Tax practice

The Tax Court has decided in favor of a taxpayer who insisted her hair-braiding business was not a hobby.

A man who claimed to have stolen former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s tax returns from PricewaterhouseCoopers and threatened to expose them has been convicted on extortion and fraud charges.

Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced legislation to limit two tax strategies used by some foreign-controlled U.S. multinational corporations, known as “hopscotching” and “de-controlling.”

Timely and meaningful access to the Internal Revenue Service is what is most important to taxpayers and tax preparers, according to Troy K. Lewis, chair of the American Institute of CPAs’ Tax Executive Committee.

The House passed bipartisan legislation Monday to prevent taxpayer identity theft and help victims whose tax refunds have been stolen by identity thieves. The bill was co-sponsored by a CPA turned lawmaker whose own identity was stolen last tax season.

U.S. companies are paying among the highest corporation taxes in the world at a rate well above the global average, according to a new study by the accounting and consulting firm network UHY.

The IRS will now return newly filed Offer in Compromise applications if the taxpayer has not filed all required returns.

A roundup of our favorite recent tax fraud cases.

President Barack Obama has now joined personally in renewed efforts to pressure Kentucky Senator Rand Paul to stop blocking the ratification of eight tax treaties pending before the U.S. Senate. Paul is sticking to his guns, and it’s important for Americans to understand why.

The House Judiciary Committee said Friday that it will hold two committee hearings to examine misconduct by the Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen. The hearings could lead to impeachment proceedings.

The American Institute of CPAs is asking the Internal Revenue Services to make some changes to a form that tax-exempt groups use to report on transactions with “interested persons.”

The global fight against corruption should focus on major jurisdictions rather than bullying small territories, the heads of government of two tax havens told world leaders.

Highlights of some of our favorite tax-related blogs from the past week.

Former billionaire Sam Wyly may have been hoping for a better outcome on his home turf as a Texas judge weighed tax-evasion claims related to the fraud trial he lost in New York two years ago. He didn’t get it.

Sometimes, the elevation of form over substance can be costly for those who commit a “foot fault” in structuring a transaction in the tax arena.

In January, Donald Trump had this to say when he was asked about whether he would release his tax returns: “I have very big returns, as you know, and I have everything all approved and very beautiful and we’ll be working that over in the next period of time.”

If Donald Trump refuses to release his tax returns before November, it would be “disqualifying” to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s election bid, former Massachusetts governor and 2012 party nominee Mitt Romney said.

The House has passed legislation permitting the Internal Revenue Service to share taxpayer information with state and local law enforcement agencies to help find missing or exploited children, while maintaining safeguards for sensitive taxpayer information.

Approximately 69 percent of entrepreneurs who participate in so-called “sharing economy” services such as Uber, Lyft and Airbnb received absolutely no tax guidance from the companies they work with, according to a new survey.

Avalara is exploring the potential for using blockchain, the underlying technology in Bitcoin, in its sales tax software.