Congress included many extensions of expiring tax credits and deductions that helped it win passage in the House, but it also left out some tax issues that will surely be bones of contention for the next Congress."It's safe to predict that not much will happen in a lame duck session," said Tom Ochsenschlager, vice president of taxation at the American Institute of CPAs.

The Internal Revenue Service distributed roughly $1.6 billion in refunds to taxpayers who filed falsified tax returns in 2006 and 2007, despite efforts to stop them, according to a new report from the Treasury Department's inspector general.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to increase the fee for obtaining an exact copy of a previously filed and processed tax return with all the attachments.

Online sales tax management provider SpeedTax is partnering with consultancy TaxConnex to offer sales tax automation and consulting services to business clients.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued guidance on indirect ownership of preferred stock in mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The American Institute of CPAs has appointed Alan Einhorn, national director of Deloitte Tax LLP's Quality Assurance Group, as the new chair of its Tax Executive Committee.

An advisory committee on tax information reporting has recommended a number of changes for the Internal Revenue Service to make to improve taxpayer identity protection, disaster reporting and other matters.

The Tax Foundation has selected three videos as winners of a contest that aims to draw attention to the high rate of business taxes in the U.S.

States are getting pounded by the economy, with tax collection revenues in the third quarter among the worst in years, according to a new report.

The Internal Revenue Service has withdrawn a tentative assessment of more than $319 million in tax penalties against FedEx.

CCH Small Firm Services, part of Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting, has acquired IntelliTax, a tax software company formerly known as Orrtax Software Solutions.

An attorney for New York Governor David Paterson's chief of staff has attributed his client's neglect in filing tax returns between 2001 and 2005 to "failure-to-file syndrome."

The Internal Revenue Service said that more than 279,000 economic stimulus checks, totaling about $163 million, and over 104,000 regular refund checks, totaling about $103 million, have been returned by the U.S. Postal Service due to mailing address errors.

Payroll processor PayCycle said its 1099 MISC E-File service would be open for accounting professionals serving small business clients starting Jan. 1, 2009.

A recent study of unpublished Internal Revenue Service data has found that wealthier people are hiding their income at greater rates than those in lower income brackets.

The Internal Revenue Service reported that it has seen a strong response to its settlement offer for two types of tax shelters, with companies agreeing to pay back taxes totaling billions of dollars.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has given new life to calls for an economic stimulus package, but exactly what it will be is anybody's guess.

Cindy McCain has released the summary pages of her recently filed 2007 federal tax return.

BNA said its vice chair, Sandra C. Degler, has died of cancer.

An Internal Revenue Service employee has been sentenced to one year's probation for improperly accessing tax information about one of his acquaintances.