Tax strategies

Senate Finance Committee ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has introduced a bill that would make permanent a number of education-related tax relief measures dating back to 2001, when he was committee chairman, and increase others.

Large corporations have dominated the use of the research tax credit, with 549 corporations with receipts of $1 billion or more claiming over half of the $6 billion of net credits in 2005, the most recent year available, according to a new study by the Government Accountability Office.

Fifty-seven percent of the senior business executives surveyed by KPMG’s Tax Governance Institute expect some type of value-added tax to be introduced in the U.S. within five years, and 18 percent anticipate a VAT within 10 years.

A group of Democratic lawmakers has introduced legislation that would impose a tax on Wall Street securities transactions.

The White House convened a jobs summit in which President Obama heard from business and union leaders about various proposals for reducing unemployment, including tax incentives for job creation.

The House voted to set the inheritance tax at 45 percent permanently for estates larger than $3.5 million.

Leaders of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship have introduced legislation that would make permanent the $250,000 Section 179 expensing limits for small businesses created under the Recovery Act.

Businesses will have to act soon on a bevy of tax breaks before they expire at the end of the year.

pricewaterhousecoopers, taxes, pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical, health

The tax subcommittee of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board has decided to postpone its report outlining tax reform plans for the White House after being inundated with suggestions.

A group of Democratic lawmakers has introduced a bill that would impose a temporary war surtax beginning in 2011 to pay for the war in Afghanistan.

The First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit helped spur a 10.1 percent jump in sales of existing homes in October.

CCH and Grant Thornton have teamed up to produce IFRS Tax Manager, an online guide to International Financial Reporting Standards, aimed at helping tax, audit and accounting professionals comply with tax accounting and reporting standards under IFRS.

CCH Small Firm Services has begun shipping its ATX and TaxWise lines of software for tax year 2009, with links to tax research from CCH.

It’s getting near the end of the year, and ’tis the season to be compiling lists.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., introduced the Senate’s version of the health care reform bill, which includes a new 5 percent tax on elective cosmetic surgery.

In a move designed to bolster its global transaction tax offerings, Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting has agreed to acquire San Ramon, Calif.-based Sabrix, a provider of tax transaction software, for an undisclosed amount.

As the world slowly starts to emerge from the recent recession - which has affected more people, across more industries, across the world, than any in recent history - there are certain opportunities that investors can take to mitigate some of the damage. The following are five things you can do to take advantage of the current downturn in the stock market.

Limited liability companies continue to grow in popularity as a choice of business entity. The combination of limited liability, pass-through tax treatment if partnership treatment is elected, ability of members to be actively involved in the management of the business, and lack of many of the restrictions imposed on S corporations have made it a very attractive form of entity.

Washington, D.C.-Tax rate brackets and various tax benefits will remain unchanged or change only slightly in 2010 due to low inflation, and many pension plan limitations will remain unchanged, according to the Internal Revenue Service.