Tax strategies

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists created a database of users of international tax havens over the weekend, and the group reported Monday that database received 2 million page views in its first 24 hours of operation.

The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing Thursday to examine corporate tax reform and the impact of offshore tax havens on base erosion and profit shifting by multinationals.

Senators Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., have introduced a bipartisan bill to make the New Markets Tax Credit program permanent and increase its annual allocation.

The Swiss and U.S. governments have signed a memorandum of understanding on interpretations of their agreement on implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA.

Bob Moritz, chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP since July 2009, sat down with Accounting Today on Friday to discuss some of the issues facing the accounting profession and how PwC has been adapting to changes in the economy and accounting, as well as his encounter with Michelle Obama when handing her the envelope for the Academy Awards.

Senior tax professionals are most worried about the prospects for U.S federal business tax reform and the heightened regulatory environment in transfer pricing, according to a new survey by KPMG.

A group of 42 major corporations have joined together to form a new lobbying coalition to press for corporate tax reform.

Marcum’s LGBT practice leaders sat down with managing editor Tamika Cody to discuss some of the inequalities LGBT clients face when trying to file taxes.

The principles behind the passive-activity loss limitations rules under Code Sec. 469 and the net investment income Medicare tax under Code Sec. 1411 are similar -- limit business losses from passive activities or raise the tax on passive-type income a bit more, when not the direct result (at least not a significant part) of a taxpayer's labor. Congress, however, did not leave it at that -- or, as some would argue, leave well enough alone.

If the number of congressional hearings on tax reform this year is an indication of the potential for passage, it seems possible that something may actually be in the works.

The Internal Revenue Service does not have enough data to identify who claims a tax expenditure and how much they claim, for nearly half the dollar value of all tax expenditures, or $492 billion out of $1 trillion, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.

A new report from the Congressional Budget Office found that the top 10 tax expenditures are distributed unevenly across the income scale, with much of the benefit going to the top-earning 1 percent of the population.

Switzerland proposed a bill that it says will provide the legal basis for the country’s banks, including Credit Suisse Group AG and Julius Baer Group Ltd., to resolve a tax-evasion dispute with the U.S.

Privately held retailers are operating with relatively thin profit margins nearly four years after the end of the recession, and some analysts say costs could go up and pinch margins even more if Congress approves the latest effort to get more retailers to collect taxes on their online sales.

The European Council of Ministers has agreed to take steps to combat the use of corporate tax strategies that shift profits to low-tax countries to avoid paying taxes.

What do the Senate hearings on offshore profit shifting and a Supreme Court case decided on May 20, 2013 have in common? They both are generated by our system of taxing U.S. companies on their worldwide income, and they both are the result of the companies meeting their obligations to their shareholders, which is to legally minimize the amount of taxes they pay.

A pair of lawmakers have introduced legislation to end a tax break that favors foreign-controlled insurers over U.S. insurers.

Understanding the detailed requirements of the health care reform law, and the potential penalties of noncompliance presents, challenges to accountants who are trying to advise their business clients about the Affordable Care Act.

A group of CPAs headed to Capitol Hill yesterday in what has become an annual ritual as they pressed lawmakers to deal with the many issues that accountants and their clients are forced to wrestle with on a daily basis, including taxes and regulations.

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook will face off against U.S. senators leveling accusations the iPhone maker has created a web of offshore entities to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. taxes.