Finance

The Internal Revenue Service has issued letters denying tax-exempt status to three unidentified political groups that had applied for the exemption as Section 501(c)(4) groups.

The so-called “cut, cap and balance plan” legislation that passed the House would require the passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would mandate a two-thirds supermajority to approve any future tax increases.

A bipartisan group of senators that has been meeting on and off for months to hammer out a budget deficit reduction plan appears to have reunited and gained support on both sides of the aisle for a plan to reduce the budget deficit by $3.7 trillion over 10 years.

Senator Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has proposed a deficit reduction plan estimated to save $9 trillion over the next 10 years by slashing hundreds of government programs, but also increasing taxes in some areas.

Credit Suisse said it has become a target of a Justice Department investigation into its private banking business.

A new bill from a pair of Democratic senators would eliminate a tax break on corporate stock options.

Congress’s two tax-writing committees convened a rare joint hearing Wednesday to consider whether the Tax Code is providing too many incentives for accumulating debt as opposed to equity.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board issued two new standards Wednesday that aim to improve government financial reporting in two timely areas: providing taxpayers and others with information about how past transactions will continue to affect a government’s financial statements in the future, and clarifying the circumstances in which hedge accounting continues to be applied when a swap counterparty, or related credit support provider, is replaced.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and several other senators have introduced a bill to close offshore tax loopholes and strengthen offshore tax enforcement.

Amazon.com is trying to get a referendum on the California ballot to get the recently enacted online sales tax law reversed.

Congressman John Tierney, D-Mass., has introduced a bill that would eliminate about 27 different tax expenditures, including tax breaks for energy companies.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board issued a “preliminary views” document Monday on the recognition and measurement of elements of financial statements.

President Obama challenged Republicans on Monday to offer him their tax reform proposals for resolving the debt ceiling dilemma as he pushed for a deal that the two parties could agree to before the August 2 deadline on raising the debt limit.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board is proposing some far-reaching changes in the field of pension accounting that should affect public employees and state and local governments across the country.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has issued two exposure drafts proposing improvements to financial reporting of pensions by state and local governments.

A bipartisan pair of lawmakers have introduced a bill that aims to ensure better tax compliance on the part of professional employer organizations and protect small businesses.

The unemployment rate climbed a tenth of a percentage point to 9.2 percent after employers added only 18,000 jobs in June, the lowest level in nine months.

A bipartisan pair of senators have announced a compromise on ending the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit at the end of this month.

The Internal Revenue Service said Thursday it would stop its examinations of donors to tax-exempt 501(c)(4) political organizations asking whether they had paid gift taxes, after the agency came under pressure from Republican lawmakers.

President Obama took to Twitter for the White House’s first-ever Twitter Town Hall, answering questions from his “tweeps” about taxes, the economy and other subjects.