Tax season

The Internal Revenue Service said that individuals and businesses will no longer receive paper income tax packages in the mail.

The Internal Revenue Service’s Modernized e-File system is facing “significant challenges” processing individual tax returns, according to a new government report.

The Internal Revenue Service disagreed with the recommendations of a new government report that it freeze more taxpayer refunds to give it time to validate them using information supplied by third parties.

Taxpayers stuck in the current economic downturn will get at least some relief in 2011 thanks to the mandatory upward inflation-adjustments called for under the Tax Code, according to CCH

Positions have hardened on the subject of tax preparer registration and the proposed regulations slated to become final before the program of registering for preparer tax identification numbers begins.

Having prepared tax returns for a number of years, we have come to the conclusion that individual income tax returns have their own personalities, as do the taxpayers that they represent.

The National Society of Accountants has written to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the Internal Revenue Service urging them not to agree to calls by the American Institute of CPAs to exempt non-signing preparers at CPA firms from the IRS’s new tax preparer registration requirements.

The Treasury Department said it would launch a new pilot program next tax season for people without bank accounts, directly depositing their tax refunds in special accounts that they will be able to access with debit cards.

Taxpayers will be able to receive their income tax refunds on a reloadable prepaid Western Union MoneyWise MasterCard next tax season as a result of a new agreement that CCH Small Firm Services has struck with Western Union.

Starting next tax season, the Internal Revenue Service will no longer provide tax preparers and financial institutions with a so-called “debt indicator” that is often used to facilitate refund anticipation loans.

Thomas M. Bloch, son of H&R Block founder Henry Bloch, submitted a letter to Block’s board citing a “disagreement over the direction of the company” as the reason why he won’t stand for re-election as a director.

H&R Block reported a decline in its fiscal 2010 net income, attributing it to a drop in its tax season business as a result of the economy, while its rival Jackson Hewitt reported that it had received a warning about its listing on the NYSE, also brought on by tax season problems.

The recession defined this year's tax season in a number of ways, including legislation designed to stimulate the troubled economy, as well as hiring and engagement practices, according to veteran practitioners. Legislation such as the Making Work Pay and First-Time Homebuyer Credits, as well as changes in income levels for IRA conversions, both affected and confused a number of taxpayers during the filing period.

In comments submitted to the Internal Revenue Service,the National Society of Accountants supported the agency's proposed taxpreparer registration requirements, but suggested broadening them to includeeven more preparers.

The First-Time Homebuyer Credit turned the 2010 tax filing season into a briar patch for the Internal Revenue Service, a frustrating experience for many taxpayers, and a new opportunity for scammers to rip-off the public, an IRS official told Congress.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama released their joint income tax return on Tax Day, April 15, reporting adjusted gross income of $5.5 million, not including his Nobel Peace Prize winnings.

Recent tax law changes continue to bedevil the Internal Revenue Service, according to a new government report on tax season.

With economic uncertainty still lingering, many Americans plan to use their tax refunds conservatively, according to a new survey.

CCH has provided a list of the biggest tax breaks from last year that individuals can take on their 2009 tax returns.

Taxpayers may have to finish filing their taxes by April15, but they'll have earned enough to pay their share by April 9, according tothe Tax Foundation.