Tax

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has sent a letter to Congress in support of reinstating lapsed tax provisions that require polluters to pay for the Superfund for environmental cleanup.

IMGCAP(1)]Currently, about 32 million Americans do not have health insurance.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, have introduced legislation to lower taxes for small and large businesses by allowing them to write off more of the cost of purchases, such as equipment and machinery, more quickly than they would otherwise be able to under current law.

Health care professionals who have received student loan relief under state programs that reward those who work in underserved communities may qualify for refunds on their 2009 federal income tax returns, as well as an annual tax cut going forward, according to the IRS.

The 3.8 percent Medicare tax on investment income that will be imposed on higher-income individuals starting in 2013 has caught the immediate attention of many taxpayers.

The recession defined this year's tax season in a number of ways, including legislation designed to stimulate the troubled economy, as well as hiring and engagement practices, according to veteran practitioners. Legislation such as the Making Work Pay and First-Time Homebuyer Credits, as well as changes in income levels for IRA conversions, both affected and confused a number of taxpayers during the filing period.

Corporations that issued stock options to their executives claimed tax deductions that were collectively $52 billion larger than the expenses shown on their books in 2008, according to newly released data.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has scaled back the carried interest and S corporation tax provisions, in addition to several others, after the tax extenders and unemployment legislation hit a speed bump in the Senate.

The upper and lower houses of the Swiss Parliament have ratified a deal between the Swiss and U.S. governments to share information on approximately 4,450 U.S.-based customers of Swiss bank UBS with the U.S. government.

The tax extender and unemployment benefits bill failed to clear a 60-vote hurdle in the Senate on Wednesday.