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'Easygoing' Austin Pilot Presumed Dead

One office worker remains unaccounted for

(Newser) - The man accused of flying his small plane into IRS offices in Austin today is described as "easygoing" by a friend. “He talked politics like everyone but didn’t show any obsession,” says Pam Parker, who managed a band that Andrew Joseph Stack played in as recently...

IRS Cracking Down on Tax Preparers

Preparers to be required to register, pass exam

(Newser) - The IRS has unveiled plans to regulate America's tax-preparation industry for the first time. Independent tax preparers and employees of tax-preparation firms will be required to register, pass a competency exam, and take 15 hours of classes a year. The move follows an IRS study that found many of the...

Citi Wins Massive Tax Break
 Citi Wins Massive Tax Break 
UPDATED
Dec 16, 2009 5:45 AM CST

Citi Wins Massive Tax Break

Firm will use dodged fed taxes to repay fed bailout bucks

(Newser) - The government will be collecting billions of dollars less in taxes from Citigroup as part of Citigroup's deal to pay back federal bailout money. The IRS has granted an exemption from tax rules relating to Citigroup and other companies partially owned by the government. The future taxes being forfeited will...

15K Yanks Turn Selves in for Offshore Tax Cheating

Asia joins Switzerland as hotspot for hidden assets

(Newser) - Prodded by the stick of a looming crackdown on offshore tax cheats and the carrot of an IRS amnesty program, some 14,700 rich Americans have turned themselves in, disclosing billions in hidden foreign assets. The "unprecedented" participation in the amnesty program surprised the IRS and advisers to the...

Millions Must Repay Part of Stimulus Tax Credit

Withholding errors mean 15.4M will get smaller refund or owe money

(Newser) - An IRS tax credit designed to lighten the load on recession-addled taxpayers won't work out as well as hoped for about 15.4 million Americans. Because certain minutiae of the new Making Work Pay credit weren’t factored in to withholding tables, more than 10% of taxpayers who file individual...

Tax Collectors Use MySpace, Google to Find Deadbeats

Public profiles can provide valuable income information for revenue agents

(Newser) - Internet-savvy state tax collectors are using a new tool in tracking down evaders: social networking websites. Tax collectors are taking advantage of the fact that an individual’s MySpace or Facebook profile often contains quite a bit of professional information, the Wall Street Journal reports. Agents in Nebraska, for example,...

IRS May Cut 401(k) Contribution Limit

(Newser) - Low inflation could force the IRS to decrease the amount workers can contribute to their 401(k) plans to $16,000, USA Today reports. It would mark the first time the government has ever lowered contribution limits. Though a spokesperson says it’s too early for speculation, the IRS may not...

Tax-Evader Crackdown Spreads to Hong Kong

(Newser) - The IRS and Justice Department crackdown on UBS is widening, reports the Wall Street Journal, as new documents reveal the efforts the bank took to keep its clients' wealth away from the taxman. Two recent cases have relied on channeling millions to a Swiss account owned by a Hong Kong-based...

Tax Revenue Takes Biggest Dive Since Great Depression

(Newser) - US tax revenue is set to shrink 18% from last fiscal year to the current one, ending in October—the largest falloff since 1932, the AP reports. Individual income-tax receipts are off 22%, and corporate revenues have sunk an astounding 57%. “Our tax system is already inadequate to support...

Tax Cheats Flood IRS, Looking to Come Clean

Inquiry into Swiss banks leads hundreds of evaders to come clean

(Newser) - A crackdown on tax evasion has led to a flood of wealthy Americans lining up to reveal their offshore accounts to the IRS, reports the Wall Street Journal. A limited-time offer of lower fines, coupled with the ongoing probe of Swiss bank accounts held by UBS, has produced a stampede...

Feds, Swiss Call Timeout in US Tax Evasion Case

(Newser) - Aiming to avoid an ugly international dispute, the US government, Switzerland, and a Swiss bank are seeking to delay a hearing over private bank accounts, the Wall Street Journal reports. The respite would give government officials and UBS until August to strike a deal over data on some 52,000...

Inspector Finds IRS Lax in Disposing of Sensitive Docs

Agency vows oversight of waste contractors

(Newser) - Sensitive documents that could be used to steal taxpayers’ identities were found in trash bins outside several Internal Revenue Service bureaus visited during a months-long government inspection, Reuters reports. Because of the findings, the IRS has increased oversight of the contractors responsible for its waste. Identity theft is an increasing...

UBS Refuses to Hand Over Names of US Tax Cheats

Bank charges IRS is trying to trample on Swiss laws

(Newser) - Swiss bank UBS has rejected a demand from the IRS that it cough up the names of 52,000 suspected American tax evaders, the Times of London reports. The bank—which paid out $780 million to avoid prosecution for helping rich Americans dodge their taxes—said the lawsuit by the...

What If I Don't Feel Like Filing?
 What If I Don't Feel Like Filing? 
ANALYSIS
Apr 15, 2009 2:08 PM CDT

What If I Don't Feel Like Filing?

Christopher Beam explores the potential evader's options

(Newser) - With millions of Americans enduring long lines at the post office today to file their tax returns, Christopher Beam of Slate can’t help wonder: What would happen if you simply didn’t file? The answer is probably not much—7 million Americans declined to file last year, and only...

Expect Huge Jump in Tax Delinquents: Analysts

Americans frightened, suspicious, evasive

(Newser) - Many more strapped Americans will skip out on tax bills this year, analysts tells Reuters, spending on everyday needs instead. “We’ve seen a huge rise in what we call the rookie delinquent taxpayer,” says one who expects a 280% jump. “They are incredibly scared, and they...

Six Weird Tax Deductions
 Six Weird Tax Deductions 
Apr 8, 2009 4:45 PM CDT

Six Weird Tax Deductions

Are you a whaling captain? Parent of a kidnapped teen? You could benefit!

(Newser) - The tax code is more than 20,000 pages long and packed with loopholes galore. Newsweek lists six deductions you've probably never heard of:
  • Alaskan whaling captains can deduct up to $10,000 for money spent fixing their boats or on other whaling expenses. 
  • Parents of kidnapped children can
...

UBS Bans Its Execs From Foreign Travel

Swiss bank facing US inquiry into tax dodge grounds managers

(Newser) - UBS has banned managers who deal with foreign clients from traveling abroad, the Daily Telegraph reports. The Swiss bank, which has refused to give US investigators the names of 50,000 suspected tax dodgers, denied that the ban is to protect senior staff from American authorities. Analysts, however, see the...

Cash-Strapped IRS Slashes Evasion Penalty

(Newser) - In an effort to increase revenue, the Internal Revenue Service is relaxing penalties on offshore tax evaders in hopes they will come forward, the New York Times reports. A penalty that was 50% of offshore holdings will drop as low as 5%. “They need to get money back into...

IRS Challenges AIG's Offshore Tax Deals

(Newser) - The IRS is challenging a series of tax-skirting deals engineered by the much-maligned AIG Financial Products unit, the Wall Street Journal reports. The deals exploited differences in international tax codes to reduce tax payments for foreign banks—many of the same banks the US government would later pay to settle...

Madoff, Stanford Victims Can Get Break From IRS

Taxpayers may deduct up to 95% of Ponzi losses: commissioner

(Newser) - Victims of Ponzi schemes—including those perpetrated by Bernard Madoff and R. Allen Stanford—can claim big deductions on their taxes, the IRA commissioner told lawmakers today. The matter, unclear in the tax code, had been a concern for victims, the New York Times reports. The IRS “is issuing...

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