WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced a redesigned Form 8857, Request for Innocent Spouse Relief, that will help reduce follow up questions and reduce the burden on taxpayers. The form will ask more questions initially, but collecting critical information early in the process will mean faster processing of the request. The new design […]
Category Archives: IRS – Information
By David & Mary Mellem, EAs The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a 45 page (pdf version) report dated June 28, 2007 dealing with the Free File Program. There is also a one page “Highlights” of the report. One of the TIGTA concerns was the accuracy of the returns prepared using the […]
Today TaxMama hears from Leah in New York with great news. “I’ve won a Rotary Scholarship and will study for a Masters degree in Italy beginning this fall. Is any or all of the scholarship taxable? The scholarship covers tuition as well as a room & board stipend, airfare, and tuition for a language school. […]
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced the release of the spring 2007 issue of the Statistics of Income Bulletin. Highlights include articles on high-income individual income tax returns, taxpayers reporting noncash contributions, farm proprietorship returns, qualified zone academy bonds, international boycott reports and S corporations. The article on farm proprietorship returns is the […]
Courtesy of NAEA Finance Members Introduce Military Tax Relief Bill Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) this week introduced legislation that would grant significant tax breaks to members of the military, veterans, and their families. S. 1593, the Defenders of Freedom Tax Relief Act of 2007, would: Make […]
Yesterday, I was privileged to attend a telephonic press briefing as IRS introduced their new proposed format for the Form 990, Return of Organizations Exempt from Income Tax, the form filed by many public charities and other exempt organizations. As I say, it’s just a discussion draft, open for public comment. The draft form and […]
By David & Mary Mellem, EAs The issue is whether a tax practitioner can be convicted under §7206(2) for preparing a fraudulent return and presenting it to the taxpayer with the expectation that the taxpayer will file the return or whether the return has to be presented to IRS for processing in order for the […]
IRS Updates National Research Program for Individuals IR-2007-113, June 6, 2007 WASHINGTON — Internal Revenue Service officials today announced plans to launch a new National Research Program (NRP) reporting compliance study for individual taxpayers that will provide updated and more accurate audit selection tools and support efforts to reduce the nation’s tax gap. The latest […]
By David & Mary Mellem, EAs This Act, made Public Law 110-28 by President Bush’s signature on May 25, 2007, increases the Federal Minimum Wage and provides some tax changes as well. It can be found at the government’s web site of thomas.loc.gov by searching for HR 2206 or by going to Public Laws and […]
Courtesy of NAEA – The National Association of Enrolled Agents Small Business Tax Breaks to Be Sent to President (Again) Congress this week approved a package of small business tax breaks and an increase in the minimum wage; both were tagged onto H.R. 2206, a bill funding the Iraq war through September 30, 2007. President […]
Last week TaxMama told you that certain taxpayers are still eligible to make contributions to their 2006 IRA accounts, or earlier years’ IRAs. Here’s some clarification about the open questions.
[TaxMama note: This looks like a really important announcement. Especially if it means what I think it means! OK, I am sitting here trying to get my head around this phrase “not incurred in traveling away from home”. And I think I have it finally figured out – but have a call in to IRS […]