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.

  • The Justice Department said that a California marketer has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge of defrauding the United States for his involvement in a tax fraud scheme.Todd Eugene Strand of Murrieta, Calif., pleaded guilty today in a Kansas City federal court this week. According to the government’s indictment, between June 1997 and April 2002, Strand and a trio of co-defendants -- Daniel Joel Gleason, Michael Craig Cooper and Jesse Ayala Cota -- operated a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and taxpayers.

    March 27
  • Link2Gov Corp. announced that its Pay1040.com service, now in its fifth year of contracted electronic payment processing for the Internal Revenue Service, is experiencing a 63 percent year-over-year increase in the dollars being processed for federal tax payments.

    March 27
  • Avalara, a provider of Internet-based sales tax compliance services for small and midsized businesses, announced that it has more than 10,000 registered users -- doubling the company’s year-ago figure.

    March 26
  • A House subcommittee met yesterday to examine the impact of the alternative minimum tax on individual taxpayers, particularly middle-income taxpayers who were never intended to be subject to the tax.

    March 22
  • The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said that although the process to separate joint tax accounts in innocent spouse cases has been improved, additional action needs to be taken.The Internal Revenue Service separates joint tax accounts to help protect innocent spouses from enforcement action that may be taken against the spouse who actually owes the feds.

    March 21
  • A local accounting firm has alerted its 4,000 clients that their private financial records -- including Social Security numbers, addresses, credit card information and signature documents -- have been stolen.Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Tax Service Plus told authorities that thieves stole the business’s back-up computer on March 7, which contained data on thousands of tax returns filed over the past three years.

    March 21
  • Retailers and other businesses that sell prepaid phone cards for long-distance service can usually qualify for the telephone tax refund, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

    March 21
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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.