Finance

The Senate has passed a package extending the Bush-era tax rates for two years along with a 13-month unemployment extension.

A federal judge’s decision striking down a key provision of the health care reform law, along with the near-certain repeal of the 1099 information reporting requirements in the law, indicate that President Obama’s signature achievement of the past year is likely to be chipped away in the years ahead before many of its provisions even take effect.

The Bush tax cut and unemployment benefit extension legislation passed a key procedural hurdle in the Senate on Monday, overcoming the 60-vote threshold needed to come up for a vote later in the week.

A new post-election analysis of political fundraising activity by PACs sponsored by the American Institute of CPAs and several of its largest member firms suggests that the profession may have missed the opportunity to ride the wave that propelled Republicans to victory in 2010, by supporting incumbents, both Democrat and Republican, who were turfed out, and largely ignoring the Tea Party candidates who were the engine of the GOP's congressional landslide.

Former President Bill Clinton stood alongside President Barack Obama at a news conference and endorsed Obama’s deal with congressional Republicans to extend the Bush-era tax cuts and unemployment benefits.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has introduced a bill to extend the Bush tax cuts and unemployment benefits.

House Democrats met Thursday and overwhelmingly voted to block the Bush tax cut extension compromise announced earlier in the week by President Obama and Republican congressional leaders.

President Obama’s announcement on Monday of a compromise agreement with the Republican leadership should bring some end-of-year certainty to the tax landscape, but questions remain.

The controversial WikiLeaks cache of hundreds of thousands of documents from the U.S. State Department has been yielding many surprises, despite protestations to the contrary.

President Obama held a news conference in which he sought to quell criticism from lawmakers from his own party of the deal he had struck with Republicans to preserve the Bush tax cuts even for upper-income earners for two more years.

President Obama announced a deal Monday evening to extend the Bush-era tax rates for two years, as well as other tax breaks and unemployment benefits, after Republican and Democratic congressional leaders forged a compromise in meetings with administration officials.

The Senate failed on Saturday to overcome Republican-led opposition to two bills extending the Bush-era tax cuts to taxpayers making less than $250,000 and $1 million a year, prompting leaders to talk Sunday of progress toward a deal extending tax cuts for people at all income levels on a temporary basis, along with unemployment benefits.

The 18-member commission appointed to recommend ways to cut the federal budget deficit and national debt was unable to reach the 14-member threshold required to approve a final report and send it to Congress.

The U.S. economy gained only about 39,000 jobs in November, far fewer than expected, sending the unemployment rate up two-tenths of a percentage point to 9.8 percent, and putting more pressure on Congress to pass an extension in federal unemployment benefits.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has introduced a package of tax cuts for middle-class families after the House passed tax cut legislation Thursday extending the Bush-era tax rates.

Preparers looking for a wish list of provisions for the lame duck session of Congress to pass have a number of items to consider.

The House voted Thursday to censure former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., for violations of ethical rules.

House Democrats passed a tax cut package on Thursday aimed at extending the Bush-era tax cuts for taxpayers who earn below $250,000, but the prospects for passage in the Senate will depend on the deal worked out by a bipartisan group of four lawmakers and two Obama administration officials.

The Senate has unanimously approved a clarification to the Federal Trade Commission’s oft-delayed Red Flags rule after lobbying by the American Institute of CPAs and a variety of state CPA societies.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin, D-Mich., introduced legislation Wednesday that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts only for those making less than $250,000 a year, and provide a two-year AMT patch.