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.

Tax relief

Employers get a break on sketchy ERCs

The IRS is rolling out a voluntary disclosure program to let businesses pay back Employee Retention Credits they claimed in error.

By Jeff Stimpson
Freelance writer

December 21
Tax-related court cases

Tax Fraud Blotter: Fishy

Get with the Program; root causes; significant others; and other highlights of recent tax cases.

By Jeff Stimpson
Freelance writer

December 21
Tax regulations

Incremental cost won't influence Clean Vehicle Credit: IRS

New guidance from the IRS in Notice 2024-05 provides a safe harbor for certain vehicles.

By Jeff Stimpson
Freelance writer

December 21
Practice and client management

The rules of the road for deducting business-related car expenses

Financial advisors and tax professionals serving self-employed and other entrepreneurial clients start with a choice between two methods, then make careful calculations.

By Tobias Salinger
Chief Correspondent

December 21
IRS

IRS grants $1B in penalty relief

The relief will go to roughly 4.7 million taxpayers who weren't sent collection reminder notices during the pandemic.

By Jeff Stimpson
Freelance writer

December 20
AT Think In the blogs: Manual AI

Too much money; five little letters on how clients might see you; loss-harvesting season; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

December 19

Jeff Stimpson
Tax-related court cases

Hunter Biden faces Jan. 11 arraignment on tax charges

The president's son has been charged with failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes.

December 19

Resources

The latest Accounting Today research and discussion:

Web Seminar Tax season postmortem: What to fix for 2027

Join us for a transparent look at the challenges facing firms this year and how to overcome them for 2027.

Partner Insights from Canopy
On-Demand Web Seminar Rethinking busy season: A modern operating model for K-1s

Busy season is over—but the bruises are still fresh. Many firms expected smoother K-1 workflows, yet encountered the same familiar bottlenecks, last-minute delays, and staff burnout. Instead of tweaking around the edges, we'll explore a modern operating model for managing K-1s at scale – from intake through exchange – designed to reduce rework, cycle time, and eliminate seasonal chaos.

Partner Insights from K1X
Tariffs and your clients

Dean Peterson and Blair Robbins of Eisner Advisory Group discuss the tax and business ramifications of the Trump administration's tariff policies that accountants should be advising clients about.

Sponsored by Intuit Quickbooks

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.