The Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance on implementing the recently amended tax return preparer penalty, which punishes tax preparers for taking "unreasonable positions" on tax liabilities.

Local Maryland accounting firms DeLeon & Stang and Berger & Hillman plan to merge at the end of the year.

Leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee wrote to President-elect Barack Obama asking him to end the Internal Revenue Service's private debt collection service.

If you haven’t already, you might shortly be asked, “What are the tax implications of riding a bicycle to work?” And your answer will be for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2008, under Section 132(f)(5)(F)(i) a ”qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement fringe benefit” will be considered a qualified transportation fringe benefit.

The National Federation of Independent Business, a small business advocacy group based here, is calling on Congress to pass a six-month payroll tax holiday as part of any economic stimulus package that would be considered in the upcoming weeks.

In a review of Internal Revenue Service efforts to determine whether charitable and non-profit organizations are being used to divert funds to support terrorist activities, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration suggested a number of steps the Criminal Investigation Division could take to improve counterterrorism efforts.

While staffing, training, new software applications and the latest tax law changes are at the top of every practitioner's to-do list for the tax filing season that looms ahead, the overriding concern this year is the economic crisis and the changes facing both themselves and their clients.