Tax

Seems like a timesaver in tax season: Scan all documents and let software auto-fill information from clients’ forms. Selecting scanners, however, means gambling that a hardware investment will, in fact, pay off, and that can mean carefully examining your client base and information flow.

The House passed a deal to avert an income tax rate increase on middle-class families on Tuesday night, following a New Year’s Eve vote by the Senate, sending the bill to President Obama for his signature.

The Internal Revenue Service released new income tax withholding tables for 2013 late Monday to reflect the expiration of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts and the more recent payroll tax cuts of 2011 and 2012, but noted that the guidance would be modified if Congress acts.

The U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan budget deal two hours after income tax cuts expired, reaching an after-deadline deal to undo the potential economic harm of $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts.

The U.S. House of Representatives doesn’t plan any votes on the federal budget tonight, meaning that Congress for now will fail to avert $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts set to start at midnight.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected the latest Republican offer to resolve the U.S. fiscal crisis as Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reached out to Vice President Joe Biden in an effort to break the impasse.

President Barack Obama summoned congressional leaders to a White House meeting three days before a year-end deadline to avoid $600 billion in spending cuts and tax increases as lawmakers gave little sign they intend to act together on a budget plan.

A variety of tax breaks are due to expire at the end of 2012 (or have already expired at the end of 2011) unless Congress and the Obama administration manage to agree on a deal to extend the current tax rates and avert the fiscal cliff. Here's a sampling of some of the most notable tax breaks before they're going, going, gone.

The Internal Revenue Service has finalized its regulations regarding how tax preparers can use and disclose the information on their clients’ tax returns.

A new Web site aims to help small business owners and their accountants deal with the increased burdens of Form 1099 filing by preparing and filing the forms online.