Tax Strategies

A new career in income tax preparation could be a safety net for some of the thousands of bank and financial services employees who are losing their jobs due to the current economic crisis. Many of those being laid off are older employees who would not be able to find another comparable full-time job, but are not ready to retire.Tax professionals need many of the same qualifications that bankers and financial professionals possess. A tax preparer must be able to conduct a thorough interview to extract financial and personal information from their client and hold that information in complete confidence. Preparing income tax returns requires similar skills as completing banking, mortgage or investment documents.

While the driving force behind the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 may have been the need to find an immediate solution to the current financial crisis, the new law added energy tax provisions at the eleventh hour that might be viewed - in retrospect, if not at the time of passage - as an integral part of a longer-term national solution. The energy title of the new law, the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, provides a host of tax incentives for alternative energy use and development, as well as for general energy conservation.Some sections of the energy title to the EESA are extensions of existing provisions, while others provide new opportunities. Together, they present a plan to strengthen the economy by minimizing foreign oil dependency. Viewed by its parts, the act adds to the matrix of ways that individuals and businesses alike can lower their net costs of energy consumption.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has selected the accounting firm Watkins, Meegan, Drury & Co. to do forensic accounting on his tax returns and congressional disclosure forms.

Pro basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson has signed a deal with Jackson Hewitt Tax Service to become the company's spokesman in a new advertising campaign.

The past year has seen an unprecedented amount of new tax legislation and regulations affecting business taxpayers.

The Internal Revenue Service has not developed sufficient processes to ensure that more than 61 million tax refunds were directly deposited last tax season to the correct bank account, according to a new report from the Treasury's inspector general.The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said that the IRS places responsibility for compliance with federal direct deposit regulations on the taxpayer, and indicated that it is the taxpayer's responsibility to ensure that their tax refunds are directly deposited only into their accounts. TIGTA and representatives from the Treasury's Financial Management Service, however, believe that the IRS is responsible for enforcing the requirement.

The Internal Revenue Service continues to have problems with its internal controls and financial management systems, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

The financial crisis will make it more difficult for businesses to comply with sales and use tax payments, according to a new survey.

Electronic tax filing for individuals and businesses set a record in 2008, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

The Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service have accused a senior executive at UBS of helping U.S. taxpayers evade income taxes on approximately $20 billion in assets.