Tax Strategies

The Internal Revenue Service has released a fact sheet explaining the 2006 alternative motor vehicle credit allowed for the 44 automobiles certified as eligible.The credit, enacted under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, provides up to $3,150 for taxpayers who purchased qualified vehicles and placed them in service during 2006.

Banks aren’t typically known for dishing out love to their customers.Walk into a branch of pretty much any financial institution other than a friendly local credit union, and chances are the employees will barely acknowledge you, much less know your name. Most of their customers are literally just a bunch of numbers.

Citing a bit of wisdom from Kenny Rogers, the U.S. Tax Court ruled that tournament poker is gambling, not a sport, and thus not exempt from the Section 165(d) limitations of the tax code.In a matter brought by George and Gloria Tschetschot of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the couple argued that Gloria’s professional tournament poker playing was not gambling, and thus was not subject to limitations on losses from gambling.

Maybe not surprisingly, an overwhelmingly majority of taxpayers recently surveyed agreed that it is “not at all” acceptable to cheat on income taxes.The Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board cited said that 86 percent of respondents to its 2006 Taxpayer Attitude Survey, in concluding that there was strong continued taxpayer support for compliance. The percentage was down slightly from last year’s figure, but still within the margin of error.

The Internal Revenue Service has rolled out its annual list of the 12 most blatant tax return scams.The “Dirty Dozen” highlights a handful of new scams for the 2006 tax year that IRS auditors and criminal investigators have repeatedly encountered. Topping the list are fraudulent refunds being claimed in connection with the one-time Telephone Excise Tax Refund.

A trio of senators have proposed legislation targeting overseas tax havens.According to a bill summary released by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., such havens cost the United States upwards of $100 billion a year in lost tax revenues.

The California Society of CPAs passed the 30,000-member threshold in late January.In a statement announcing the milestone, the society credited a continuing “trend of California CPAs flocking to CalCPA for advocacy, technical guidance and professional resources” for boosting its numbers.

Requests for exorbitant phone tax refunds has prompted the Internal Revenue Service to send special agents into seven cities to execute search warrants at tax prep businesses.According to affidavits filed in federal court, the agency is seeking evidence from preparers suspected of filing returns on behalf of clients that requested “egregious amounts” for this year’s special telephone excise tax refund.

A federal judge in New York has ruled that the Internal Revenue Service will not have to release documents that defendants in the KPMG tax shelter case claim reveal that some IRS personnel did not believe the Big Four firm was required to register the shelters.

Chicago attorney Robert Wayne Hallock was sentenced to serve two years in prison for a tax evasion charge.Hallock, formerly a partner at the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, was found guilty of attempting to evade taxes on more than $1 million in income following a weeklong trial in October. He will serve two years of supervised release after his release from prison.