Finance

The Treasury and Energy Departments, along with the IRS, said billions of dollars in government investment grants for smart grid technology would be non-taxable, paving the way for the technology to move forward.

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The Senate has passed a bill to extend unemployment benefits through the end of the year as well as a number of tax cuts that expired at the end of last year.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin, D-Mich., and ranking member Dave Camp, R-Mich., have introduced legislation to allow taxpayers to claim charitable deductions in 2009 for Chilean earthquake relief.

The Congressional Budget Office has released an estimate of the budgetary effects of President Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 and found that some of the tax cuts could add another $3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years.

Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., has been chosen as acting chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, a day after Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., took a leave of absence from the leadership of the powerful tax-writing committee.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has temporarily stepped aside as chairman of the powerful tax-writing committee amid mounting calls for his resignation.

Senate Democrats have introduced legislation to extend unemployment benefits, a 65 percent subsidy for COBRA health insurance for the unemployed, and a large set of tax breaks that expired at the end of last year.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Judd Gregg, R-N.H., have introduced legislation to eliminate many of the exemptions, deductions, credits and other tax breaks in the Tax Code.

Lacking Congress’ ability to address problems with deficit spending, financially squeezed state legislatures across the country are considering desperate tax increases that would have been politically unthinkable just a few years ago.

The Senate approved a job creation bill Wednesday after 13 Republicans agreed to vote for the measure, which includes tax breaks for businesses that hire or retain employees.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has received just over 200 comment letters since it posted its proposed roadmap for transitioning to International Financial Reporting Standards on its Web site in 2008, and it’s now receiving some extra suggestions as it prepares to publicly deliberate Wednesday on the roadmap.

The Senate voted to consider a $15 billion job creation bill after five Republican senators agreed to overcome a filibuster on the measure, which would provide tax breaks to companies that hire and retain employees.

The White House has published the health care reform package that President Obama plans to present to Republican and Democratic congressional leaders at the summit on Thursday.

New rules for credit card companies to follow took effect Monday, putting new restrictions on the interest rate hikes and penalty fees they can charge consumers and small businesses.

The Treasury Department announced plans to extend and expand the New Markets Tax Credit with a proposal in the fiscal year 2011 budget to provide $5 billion in credits to speed recovery in hard-hit communities.

The American Institute of CPAs has dispatched a letter to the leaders of the Senate Banking Committee asking them not to allow a systemic risk regulator to alter accounting standards in the financial regulatory reform legislation they are drafting.

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board is facing several interrelated controversial issues that may ultimately determine the financial viability of the U.S. government.

The Internal Revenue Service needed to scramble to implement various provisions of last year’s Recovery Act to boost the economy as quickly as possible, but it now has to improve its enforcement and reporting to safeguard against abuses, according to a government report.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has introduced a bill that would tax more Wall Street bonuses than similar legislation introduced a week ago.