Tax

The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, a volunteer group that works to improve customer service and satisfaction at the Internal Revenue Service, has released its 2005 Annual Report.

As quickly as the idea was proposed, the prospect of $ 100 gas-rebate checks for taxpayers was taken off the Senate table.

Another federal regulator has publicly floated the idea of the government requiring the release of tax information from public companies.

Aspen developer George Gradow, who made his money in mobile homes, was sentenced to 15 months after pleading guilty to tax fraud and obstructing an Internal Revenue Service audit.

Following a damning government report, lawmakers opened fire on the nation's commercial tax preparers, charging that the current "tax preparation system is severely breaking down," and that "bad practices seem to be pervasive and systematic in the industry."The sharpest criticism levelled against the paid preparer companies came from the one lawmaker that tax services can't afford to alienate - Senate Finance Committee chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

Intuit Inc. has sued H&R Block Inc. for copyright infringement, alleging that Block's television spots echoed Intuit's promotions for its market-leading TurboTax software.Intuit sought a court order to stop the H&R Block ads airing in Oregon and Florida.

DECISION TO CLOSE TACS BASED ON BAD INFO: The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, J. Russell George, said that bad data is to blame for the Internal Revenue Service's never-realized plan to close 68 Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the country.Late last year, Congress stopped the IRS from reducing any taxpayer service functions or programs until TIGTA completed a study detailing the effect of the planned reductions on taxpayer compliance and assistance.

In an attempt to head off politicians' talk about taxing the recent high earnings of oil companies, President Bush said last week that the industry should be allowed to reinvest its profits into energy research.

Bjorn Ulvaeus, one quarter of super group Abba, is facing charges from regulators that he failed to pay more than $11.5 million in taxes on song royalties.

The Internal Revenue Service has shifted its enforcement priorities from tax shelters to high-impact tax cheats -- including attorneys and CPAs.