In November, we devoted a column to the issues surrounding the new return preparer penalty standards under Internal Revenue Code Sec. 6694 enacted as part of the Small Business and Work Opportunity Act of 2007. Those changes focused on the expansion of coverage of Code Section 6694 to tax returns beyond income tax returns; an increase in the penalties imposed, including penalties based on 50 percent of fees derived from return preparation; and an increase in the disclosure standard required to avoid penalties to more likely than not (greater than 50 percent) from a realistic possibility of prevailing on the merits (greater than one third).

The Justice Department has sued two tax preparers it accuses of selling bogus gold-mining tax deductions to pro football players.

Actor Nicolas Cage is battling with the Internal Revenue Service, which has accused him of trying to write off $3.3 million in personal expenses by claiming they belonged to his production company.

The Congressional Budget Office has issued a report on the deductibility of state and local income taxes, looking at the benefits and drawbacks of the system.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Ford Motor Co.'s appeal in a tax case involving the cities of Seattle and Tacoma, allowing the cities to tax 100 percent of the automaker's wholesale sales in the two Washington State cities, even though the transactions were processed in Dearborn, Mich.

Forty percent of taxpayers plan to file their taxes online this season, up from 34 percent three years ago, according to a new survey.

Two additional defendants have been charged with criminal tax fraud in a tax shelter case involving current and former partners at Ernst & Young.