Tax

Unreported income from the cash economy and late-year Tax Code changes are the focus of the first of this year's two reports to Congress by National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson.In her report, Olson proposed a comprehensive strategy to address tax noncompliance in the cash economy, which accounts for the largest portion of the tax gap. The report identifies the lack of progress in addressing cash economy noncompliance as a most serious problem.

The Internal Revenue Service hopes that new interim guidance for tax preparers will ease concerns over the expanded preparer penalties and heightened standards of conduct that must be met to avoid the penalties.

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 has introduced a new paradigm of tax strategies for those who are falling behind on their home mortgage payments (or anticipate falling behind as the result of a pending adjustable rate mortgage reset).

Spending of tax rebate money on shopping may be slower than politicians hope, according to a new survey.

President Bush said he would sign into law the economic stimulus package passed by Congress.

The Internal Revenue Service has improved its online refund-tracking tool and tax information publication.

A survey of leading corporate tax executives predicts that taxes will not be a major issue in Congress in 2008, apart from the one-year alternative minimum tax patch and the one-year extenders package.

Kellogg & Andelson Accountancy Corp. has acquired the Los Angeles office of a subsidiary of UHY Advisors.

The Senate and the House have passed an economic stimulus package that adds tax rebates for 20 million senior citizens and 250,000 disabled veterans to a package passed by the House last week.

New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter has reportedly settled his tax problems with the State of New York.