Tax

The Internal Revenue Service announced regulatory revisions that the agency hopes will remove impediments to e-filing for corporations and shareholders."This is a win-win situation for businesses, shareholders and the IRS," said Commissioner Mark W. Everson. "Businesses and shareholders will be relieved of excessive reporting obligations that really no longer made sense, while the IRS will still receive the information it needs for compliance. As a bonus, a number of roadblocks to IRS e-file also will be removed."

Congressional investigators have uncovered a new breed of tax chiselers - deadbeat charities that shortchange the government and their own employees by failing to pay millions of dollars in payroll taxes.As tax-exempt organizations, or EOs, charities are excused from income tax liability, but are required to withhold and pay employment taxes for their workers. With one in 12 U.S. civilian workers now employed by exempt organizations, even a small percentage of non-compliance by charities can add up to a significant drain for federal tax collectors.

The Internal Revenue Service will issue guidance clarifying the 20 percent penalty for executives divesting a deferred compensation arrangement.

Looking at criteria that includes business taxes and state incentives, a recently released survey has found that Philadelphia is the most expensive city to do business in, while Cheyenne, Wyo., took the honors at the opposite end of the scale.

At the beach earlier this week, my sister found herself on the receiving end of a delivery from a seagull -- much to her horror at the moment, and the amusement of everyone I've told the story to since.

The Senate Finance Committee approved legislation that would empower the Internal Revenue Service to hit sex traffickers with major fines and lengthy prison sentences for failing to file employment paperwork and withhold taxes for the women and girls under their command.

State tax revenues for all 50 states totaled $146.6 billion in the first quarter of 2006, up 6.8 percent from the same period in 2005, according to t he Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government.

While the Internal Revenue Service's reward program for turning in tax cheats does a good job bringing in money, it's still in need of some revamping, a ccording to a report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

The chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee has introduced a new bill to permanently raise the estate tax exemption level to $5 million in 2010.

The Internal Revenue Service is providing additional time -- through Oct. 16 -- to file 2004 and 2005 individual income tax returns for taxpayers hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina.