Tax

Influential tax protestor Irwin Schiff had his 151-month prison sentence extended by an additional 11 months after he was sentenced for criminal contempt.

The Treasury Department's decision to take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and put them under conservatorship has prompted questions about the implications for accountants and their clients.

The Internal Revenue Service has recently added a page to its Web site for small businesses and the self-employed.

The Congressional Budget Office sees the deficit growing to $407 billion for the year ending Sept. 30 and ballooning to $438 billion next year, with the takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae threatening to send it far higher.

Actor Nicolas Cage, whose movie Bangkok Dangerous topped the weekend box office numbers, has settled his tax debts with the Internal Revenue Service for $666,000, plus interest.

Approximately $7.6 billion of potentially collectible taxes is lost annually due to withholding noncompliance, according to a report from the Treasury Department's inspector general.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department have issued new regulations that will make it easier for charities to gain tax-exempt status.

Federal taxes are the most important issue for small business owners, according to a survey by payroll processor PayCycle.

A tax practitioner has teamed up with a software engineer to create a new tax prep program aimed at preparers who service Spanish-speaking taxpayers, especially undocumented immigrants who are ready to begin filing tax returns.Latino Tax Software’s MultiTax distinguishes itself from more established tax packages by helping clients obtain Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers from the Internal Revenue Service and allowing them to file multiple years of tax returns that they have avoided filing earlier. The software also lets preparers toggle quickly between screens in English and Spanish.

While many of the non-tax provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, enacted on July 30, 2008, appear directly focused at the problems arising from the housing and mortgage crisis that has developed over the last year, the tax provisions appear at best to have only an indirect effect on the individuals most impacted by the subprime mortgages and declining home values.The tax title to the legislation includes many provisions focused on the low-income housing credit, housing and mortgage bonds, and real estate investment trusts. This column, however, will take a closer look at some of the individual tax breaks and revenue raisers most likely to impact individual taxpayers and their tax returns in 2008 and coming years.