Tax

Tax News & IRS Insights for Accounting Professionals

Accounting Today delivers news and analysis for accounting and tax professionals on federal and state tax developments, IRS guidance,information reporting, and operational implications for practices and clients. Our coverage focuses on legislative and procedural shifts that tax practitioners must monitor in planning, compliance, and advisory contexts.

Tax fraud

The 'magic' ends for big-time tax fraudster

The tax preparer known as 'the Magician' will pay $145 million in restitution.

By Jeff Stimpson
Freelance writer

December 27
Tax-related court cases

Tax Fraud Blotter: Where's my refund?

Prime numbers; Power play; Great White sharks; and other highlights of recent tax cases.

By Jeff Stimpson
Freelance writer

December 26
IRS

Private debt collectors recovered fraction of tax debts

Private collection agencies have recovered only about $2.4 billion in tax debt payments since April 2017 out of the $64.9 billion assigned to them by the IRS.

By Michael Cohn
Editor-in-chief, AccountingToday.com

December 26
IRS

IRS left sensitive paper documents exposed before destroying them

The Internal Revenue Service's program for destroying sensitive paper documents needs to be improved after inspectors found many documents easily accessible.

By Michael Cohn
Editor-in-chief, AccountingToday.com

December 26
Corporate taxes

Lyft accuses San Francisco of $100M tax overcharge

The ride-hailing company said its hometown calculated its taxes based on the total amount of money that passengers paid for rides.

By Robert Burnson

December 26
IRS

Waiver expanded for some accounting method changes

A new IRS revenue procedure is applicable for some research or experimental expenses.

By Jeff Stimpson
Freelance writer

December 26
AT Think In the blogs: Just in time

BOI is back; phantom stocks; continuous compliance; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

December 24

Jeff Stimpson

Resources

The latest Accounting Today research and discussion:

Web Seminar Tax season postmortem: What to fix for 2027

Join us for a transparent look at the challenges facing firms this year and how to overcome them for 2027.

Partner Insights from Canopy
On-Demand Web Seminar Rethinking busy season: A modern operating model for K-1s

Busy season is over—but the bruises are still fresh. Many firms expected smoother K-1 workflows, yet encountered the same familiar bottlenecks, last-minute delays, and staff burnout. Instead of tweaking around the edges, we'll explore a modern operating model for managing K-1s at scale – from intake through exchange – designed to reduce rework, cycle time, and eliminate seasonal chaos.

Partner Insights from K1X
Tariffs and your clients

Dean Peterson and Blair Robbins of Eisner Advisory Group discuss the tax and business ramifications of the Trump administration's tariff policies that accountants should be advising clients about.

Sponsored by Intuit Quickbooks

Tax: Key Questions & Analysis:

What IRS guidance on forms and information reporting should practitioners prioritize?

The IRS continues to update thresholds and instructions for critical tax forms. This includes changes to information reporting requirements and guidance on evolving reporting standards, affecting 1099, W-2 and similar reporting obligations.

What procedural developments affect IRS automatic change consent for method changes?

Tax professionals must understand which accounting method changes qualify for automatic consent versus advance consent. This determines whether a Form 3115 must be filed with IRS National Office or via automatic procedures.

How are tip-related tax provisions evolving under current policy?

New tax provisions related to tip income will impact how service industry clients and payroll units handle tax reporting and compliance. This includes draft schedules and withholding considerations.

What IRS guidance will shape compliance for the 2026 filing season?

Practitioners will need to understand procedural updates, forms changes, and reporting shifts that will affect compliance workflows and client expectations for the 2026 filing season. This includes the implementation timeline for new schedules and reporting requirements as well as for emerging areas such as crypto broker reporting.