Tax

The nonpartisan Tax Foundation research group has released a primer on the Marketplace Fairness Act, the legislation that proposes to establish federal law governing sales taxes on online purchases.

A federal appeals court has upheld a penalty assessed against the estate of a deceased man because the executor filed the return late, even though estimated taxes had been paid.

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance said it has helped 42,415 taxpayers who called its Taxpayer Information Center with language assistance in 79 different languages.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to put in place new procedures starting next January to limit the number of refunds electronically deposited into a single financial account or pre-paid debit card to three, as part of an effort to combat fraud and identity theft, including fraud committed by unscrupulous tax preparers.

Health care reform tax issues for 2014

From SEP and SIMPLE IRAs to Solo 401(k)s

Sole proprietors and practitioners mainly generate their revenue during tax season from tax preparation clients, but there are other opportunities for them.

Now that school is out (unless you live in a part of the country still making up for lost “snow days”), it’s easy to get caught up in the general euphoria and take a vacation from thoughts of tax preparation for the summer. But now is precisely the time preparers need to keep communication lines open with their clients, according to Chuck McCabe, president of Peoples Income Tax and The Income Tax School.

The Internal Revenue Service is moving ahead with a voluntary tax preparer education program after legal challenges derailed an earlier mandatory testing and continuing education program.

A new study suggests that tax filing season could be the best time to sign up clients for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act rather than the current open enrollment period.