National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson released her annual report to Congress, identifying the combination of the IRS’ expanding workload and declining resources as the most serious problem facing taxpayers. The result, the report says, is inadequate taxpayer service, erosion of taxpayer rights, and reduced tax compliance. The advocate expressed her continuing concern that the [...]
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A U.S. government crackdown on suspected identity thieves filing false tax returns stopped $1.4 billion in bad refunds from being sent out in calendar 2011, the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service said on Tuesday. The IRS and the Justice Department together stopped 260,000 bad returns last year, IRS Deputy Commissioner Steve Miller said. “There is no [...]
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Here’s the good news for Uncle Sam: The vast majority of Americans still believe that you should never cheat on your taxes — or, at least, that’s what they tell the pollsters representing the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board. The bad news: The percentage of people who say you should cheat on your income taxes [...]
Read More Cheat on taxes?, Income Tax Planning, Income Tax Preparation, Tallahassee Tax Service, TallyTaxManAccording to a recent FoxNews.com article, hundreds of Capitol Hill employees are taking taxpayer dollars to the bank without paying their share. Internal Revenue Service data show that 3 percent of Senate staffers and more than 4 percent of House staffers owed taxes in 2010, adding up to about $10.6 million in unpaid taxes. More [...]
Read More federal employees evading federal income tax laws, federal employees not paying their fair share, Income Tax Planning, Income Tax Preparation, Tallahassee Tax Service, TallyTaxManThe IRS has issued interim guidance to clarify informational reporting by employers to employees on the cost of employer-provided health insurance. The IRS also updated existing frequently asked questions (FAQs) and posted new FAQs on its website. “Including this information on Form W-2 has no impact on whether the coverage is taxable; it is for [...]
Read More Employer Provided Health Insurance, Health Care Bill, Income Tax Planning, Income Tax Preparation, Payroll, Reporting Group Health Insurance, Tallahassee Tax Service, TallyTaxMan, Tax DeductionsThe IRS has issued temporary and proposed regulations on reporting specified foreign financial assets under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The guidance includes examples of who must file Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets, and describes taxpayers excused from reporting. FATCA enacted Code Sec. 6038D, which generally requires certain U.S. taxpayers [...]
Read More Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Form 8938, Income Tax Planning, Income Tax Preparation, IRS Small Business, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets, Tallahassee Tax Service, TallyTaxManThe IRS has proposed a revenue procedure to revise the threshold requirements for Code Sec. 6015(f) innocent spouse relief. The IRS also proposed streamlined equitable innocent spouse determinations. There are different types of relief from joint and several liability for spouses who filed joint returns: Code Sec. 6015(b) innocent spouse relief; Code Sec. 6015(c) separation [...]
Read More economic hardship, equitable relief, Income Tax Planning, Income Tax Preparation, Innocent Spouse Relief, IRS Proposes Revamping Equitable Innocent Spouse Rules, IRS Restructing and Reform Act of 1988, separation of liability relief, Tallahassee Tax Service, TallyTaxMan, Tax Deductions