Tax strategies

No one enjoys paying taxes. That's especially true when the tax structure is complex and convoluted. Payroll taxes often fall into this category, but perhaps the most convoluted taxes that some of your clients will have to track, compute and remit are sales and use taxes.

President Barack Obama said Thursday he plans to hold a forum in December at the White House on jobs and economic growth.

Although I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, and I would have to get very lucky very soon to be concerned with the estate tax rate, it has always seemed an unfair proposition to tax a person or business when it is most vulnerable.

CCH has added Smart Charts, checklists and decision trees to its Business Entity Planning Library to provide further guidance to tax practitioners analyzing and comparing the entities used by small- and midsized businesses.

Government tax authorities around the world are requiring multinational companies to provide more documentation to support their transfer pricing strategies as countries seek additional tax revenue.

The House voted to approve health care reform, moving the legislation now to an uncertain outcome in the Senate.

President Barack Obama has signed the extension of the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit, along with an extension of unemployment benefits.

The Senate voted by a 98-0 margin to extend the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit while also expanding the credit to existing homeowners who want to move to another residence.

Lee Zoeller, a partner at the international law firm Reed Smith LLP, recently began leading the Institute for Professionals in Taxation.

During the downturn, many practitioners have found it necessary to brush up on the loss-deduction rules. When the economy is humming, an overabundance of income is usually available to offset any loss that might surface. When times get tough, however, a variety of loss-limiting rules under the Tax Code suddenly demand some attention. The "basket" approach to figuring out what loss can offset what income can be useful under these circumstances, especially as year-to-year tax planning may be available to offset the offsets.

IRS DROPS ACORN

Tax prep software vendors are counting on an upswing in the professional tax preparation market to fuel their own growth during the upcoming tax filing season.

Vertex has announced an online certification program through which continuing professional education credits can be earned.

House Democrats unveiled their health care reform package after assembling the various components passed this summer by three separate committees.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan have called on Congress to extend the First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit past its Dec. 1 expiration date, while putting in place strong anti-fraud measures.

The IRS’s Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee has released a report outlining recommendations on a wide range of tax administration issues, including creating new forms and instructions, and reporting of a customer’s basis in securities transactions.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman had some news for CPAs gathered to hear him speak at an AICPA conference on Monday: high-income individuals are going to be in the agency’s cross-hairs now.

Democratic leaders of key House and Senate committees have introduced legislation to force foreign financial institutions, trusts and corporations to provide information about their U.S. account holders, grantors and owners.

If someone said to me a decade ago that the ideas that tax planners use, some on a daily basis, might be violating a patent, I would have dismissed it as crazy talk.

A new study by KPMG has found more governments worldwide imposing value-added taxes and goods and services taxes to make up for declining revenue from other sources, and warns the U.S. may follow suit.