Tax

Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., the ranking Democratic member on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, introduced legislation Tuesday to tax the carried interest earned by hedge fund managers, private equity firm partners, venture capitalists and others at the same tax rates as ordinary income.

The Internal Revenue Service has released a set of proposed regulations expanding the list of tax return preparers who may obtain and renew a Preparer Tax Identification Number.

President Barack Obama's 2013 election-year budget took investors by surprise with a call for significantly higher taxes on dividends, a major change from his earlier tax proposals and one that will raise the ire of dividend-paying companies.

The Obama administration has increased its budget request for the Internal Revenue Service for fiscal year 2013 to approximately $12.8 billion to make up for recent budget cuts.

KPMG LLP said Monday that it would offer tax offsets to its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender partners and employees for the additional federal and state tax costs they incur when they pay for the medical benefits of same-sex domestic partners.

The Treasury Department has released its “greenbook” outlining the tax proposals in the Obama administration’s fiscal 2013 budget.

President Obama called for tax reform measures Monday to cut the budget deficit by $1.5 trillion in his fiscal year 2013 budget.

The legislation passed by Congress at the end of 2010 to extend the Bush tax rates for another two years is bad news for estate planning practitioners.

The Internal Revenue Service is reminding tax preparers that they need to complete 15 hours of continuing education, starting this year, under new requirements, and has posted a list of approved providers.

The IRS effort to combat identity theft couldn’t have come at a better time. With the IRS closing in on its goal of 80 percent e-filed returns (aided in part by the e-filing mandates on return preparers), the last thing it needs is a decline in confidence in the system. Yet that’s just what has happened, according to a survey commissioned by tax software developer Taxsoftware.com.