Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., called for an "emergency energy rebate" of $1,000 to be offered to families this fall, along with a $50 billion stimulus package to help jump-start job creation.

The Internal Revenue Service has seized over $24 million from two companies that were processing payments for an Internet gambling site, Bodog.com.

Whether John McCain or Barack Obama becomes the country’s next chief executive, they will need to look not only at tax reform, but international tax reform early in their administration.“We may find it wise to get to [international] tax reform very early,” advised Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, during recent Capitol Hill hearings on the issue.

The 80 percent e-file goal, in place since it was proposed in the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, was a major contributing factor to the growth in electronic filing, despite the fact that it fell short of the 2007 deadline, according to the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board.

WRONG CALCULATIONS MAY AFFECT STIMULUS PAYMENTS

One of the advantages of the complexity brought on by social engineering in the Tax Code is that, when personal circumstances change and times get rough, there are usually some provisions in the code that come into play to provide a bit of tax relief. Tax practitioners can do a real service for their clients by alerting them to new or existing tax provisions that might be applicable to a particular taxpayer for the first time. Some of them may require the taxpayer to maintain records or be aware of requirements during the course of the year, so alerting them only at tax return preparation time may be too late for some of the tax benefits.

The Internal Revenue Service has proposed amending its regulations to provide further guidance to taxpayers in the home construction industry.