Tax planning

President Barack Obama plans to meet with congressional leaders on Thursday to try to strike an agreement on raising the debt ceiling through a combination of spending cuts and revenue increases.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., offered 18 proposals to cut $1.29 trillion from the federal budget deficit over 10 years, including closing corporate tax loopholes and eliminating special tax breaks for wealthy Americans and big companies.

President Obama used his weekly address to say it was necessary to raise taxes on the wealthy to help close the budget deficit.

IMGCAP(1)]Accountants, insurance professionals and others need to be careful that they don’t become what the IRS calls material advisors.

PDI Global, which is part of the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters, has released its 2011-2012 Tax Planning Guide.

President Obama took Republican lawmakers to task during a news conference Wednesday for inflexibly refusing to compromise on taxes as part of a deal to raise the debt limit.

U.S.-based multinational corporations and their lobbyists are pushing hard for a so-called “tax holiday” that would repatriate the earnings from their foreign subsidiaries, arguing that it would inject up to $1 trillion into the U.S. economy, but the prospects for job growth are murky at best.

California Governor Jerry Brown and Democratic lawmakers have struck a deal to close the state’s estimated $15 billion budget deficit, including provisions to force online retailers like Amazon.com to collect sales tax from customers.

Governments around the world are either increasing indirect taxes such as value-added taxes or introducing them for the first time.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., has exited from negotiations over resolving the problem of the looming debt ceiling, saying he is unable to agree to any tax increases.

Better implementation by the Internal Revenue Service of two 2008 laws involving reporting of cost basis and transaction settlement could increase taxpayers’ voluntary compliance, according to a new government report.

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., has introduced legislation to amend the Tax Code to regulate and tax Internet gambling.

CBIZ MHM is realigning its tax consulting business under a new initiative that centralizes four of the firm’s specialty tax service lines.

The Senate voted Thursday to approve an amendment to repeal a tax credit for ethanol blenders.

The Senate vote Tuesday on repealing the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit failed, but it could be a sign of things to come as the tax reform debate heats up in the midst of talks to raise the debt limit.

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty outlined his tax cut proposals during a speech in which he called for lower tax rates than other Republican presidential candidates have suggested so far.

A funny thing has been happening with the $7,500 plug-in electric vehicle tax credits that GM has been dangling before prospective buyers of its Chevrolet Volt: In many cases dealers rather than customers have been getting the tax breaks.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have proposed a set of changes to the New Markets Tax Credit program to encourage more money to go toward non-real estate businesses located in low-income communities.

Thomson Reuters has agreed to acquire Manatron, a provider of property tax automation and land registry global software for governments and municipalities and fold it into its Tax & Accounting unit.