Tax practice

Financial Executives International has written to House and Senate Leaders urging lawmakers to consider relief for small and closely held business in the event of any future stimulus packages.

The Internal Revenue Service continues to have problems with its internal controls and financial management systems, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

Electronic tax filing for individuals and businesses set a record in 2008, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the department's Troubled Asset Relief Program would begin to focus more on relieving tight consumer credit markets and shift away from the original plans to buy mortgage-backed securities.

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service have accused a senior executive at UBS of helping U.S. taxpayers evade income taxes on approximately $20 billion in assets.

The next Congress and the Obama administration are expected to make major changes in both individual and business taxes, said a panel of Ernst & Young tax experts.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held hearings on the role of hedge funds in the financial crisis and whether they should be more strictly regulated.

The Internal Revenue Service is doling out nearly $8 million in matching grants to groups around the country participating in its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.

CCH has introduced two online tax research products for solo practitioners and small to midsized CPA firms.

The Treasury Department’s financial rescue plan has quickly provoked controversy in the month since it was passed, not least because of an IRS rule change that could well violate the Tax Code.

President-elect Barack Obama is looking for a new chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission to replace departing chair Christopher Cox.

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to begin working on passing an economic stimulus package, possibly even before he takes office.

Tax-related ballot initiatives went down to defeat in several states, including one in Massachusetts that would have repealed the state income tax.

Alma J. Batson and her son Kelcee L. Batson, operators of a tax prep business in Riverside, Calif., have pleaded guilty to federal tax charges.

The results of Tuesday's election are increasing the balance of power on the Democratic side of the aisle in both the House and Senate.

An IRS tax compliance officer has been charged with accepting a bribe in exchange for preparing a false audit report for a taxpayer, and stealing another taxpayer's federal income tax refund and economic stimulus check.

The Internal Revenue Service will begin conducting an annual survey of tax professionals early this month.

A Charlotte, N.C.-based florist is battling national competitors who market themselves as local merchants but don't charge their customers sales tax.

Governments at all levels are faced with the need to raise more revenue in the wake of the current fiscal crisis. Both the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the Government Accountability Office have issued reports addressing the weakness in unpaid tax collection, the role of private debt collectors in attempting to collect some of that debt, and the misreporting of rental real estate activities that contribute to the tax gap.The GAO said that while collecting unpaid tax debt is part of any strategy to help ensure compliance and confidence in the tax system and reduce both the annual tax gap and the cumulative unpaid tax debt inventory, Congress and other stakeholders have raised questions about the effectiveness of the Internal Revenue Service collection process in helping ensure compliance.

IRS TO ADDRESS PTP TERMINATIONSWashington, D.C. - The Internal Revenue Service plans to issue guidance on technical terminations of a publicly traded partnership resulting in multiple short tax years within one calendar year.