Tax Strategies

For Americans long subject to the complexities and confusions of the Internal Revenue Code, it may come as a shock to find that some believe the U.S. to be a tax haven.

Legislation to provide tax credits for small businesses that hire new workers has made progress in the Senate, with lawmakers voting 80 to 14 to advance the bill past a procedural hurdle Tuesday, but Senate Democrats blocked an attempt Wednesday by Republicans to add an amendment that would extend the Bush tax cuts for another year.

The top Senate tax writer predicted Democrats in the chamber will back President Barack Obama’s latest push to extend part of the Bush-era tax cuts, calling talk of Democratic dissension “background noise.”

President Barack Obama pushed for a one-year extension of the current tax rates, but only for taxpayers making under $250,000 a year.

Congressional Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee have introduced a pair of bills to extend the production tax credit for wind energy manufacturers through the end of 2013 and provide a 10 percent income tax credit for employer payroll increases this year.

On the eve of the Supreme Court’s decision on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, a new report on the Internal Revenue Service’s readiness to handle some specific aspects of the law has been released.

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson has identified the priority issues the Taxpayer Advocate Service will focus on during the upcoming fiscal year.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has a novel idea. Instead of allowing $500 billion of cuts in the defense budget to go forward as part of last year’s deficit reduction deal, he wants to use money saved from closing tax loopholes.

KPMG LLP has launched a new service, Operational Transfer Pricing, to help multinational companies better navigate the growing risks they face with intercompany transactions internationally.

Leaders of the Senate and House committees charged with tax policy plan to hold a rare joint hearing next Thursday on tax reform and the tax treatment of capital gains.