Finance

Accountants don’t think their small-business clients are prepared for the Affordable Care Act, according to a recent survey.

In a new ruling, the Tax Court has held that accounts receivable constituted related party debt under Code section 965(b)(3), and therefore part of the deduction claimed by the taxpayer, BMC Software, Inc., was disallowed.

The Internal Revenue Service has completed work on 91 of 132 applications for tax-exempt status from politically oriented groups and approved 70 of them, the agency’s acting commissioner said.

Republican leaders of the House Judiciary Committee released a set of principles Wednesday for taxing Internet sales, offering the first tentative move toward compromising on legislation passed by the Senate earlier this year that has not yet advanced in the House.

The Internal Revenue Service’s estimate of the so-called “Tax Gap,” the difference between taxes owed and taxes paid voluntarily and on time, needs to be more accurate, reliable, comprehensive and timely, according to a new government report released to the public Monday by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

The Internal Revenue Service is providing guidance on the application of the market reform provisions of the Affordable Care Act to health care arrangements such as health reimbursement arrangements, employer payment plans and flexible spending accounts.

As tax reform efforts resume in Washington this month, a new survey finds that over 70 percent of business tax professionals believe a detailed tax reform plan will begin to be worked on by the House Ways and Means Committee this year, and nearly 50 percent of the respondents think a tax reform plan will be put forward in the Senate.

The Congressional Budget Office is seeing a $400 billion reduction in the federal government’s budget deficit for the current fiscal year, thanks to increased tax revenues due largely to the expiration of the payroll tax cut.

Forty percent of Americans are spending more money on health care compared to a year ago, according to a new report by Bankrate.com, which found that only 8 percent are spending less.

Awareness of the implications of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, also known as FATCA, is growing.

A new program allowing Swiss banks to cooperate with U.S. tax authorities means that the days of U.S. citizens successfully keeping their numbered Swiss bank accounts hidden from the prying eyes of the IRS could be coming to an end.

The leaders of Congress’s two tax-writing committees have continued their tax reform road show tour with a stop in Memphis, Tenn.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued proposed regulations to implement the information reporting requirements for insurers and certain employers under the Affordable Care Act.

The Supreme Court’s recent DOMA decision raised a number of questions regarding its tax implications.

The American Institute of CPAs is asking Congress to provide the Internal Revenue Service with “sufficient” funds to perform its duties.

Swiss banks will reach final settlements over tax disputes with the U.S. by 2015, according to Patrick Odier, chairman of the Swiss Bankers Association.

Seeing signs of movement on changing the Tax Code

The Swiss government is urging banks to cooperate with a new program it has set up with U.S. authorities, even though it will require significant financial penalties and information sharing from banks that aided secret account holders.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have ruled that same-sex couples, legally married in jurisdictions that recognize their marriages, will be treated as married for federal tax purposes.

Switzerland is paving the way for its banks to settle a dispute with the U.S. over tax evasion, approving a plan after years of diplomatic wrangling.