Tax strategies

The tax-related talk in Washington lately has shifted from overall tax reform to specific fixes like eliminating about $4 billion in tax breaks for major oil companies.

A bipartisan group of senators has renewed the effort to repeal tax credits for ethanol, introducing a bill Tuesday that would fully eliminate the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit.

President Obama repeated his demand for Congress to eliminate an estimated $4 billion in tax breaks for the major oil and gas companies.

Thousands of tax credits, deductions and other incentives are hidden throughout the Tax Code. Some, such as the Blender's Credit, are obscure, while others, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit or the various energy credits, are well known.

Not so long ago, I read a story about a woman who, while cleaning her house, inadvertently shattered one of those energy-saving compact fluorescent lights with the end of a broom handle.

The Texas Society of CPAs has issued an analysis of the Obama administration’s call for eliminating special tax breaks for domestic oil and gas production and come out firmly against any repeal.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner blamed a “broken” tax system as one of the chief causes of the U.S. budget deficit.

It’s good that tax reform is high on the political agenda these days.

The Tax Code provides substantial benefits for families with children, including up to $9,000 for a single parent with two children, according to a new study.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., released a plan Thursday to write legislation that would end billions of dollars in tax breaks for large multinational oil and gas companies.

Corporate tax departments and high-ranking executives are doing a better job of communicating, according to a new survey BY Ernst & Young.

President Obama has written to congressional leaders encouraging them to eliminate special tax breaks for the oil and gas industry.

IMGCAP(1)]The current uncertain political, economic, and tax environment has led many people to postpone preparing or updating their estate plans.

Thomson Reuters released the latest Onesource Indirect Tax report on changes to state and local sales and use tax codes for the first quarter of 2011. According to the report, 83.3 percent of the changes are increases and new taxes and most are at the city and county level. They are likely a response to cut-backs in federal and state funding.

Less than half of affluent parents (49 percent) in a nationwide poll felt it was important to leave a financial inheritance to the next generation, according to the U.S. Trust Insights on Wealth and Worth Survey.

The House passed the controversial budget plan introduced last week by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., in a largely party-line vote on Friday.

It’s doubtful whether the tax changes proposed by the President in his speech on Wednesday would generate much of a dent in the deficit, even if they were to be accepted by Congress.

The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing Wednesday on how the Tax Code’s burdens on individuals demonstrate the need for comprehensive tax reform.

President Obama outlined his plan for reducing the budget deficit by $4 trillion in the next 12 years during a speech Wednesday in which he said taxes would need to be raised on the wealthy and itemized deductions limited.

A new study from Ernst & Young examines the impact on flow-through businesses of the tax reform proposals, and cautions against lowering corporate tax rates at the expense of S Corporations.