Tax research

The proposed regulations on preparer penalties, released on June 17, are the latest iteration of rules that tax practitioners should consider carefully when recommending and executing tax strategies. Not heeding them can result in stiff penalties or, worse, the loss of the right to continue to practice tax law and serious damage to a firm’s reputation in the client community.The simple reality is that those responsible for recommending prospective tax strategies are almost always drawn back into the matter by the signing return preparer once the transaction is completed. They are asked about tax benefit matters what was intended and whether things turn out as expected. That after-the-fact advice is enough to subject the practitioner to the label “return preparer” for purposes of the preparer penalties.

Investment banking firm Duff & Phelps has entered into a global alliance with World Tax Service Alliance and acquired WTS's U.S. member, World Tax Service U.S., for an undisclosed sum.

VSP Vision Care has hired former U.S. Solicitor General Ken Starr to represent the eye care insurance provider in an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on its tax-exempt status.

The Internal Revenue Service's process for collecting unpaid taxes is overly complicated and delayed, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.

Thomson Reuters' Tax & Accounting business has added OneSource Entity Manager to its line of OneSource Tax software.

John K. Harris founded JK Harris & Co. in 1997 and it quickly grew into one of the country's largest tax representation firms, helping people who are in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service.

As a Senate subcommittee and the Internal Revenue Service probe the use of Swiss bank accounts as tax havens by UBS, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., has called for revoking the U.S. banking license of UBS.

The taxes paid by U.S. consumers are rising higher overall at gas pumps, retail stores and cigarette counters, according to a new survey.

Automobile donations have sharply declined since 2004, when Congress tightened the tax rules for claiming charitable deductions, according to an analysis of IRS data by Grant Thornton.

The presidential race has produced an interesting series of charges and counter-charges about the candidates' tax policies, and lately they've involved taxes on small business owners.

A Chicago businessman has pleaded guilty to tax fraud conspiracy charges stemming from an agreement with a Chicago-based banker and tax shelter promoter to fraudulently obtain referral fees relating to tax shelter transactions.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has proposed a tax credit for small businesses that offer health insurance to their employees.

Ford Motor Co. is suing the Internal Revenue Service, claiming the agency owes the automaker $445.3 million in interest on tax overpayments.

The Internal Revenue Service issued an alert about a new wave of e-mail scams that use the IRS name to commit identity theft.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun issuing summonses as it investigates Colorado's program for conservation easement tax credits.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, provided an update this week on his correspondence with several media-based ministries about issues related to their tax-exempt status, indicating that some ministries have not been answering his questions.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an opinion in a tax dispute that found the U.S. Tax Court is not a court as defined by law.

A jury returned guilty verdicts against Joseph H. Smith, the former treasurer, CFO and legal secretary of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, on charges of conspiracy and filing false tax returns.

CCH began offering Global Daily Tax News on its CCH Tax Research Network, providing country-specific national and local tax and business news coverage to help users remain in compliance and support their tax planning.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings on proposed tax treaties and protocols with Canada, Iceland and Bulgaria.