Finance

The Senate voted 82-13 to override President Bush's veto of the Farm Bill, which includes nearly $2 billion in tax relief.

Presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has written to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman asking him to fix problems her constituents have reported with receiving the wrong amount on their tax rebates.

The House of Representatives has passed a bill containing a set of tax deductions and extensions, renewable energy incentives, and a provision equalizing the penalty standards for tax preparers and taxpayers.

Coinciding with the end of tax season, House lawmakers last month passed a bill that promises to make tax preparation easier, while also repealing the Internal Revenue Service’s often controversial Private Debt Collection Program.By a margin of 238-179, the House approved the Taxpayer Assistance and Simplification Act of 2008, which repeals the outsourcing program. The program had come under heavy fire — particularly from Democrats — for spending $75 million to collect just $35 million for the IRS. Under the agreement, three private firms took a 24 percent cut of the taxes they collected.

The House Ways and Means Committee has passed a bill that contains a provision advocated by the American Institute of CPAs equalizing the tax return reporting standards.

The Senate Finance Committee has proposed a new tax bill that seeks to prevent the Alternative Minimum Tax from spreading to more taxpayers next tax season.The bill, sponsored by committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and ranking member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, increases the AMT exemption amount to $46,200 for individuals and $69,950 for joint filers. It allows the use of personal credits to keep taxpayers who don’t currently pay the AMT from being snared by the tax.

Section 7216, a part of the Internal Revenue Code since 1971, imposes criminal penalties on tax return preparers who knowingly or recklessly make unauthorized disclosures or uses of information furnished in connection with the preparation of an income tax return.A violation of the section is not to be taken lightly — it comes with a penalty of up to a year’s imprisonment or a fine of not more than $1,000, or both.

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has introduced a bill to extend tax credits and deductions that expired last year or would expire at the end of this year, including tax incentives for renewable energy.

The Senate Finance Committee held hearings on tax reform for individuals, the latest in a series of hearings on tax reform.

The House has passed housing legislation to help homeowners threatened by foreclosure, including tax benefits to sweeten the package.

Cindy McCain, the wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has refused to release her tax returns.

The New York State Senate has agreed to suspend the gasoline tax for the summer, as the topic continues to be the talk of presidential candidates.

Senate Democrats have proposed legislation that would roll back $17 billion in tax breaks for oil and gas companies and impose a 25 percent windfall profits tax on the companies.

With the current estate tax regime set to expire in 2010, it’s time to consider what comes next, say the nation’s tax experts.With that sunset date fast approaching, the Tax Division of the American Institute of CPAs has taken its comprehensive reform proposal and boiled it down to a top-seven priority list of suggested reforms that it urged Congress to pass prior to the expiration date.

The Treasury Department has released a blueprint for overhauling the regulation of financial markets to forestall future crises in the mortgage and credit markets.Under the blueprint, there would be a “conduct of business regulator” to monitor the business conduct of financial firms. The agency would assume many of the roles of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and insurance and banking regulators. The blueprint also envisions a “corporate finance regulator” that would encompass the SEC’s oversight of accounting regs.

The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures held a hearing to discuss tax incentives for post-secondary education.

IRS Narrows Tax Gap

The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on the tax aspects of a cap-and-trade program to control carbon emissions.

The Senate Finance Committee proposed a new tax bill that seeks to prevent the alternative minimum tax from spreading to more taxpayers next tax season.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has released his 2006 and 2007 tax returns.