Tax planning

A circuit court has ruled that severance payments given to employees are not taxable, a decision that could have far-reaching implications.

Financial executives who manage corporate treasuries are becoming increasingly concerned about the so-called “fiscal cliff,” the combination of tax increases and steep spending cuts that are due to occur at the end of the year unless Congress and the administration act to prevent them.

The Internal Revenue Service is paying millions of dollars every year in unnecessary interest payments due to delays in processing net operating loss cases within the required 45 days, according to a new government report.

Facebook has reportedly paid only about $315,000 in taxes in the United Kingdom last year, even though the social networking giant reported U.K. revenues of about $32.8 million and is estimated to have earned over $281 million in the U.K.

Vice President Joe Biden sparred with Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan in a lively debate over taxes, foreign policy, the economy, Medicare and Social Security.

Congress is considering allowing the Internal Revenue Service to report on taxpayers’ tax debts to consumer credit bureaus.

CCH has released a new Tax Briefing: 2012 Year-End Tax Planning to provide guidance and analysis on potential tax rate changes, the anticipated expirations of Bush-era tax cuts, post-election tax triggers and other scenarios.

IMGCAP(1)]Acquisition transactions come in all shapes and sizes. Some take place at seemingly breakneck speed, while others are the result of months of thoughtful planning.

With one debate already in the books, we’re not really any closer to knowing what taxes will be in the books, or not, come January. In fact, when the ball drops on New Year’s Eve, we may still need a crystal ball to tell us in what direction we are headed.

President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney traded barbs about tax policy and how they would control the budget deficit, with Romney telling Obama at one point that he might need to get a new accountant.

The National Small Business Association has released its Tax Reform Checklist outlining nine key principles that any serious tax reform proposal ought to include.

The New York State Society of CPAs has asked Congress to consider new legislation that would temporarily waive tax penalties for taxpayers who are forced to make early withdrawals from retirement accounts due to financial hardship caused by the economic crisis.

Income acceleration techniques for 2012 year-end planning

In January 1999, a trust set up by Mitt Romney for his children and grandchildren reaped a 1,000 percent return on the sale of shares in Internet advertising firm DoubleClick Inc.

The top personal income tax area of concern for technology executives that CPA Bill Melton of the Silicon Valley accounting firm Abbott, Stringham & Lynch sees in his client base is equity compensation.

Cincinnati, Baltimore and Cleveland ranked highest among large cities in their tax favorability for businesses, according to a new study by KPMG, with New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La., leading the way among smaller cities.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing on offshore profit shifting and the U.S. tax code, examining in particular the practices of Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, while questioning an Ernst & Young tax partner who services HP.

Congress’s two tax-writing committees, the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, held a joint hearing Thursday to discuss capital gains taxes and how they might be reformed.

Government debt hit a record $16 trillion last week, accompanied by the usual calls for tax increases to help plug the gap between revenue and expenditures. But for those who believe that the way out of our deficit includes raising taxes, there’s a cautionary study that suggests otherwise.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid predicted that Congress will reach a deal after the Nov. 6 election to avert hundreds of billions of dollars in tax increases and spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff” set to begin in January.