Tax Strategies

The Internal Revenue Service has softened its opposition to contingent fees charged by Circular 230 practitioners. Originally, the IRS proposed permitting a contingent fee only in connection with an IRS examination or the challenge of an original return, or an amended return filed before a notice of examination was received.Under the final rules, a tax practitioner will be allowed to charge a contingent fee for services rendered in connection with the IRS examination of, or challenge to, an original return, or an amended return or claim for refund or credit where it was filed within 120 days of the taxpayer receiving a written notice of the examination, or a written challenge to the original return.

Leaders of the congressional tax-writing committees told the Internal Revenue Service that they planned to make imminent changes in the alternative minimum tax, and that the IRS should start producing accurate tax forms for the 2007 filing season.

The Internal Revenue Service is looking to fill some vacancies on its Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities.

The American Institute of CPAs said that it supports H.R. 3359, a bill pending in Congress that would create a uniform national standard for state withholding of nonresident income tax.

The House Ways and Means Committee began considering a bill that would give tax breaks to members of the military and their families, as well as volunteer firefighters and emergency workers.

No sooner was House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel's proposal for overhauling the alternative minimum tax released than it was pronounced "dead on arrival."

Furniture dealer Jordan's Furniture hopes to avoid sending tax notices to its customers after a special promotion that promised to refund the cost of furniture purchases if the Red Sox won the World Series.

The House passed a bill extending the moratorium on Internet access taxes by seven years, putting the period on par with a recently passed Senate bill and sending the bill to President Bush for his signature.

The Internal Revenue Service said it is extending the filing deadlines for victims of the wildfires in Southern California.

The New York State Society of CPAs has offered its own solution for the problem of the expanding alternative minimum tax, as the issue continues to get debated in Washington.