A commission is expected to recommend a 50 percent increase in federal gasoline taxes to help fund infrastructure projects.

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik pleaded not guilty last week to tax fraud charges.

The families of tax attorney Atif Irfan and his brother Kashif were removed from an AirTran Airways flight after other passengers complained of suspicious comments they overheard.

The Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council's 2008 Report contains more than 70 recommendations on a wide variety of issues affecting tax administration. The recommendations focus on communication, relief and assistance due to the economic downturn."It's refreshing to see that communications are a concern," said Robert Kerr, senior director of government relations at the National Association of Enrolled Agents. "The IRS is charged with a bifurcated task - enforcement and education. In both realms they have to communicate fairly complex things."

One technique for giving better focus to tax planning in a new year is to look back at the old one. Our column for this issue of Accounting Today uses this strategy, looking at significant 2008 tax developments from the perspective of their impact on tax planning in 2009.In examining 2008 developments for this review, we found that our results fit neatly into a Top 10 list - coincidentally, long a staple of New Year's forecasting. Our list gathers significant 2008 tax developments based on their impact on certain issues or themes. Our list focuses only on those developments that have an impact on strategies that may be implemented in 2009 - that's the reason why a significant amount of tax legislation didn't make the list, but also the reason why some letter rulings and similar types of developments made the cut.

CCH has added a state tax citation capability to its state tax research products.

A Tax Court judge has ruled that taxes on elderly gamblers' casino winnings are not discriminatory.