Tax

Employers in 17 states (and the Virgin Islands) may not be eligible to claim the maximum amount of state unemployment tax credits on their 2013 federal unemployment tax return, because their state has had an outstanding federal unemployment insurance loan for at least two years, according to tax analysts at Thomson Reuters Checkpoint.

The U.S. tax systems for individuals and corporations should be revamped together, said the top Republican tax writer in Congress, resisting President Barack Obama’s call for a business-only approach.

Tax reform talk is heating up. Support is growing for bipartisan efforts to rewrite the tax code, with committee chairmen and ranking members in both the House and the Senate jumping aboard the effort.

A bipartisan group of senators have introduced legislation to combat acts of tax evasion, money laundering, terrorism and other wrongdoing facilitated by U.S. corporations with hidden owners.

The American Institute of CPAs has sent a letter to the Senate Finance Committee recapping its recommendations on tax reform as the committee moves closer to drafting a tax reform bill.

President Barack Obama, prodding Congress to consider fresh economic proposals after two years of gridlock, called for restructuring business taxes so long as the initial revenue generated goes toward job creation.

The leaders of Congress’s two main tax committees continued their tax reform road show tour with a stop at a New Jersey small business that makes kitchen appliances.

Last week, one of the “girlie” cable channels had a weeklong Christmas-in-July event, where they showed Christmas movies the whole week. (In case you’re wondering, it’s my wife, not me, who watches this particular channel). But the thought occurred that if it’s time to start thinking about Christmas, then it’s also time to begin considering end-of-year tips and planning strategies to offer clients as we approach the beginning of fall.

Senators Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, led a bipartisan group of five senators in introducing legislation to increase the alternative tax liability limitation for small property and casualty insurance companies.

There are currently 17 states offering sales tax holidays where state sales tax charges are temporarily dropped on back-to-school items such as clothing, footwear, classroom supplies, computers and certain other products, according to CCH.