Tax practice

This year-end is proving to be one of the most difficult for investors in many years. There's the uncertainty resulting from the financial credit crisis and government reactions to the crisis. There's the uncertainty from the close presidential election. There is also the uncertainty from the existing tax laws, under which the tax rates for capital gains and dividends and the top marginal tax rates for ordinary income would increase in 2011 under current law even if nothing were done by Congress.Faced with this uncertainty, the market has been in retreat, evaporating gains and producing potential losses. While most investment advisors are advising clients to remain in the market, and even use downturns such as this as an opportunity for further investment, taxpayers facing investment losses should keep in mind some tried and true tax planning opportunities, as well as some potential new developments in the tax law.

IRS OFFERS GUIDANCE ON ARSWashington, D.C. - The Internal Revenue Service issued a revenue procedure that provides guidance on the treatment of taxpayers who accept certain types of settlements of potential legal claims relating to auction rate securities.

Tax-related measures will be on the ballots of at least 23 states on Tuesday, and they could have far-reaching ramifications.

Learn what practitioners should be focusing on in their upcoming year-end and general tax planning with both individual and corporate clients in this free webcast.

The Internal Revenue Service distributed roughly $1.6 billion in refunds to taxpayers who filed falsified tax returns in 2006 and 2007, despite efforts to stop them, according to a new report from the Treasury Department's inspector general.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to increase the fee for obtaining an exact copy of a previously filed and processed tax return with all the attachments.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued guidance on indirect ownership of preferred stock in mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Optimism among CFOs about the U.S. economy and their own companies fell precipitously in the third quarter, according to a new survey.

The House Committee on Small Business held a hearing on creating opportunities for small businesses in an economic recovery.

An advisory committee on tax information reporting has recommended a number of changes for the Internal Revenue Service to make to improve taxpayer identity protection, disaster reporting and other matters.

The Tax Foundation has selected three videos as winners of a contest that aims to draw attention to the high rate of business taxes in the U.S.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said he did not plan to have Congress suspend fair value accounting rules.

The Internal Revenue Service has withdrawn a tentative assessment of more than $319 million in tax penalties against FedEx.

An attorney for New York Governor David Paterson's chief of staff has attributed his client's neglect in filing tax returns between 2001 and 2005 to "failure-to-file syndrome."

The Internal Revenue Service said that more than 279,000 economic stimulus checks, totaling about $163 million, and over 104,000 regular refund checks, totaling about $103 million, have been returned by the U.S. Postal Service due to mailing address errors.

A recent study of unpublished Internal Revenue Service data has found that wealthier people are hiding their income at greater rates than those in lower income brackets.

The dispute between the American Bankers Association and the Financial Accounting Standards Board heated up as ABA president Edward Yingling called for a new accounting oversight board that would hold sway over FASB.

The Internal Revenue Service reported that it has seen a strong response to its settlement offer for two types of tax shelters, with companies agreeing to pay back taxes totaling billions of dollars.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has given new life to calls for an economic stimulus package, but exactly what it will be is anybody's guess.

INTUIT, BLOCK TO OFFER FREE 1040 E-FILING NEXT YEAR