Tax

The recently released discussion draft of the Tax Reform Act of 2014 by the House Ways and Means Committee is intended to simplify the existing tax code, make it fairer to taxpayers and strengthen the U.S. economy by lowering tax rates.

A new report from the advocacy group Citizens for Tax Justice finds that 301 Fortune 500 companies hold a combined $2 trillion offshore, collectively avoiding $550 billion in U.S. corporate income taxes, while a contrasting report from the Tax Foundation found that U.S. multinational corporations reported paying more than $128 billion in corporate taxes to foreign countries on $470 billion of taxable income in 2010—an effective rate of 27.2 percent before also paying U.S. taxes.

The economic benefits of the income exclusion for U.S. citizens working abroad are uncertain, according to a new government report.

Thomson Reuters has released a tax act overview and monthly client marketing newsletter focused on the Affordable Care Act that tax, accounting and employee benefits firms can provide to clients, prospects and other contacts.

Real estate investment trusts were originally created to permit tax-efficient public investment in real estate, but REITs have also found wide use as private vehicles.

The Internal Revenue Service has published final regulations to provide guidance on which costs incurred by estates or trusts other than grantor trusts are subject to a 2 percent floor for miscellaneous itemized deductions.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued final regulations clarifying the rules regarding the tax treatment of payments by qualified retirement plans for accident or health insurance.

Ninety percent of tax and finance executives of companies headquartered in the United States anticipate already heightened tax risks to accelerate in the next two years, compared to executives with 81 percent of companies globally who anticipate increased risk, according to a new survey by Ernst & Young.

Almost 50 years after Oscar-winning actor Yul Brynner gave up his passport at the U.S. embassy in the Swiss capital, the number of Americans relinquishing their citizenship jumped 47 percent in the first quarter.

H&R Block recently completed an acquisition of New River Innovation, developer of tax-issue resolution software Beyond415.