Finance

Senate Republicans have defeated a proposal to charge oil companies a windfall profits tax.

The American Institute of CPAs' Tax Division presented Alan Einhorn with its 2007-2008 Distinguished Service Award at its spring meeting.

The Senate Finance Committee held hearings on small business tax issues as part of a series of hearings on tax reform.

A report from Ernst & Young describes the potential adverse impact on the U.S. economy if the research and development tax credit is not renewed.

The U.S. Tax Court has proposed amending its rules and procedures for whistleblower award actions.

The huge farm bill working its way through the final stages of the House/Senate Conference Committee appears to have preserved at least a few tax provisions. In March, the conference committee had stripped out the tax provisions that had originated with the Senate Finance Committee. However, when it came time to count votes, negotiators decided that some of the tax provisions had to stay in.The farm bill can be looked at as a net tax increase, with the somewhat unusual feature for legislation in recent years of providing for more revenue-raising offsets than tax incentives. The negotiators have agreed on $1.4 billion in tax incentives and $10 billion in offsets. The figure of $1.4 billion is a significant reduction from the $2.4 billion in tax incentives originally proposed by the Senate Finance Committee.

In a good news/bad news scenario for many publicly traded companies, a recent poll of financial executives showed that while the costs of audit fees rose in year-over-year comparisons, there was a marked decline in Sarbanes-Oxley 404 compliance expenses.According to a recent survey of 185 companies conducted by Financial Executives International, larger companies, or accelerated public filers — which comprised about 90 percent of the respondents — spent an average of $3.6 million on total audit fees last year, up nearly 2 percent from 2006.

Cindy McCain, wife of presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has released the opening two pages of her 1040 return for 2006 after coming under pressure for refusing to provide details of the sources of her income.

The National Conference of CPA Practitioners held a quarterly meeting in Washington to meet with various senators and representatives as well as the Internal Revenue Service, and talk about tax policy.

The Senate has approved a bill offering more than $1.2 billion in tax relief to veterans and military families.

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.