Tax Strategies

Republicans are pitching their tax overhaul plan on the appeal of lower rates and a simpler system—and figuring that voters won’t mind the lack of details about the potential pain.

Thomson Reuters has posted a new series of blog articles for users of its UltraTax CS software with advice on how they can take advantage of the software’s data mining features to help their clients navigate the possible tax law changes coming next year.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, have used sophisticated estate- planning techniques for more than a decade to minimize taxes and amass at least $100 million for their family outside of their estate.

Three Republicans from the House Committee on Oversight and Government have written a letter to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman demanding he explain a recent rule that would extend tax credits to individuals who buy health insurance from an exchange set up by the federal government when their state has failed to set up such an exchange.

The Tax Court has applied the “self-rental rule” to recharacterize the income that the taxpayer-owner of a trucking company received from a separate leasing company that he owned as nonpassive income.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Mitt Romney’s choice as vice presidential running mate, said he planned to release two years of tax returns to the public, even though he submitted several more years of tax returns to the Romney campaign during the vetting process.

President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign stepped up its attacks on Republican rival Mitt Romney’s tax history with a new negative ad highlighting Romney’s tenure as head of the audit committee of Marriott International during a period when the committee used a tax shelter that has since been ruled illegal.

Tax credits and deductions for education are too complicated and so confusing that most taxpayers cannot determine which provisions are best for them, the American Institute of CPAs said in written testimony to the Senate Finance Committee.

Every year, it seems that the tax profession is faced with year-end legislation, late forms and radical changes that add to the complexity and headache of preparing a return. Despite all of the above, most practitioners realize that it’s the complexity and confusion that drives new clients their way.

With record-setting temperatures across the country this summer reminding people that the weather has been getting pretty hot lately, it was only a matter of time before the notion of imposing carbon taxes would return to the heads of policy makers.