Swiss banks, for decades the bastions of secrecy, are preaching the virtue of transparency to their U.S. clients as they try to head off billions of dollars in potential fines for helping Americans evade taxes.

The Internal Revenue Service is asking tax professionals to refrain from directing their clients to call the IRS’s e-help desk, saying that it is causing longer hold times on the phone line, which is only supposed to be used by practitioners.

Congressional Republicans have narrowed the estate tax so much that it affects only about 5,500 wealthy American households a year. Now they want to eliminate the tax altogether—with a bonus for heirs.

Consumer demand is not affected as much by sales taxes that are tacked onto purchase prices, as opposed to excise taxes that are included in the purchase price, according to a new study.

With minutes counting down to this year's tax deadline, clients (and many of their accountants) are scrambling to get paperwork wrapped up on time. But many financial and tax professionals caution that in the heat of the moment, even the most knowledgeable can forget the basics – never mind easy-to-miss, specialized strategies.

The IRS is giving clients who got a wrong 1095-A limited relief from tax penalties.

Some of our favorite recent tax fraud cases.