Tax

A crackdown on abusive tax shelters that includes codifying the economic substance doctrine would create legal booby traps for small businesses and open the door for new abuses by unscrupulous tax shelter promoters, the American Institute of CPAs warned Congress.

H&R Block and HSBC Taxpayer Financial Services Inc. reached a tentative agreement to settle a 1998 Chicago class-action lawsuit related to refund anticipation loans.

With two dozen deals currently in the pipeline, business advisory and financial services provider Fiducial says that acquisitions will be the main engine of its growth over the next three years.

STF Services Corp. president Charles F. Ter Bush has left the Syracuse, N.Y.-based tax forms company to join LexisNexis as vice president for the tax and accounting market segment.

A newly issued revenue procedure, Rev. Proc. 2005-28, makes it easier for some taxpayers to adopt a simpler method of allocating and apportioning interest expenses in determining their net U.S. and foreign-source income for foreign tax credit purposes.

H&R Block Inc. reported total tax prep and related fees through April 15 of $2.4 billion -- up 7.3 percent over last year.

The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform will hold its eighth meeting this week, said the body's chairman and vice-chairman, senators Connie Mack and John Breaux.

Senate Finance Committee leaders Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Max Baucus, D-Mont., will introduce legislation early next week to crack down on life insurance contract abuses that inappropriately afford benefits to private investors that would not otherwise be available without the involvement of a charity.

In light of recent changes to the rules that guide practitoner conduct, the Internal Revenue Service will host a Webcast next week focusing on the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility and Circular 230.

The Internal Revenue Service is hosting a number of seminars for tax practitioners on the latest information on the agency's policies and programs.