Tax strategies

There are possible tax strategies that are particularly suited to the times that we are in. Here are two that I keep seeing, with the latest in a press release from a major tax publisher. According to analysts with the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters, C corporations may secure a refund of overpaid estimated taxes, or use projected current-year NOL to offset taxes owed for the previous year.

The Internal Revenue Service is changing its lockbox payment addresses in five states for individual taxpayers and 23 states for business taxpayers in the New Year.

Edward Mendlowitz, a partner at accounting firm WithumSmith+Brown, outlined a series of tax strategies that could help offset the staggering losses incurred from investments with Bernard Madoff’s scandal-scarred securities firm.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued proposed regulations that provide rules for assessing penalties against tax advisors who fail to file a true and complete tax return on a timely basis.

Rap singer Doug E. Fresh is facing tax liens from the federal and state government, along with foreclosure of three homes.

Financial Executives International has named Marie N. Hollein as the organization's new president and CEO.

Three of the remaining four defendants in the KPMG tax shelter case were convicted of tax evasion charges.

Tax executives in both the United States and other countries said they are spending more time than ever on risk management, according to a new survey.

The New York State Senate and Assembly have unanimously passed a groundbreaking bill that would amend the laws governing CPAs and provide greater public protections for their clients.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to make it easier for financially troubled homeowners to avoid federal tax liens that block them from selling their homes or refinancing their mortgages.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance on implementing the recently amended tax return preparer penalty, which punishes tax preparers for taking "unreasonable positions" on tax liabilities.

Local Maryland accounting firms DeLeon & Stang and Berger & Hillman plan to merge at the end of the year.

Leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee wrote to President-elect Barack Obama asking him to end the Internal Revenue Service's private debt collection service.

If you haven’t already, you might shortly be asked, “What are the tax implications of riding a bicycle to work?” And your answer will be for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2008, under Section 132(f)(5)(F)(i) a ”qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement fringe benefit” will be considered a qualified transportation fringe benefit.

The National Federation of Independent Business, a small business advocacy group based here, is calling on Congress to pass a six-month payroll tax holiday as part of any economic stimulus package that would be considered in the upcoming weeks.

In a review of Internal Revenue Service efforts to determine whether charitable and non-profit organizations are being used to divert funds to support terrorist activities, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration suggested a number of steps the Criminal Investigation Division could take to improve counterterrorism efforts.

While staffing, training, new software applications and the latest tax law changes are at the top of every practitioner's to-do list for the tax filing season that looms ahead, the overriding concern this year is the economic crisis and the changes facing both themselves and their clients.

CCH SFS BUYS INTELLITAX

The Internal Revenue Service announced that the interest rates for the calendar quarter beginning Jan. 1, 2009, will drop by one percentage point. The new rates, as laid out in Revenue Ruling 2008-54 will be: -- 5 percent for overpayments (4 percent in the case of a corporation);-- 5 percent for underpayments;-- 7 percent for large corporate underpayments; and,-- 2.5 percent for the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000.Under the Internal Revenue Code, the rate of interest is determined on a quarterly basis, based on the federal short-term rate. The most recent rates were computed from the federal short-term rate during October 2008 to take effect Nov. 1, 2008, based on daily compounding.

A completely revised Form 990 will require an overhaul of internal policies and procedures for most tax-exempt organizations, according to Joyce Underwood, director of nonprofit taxation at BDO Seidman's Institute for Nonprofit Excellence.