Finance

A pilot program aimed at providing tax refunds on prepaid debit cards ran into a series of problems before the Treasury Department ultimately discontinued it.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney told an enthusiastic Republican National Convention that unlike his rival Barack Obama, he would not raise taxes on small businesses or the middle class.

The Internal Revenue Service has stepped up its efforts to investigate possible misconduct in the municipal bond sector, more than doubling the number of examinations it conducts per year.

The Senate Finance Committee has released the legislative text of the tax extenders bill, spelling out the reasons for extending certain tax breaks or for letting them expire, along with dissenting views from a trio of senators.

Republicans are pitching their tax overhaul plan on the appeal of lower rates and a simpler system—and figuring that voters won’t mind the lack of details about the potential pain.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, have used sophisticated estate- planning techniques for more than a decade to minimize taxes and amass at least $100 million for their family outside of their estate.

Three Republicans from the House Committee on Oversight and Government have written a letter to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman demanding he explain a recent rule that would extend tax credits to individuals who buy health insurance from an exchange set up by the federal government when their state has failed to set up such an exchange.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is paying nearly $50,000 to a whistleblower who helped prevent a multimillion-dollar securities fraud, in the first award paid under a new whistleblower program.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has signed legislation imposing a new tax on strip clubs that will be used to fund assistance to victims of sexual assault.

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan paid effective federal tax rates of 20 percent in 2011 and 15.9 percent in 2010, tax returns released Friday night show.

The Obama campaign offered to stop asking for copies of Republic presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s tax returns if he would release five years’ worth in total. The Romney camp declined.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Mitt Romney’s choice as vice presidential running mate, said he planned to release two years of tax returns to the public, even though he submitted several more years of tax returns to the Romney campaign during the vetting process.

President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign stepped up its attacks on Republican rival Mitt Romney’s tax history with a new negative ad highlighting Romney’s tenure as head of the audit committee of Marriott International during a period when the committee used a tax shelter that has since been ruled illegal.

Tax credits and deductions for education are too complicated and so confusing that most taxpayers cannot determine which provisions are best for them, the American Institute of CPAs said in written testimony to the Senate Finance Committee.

Every year, it seems that the tax profession is faced with year-end legislation, late forms and radical changes that add to the complexity and headache of preparing a return. Despite all of the above, most practitioners realize that it’s the complexity and confusion that drives new clients their way.

Half a dozen accounting firms have been selected to help oversee compliance by the five banks that agreed to a mammoth national mortgage settlement.

With record-setting temperatures across the country this summer reminding people that the weather has been getting pretty hot lately, it was only a matter of time before the notion of imposing carbon taxes would return to the heads of policy makers.

A group of 10 Republican senators have written a letter to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman urging him to resist changing regulations for tax-exempt organizations organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the Tax Code.

The House approved legislation last week that would allow federal employees with seriously delinquent tax debts to be terminated.

President Barack Obama criticized Republican rival Mitt Romney’s tax reform plans during a campaign appearance, referring to them as “Robin Hood in reverse” and “Romney Hood.”