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Dwyer was a stock trader. During the latter part of 1989, his trading partnership lost a substantial amount of money and he was sued by the other partners. In October [...]

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a technical advice memorandum ruling that an employer's travel expense reimbursement plan that allowed an employee to retain frequent flier miles was taxable. Although [...]

On Schedule F, "Farm Income and Expenses," accompanying their 1988 form 1040, the Millers deducted $367,000 in interest paid on income tax deficiencies for prior years. The IRS disallowed the [...]

For over 20 years, Lloyd Goodwin was the well-liked pastor of a church in Iowa. By 1987, his yearly income from the church, including the value of the parsonage, totalled [...]

The Wentzes took part in an illegal arrangement with an insurance agent under which they would receive free life insurance for one year. As part of the scheme, the couple [...]

Lori Williams and her then husband Jerrold Rabin owned a home jointly. Rabin, part owner of a business, failed to pay employment taxes. In 1987 and 1988, the Internal Revenue [...]

At Louise Monroe's death in 1989, the value of her one-half interest in the Monroes' community-property estate was $9.7 million. Louise was survived by her husband, Edgar. Louise's will made [...]

A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision has held that an employer's conservative actuarial assumptions used in determining the amount of deductible contributions to an individual defined benefit plan were [...]

A recent Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision held that an employer's actuarial assumptions used in determining deductible contributions to an individual defined benefit plan were unreasonable. The district court's [...]

Faced with budget cuts and staff decreases, the Internal Revenue Service is making plans to centralize and consolidate functions and offices. One significant outcome of the IRS's efforts is the [...]

Under IRC section 7122, the IRS can compromise with taxpayers on a tax liability via the offers-in-compromise procedures. The IRS can compromise civil liabilities on grounds of either doubt as [...]

A common estate planning technique is to make yearly gifts to take advantage of the $10,000-per-year, per-donee gift tax exclusion. In two recent cases involving powers of attorney, what the [...]

On the Schedule F, Farm Income and Expenses, accompanying their 1988 return, the Millers deducted $367,000 in interest paid on income tax deficiencies for prior years. The IRS disallowed the [...]

The Ninth and the Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeals recently came to opposite conclusions regarding the excludability of back pay and liquidated damages received to settle claims under the Age [...]

As we reported last month, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held, in Baptiste, that the amount of a transferee's liability is limited to the actual value of the property [...]

In 1981, Alfred Eide made gifts of mineral rights, which he valued at $14,769 on his federal gift tax return. No gift tax was due in 1981 because Eide used [...]

When it passed the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Congress added Internal Revenue Code section 2057, which went into effect after October 22, 1986. The section allowed an estate tax [...]

To improve its collection procedures and cut down on the incidence of taxpayers who repeatedly neglect to pay taxes, the IRS tested a new collection procedure and is considering implementing [...]

Marc Spiegelman, a geophysicist, was awarded a postdoctoral research grant by Columbia University. The payments he received under the grant--about $27,000-- were reported by the university on form 1099-MISC as [...]

Mitchell operated an S corporation tax shelter with 34 investors. He prepared or assisted in preparing the S corporation return and the 34 related forms K-1. A bankruptcy court determined [...]

In 1980, the Hodgdons donated a piece of unencumbered realty, worth $800,000, to charity. Later in 1980, they donated a second piece of realty, worth $4 million and subject to [...]

The American Institute of CPAs introduced a new "Blueprint for Tax Simplification" at the second annual tax simplification day held in Washington, D.C. The blueprint is intended as a roadmap [...]

While agreeing that providing relief to unemployed Americans is important, the American Institute of CPAs opposes the method of funding additional unemployment compensation benefits to the long-term unemployed under legislation [...]

"Get the show on the road," says a House of Representatives Government Operations Committee report on corporate document matching to the IRS. The General Accounting Office has urged Congress to [...]

The Bank of Nebraska loaned Gordon's Towing $40,000; the bank, as a result, held a first lien on two of Gordon's trucks, together worth about $40,000. The security interests were [...]

In the past year, Internal Revenue Service offices around the United States have been checking if businesses are complying with the more-than-$10,000-in-cash reporting rules. According to a recent news release [...]

Sparrow sued his former employer, the Department of the Navy, alleging racial discrimination under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The complaint ultimately was settled. Sparrow received about [...]

The Internal Revenue Service is offering four new options for filing individual tax returns for the upcoming filing season. Two are available only in test areas; two are available nationwide. [...]

Ithaca Industries, a clothing manufacturer, was acquired in 1983. The buyer allocated $7.7 million of the $110 million purchase price to Ithaca's "work force in place"--some 5,000 trained workers. Based [...]

The Tax Court recently allowed Philip Citron, a limited partner who abandoned his partnership interest, an ordinary loss. Central to this favorable decision was the partnership's lack of liabilities. Citron, [...]

The IRS launched a computer matching program to target and stop fraud, waste and abuse by identifying IRS employees who are violating laws, rules or regulations. The new program is [...]

Starting this summer, the IRS hopes to offer the following new publications and services on its Web site: * The Internal Revenue Manual (the IRS manual of policies and procedures [...]

As part of its taxpayer rights initiative, the IRS instituted a new appeals process for taxpayers facing a collection action. The program began April 1, 1996. Any individual or corporation [...]

The taxpayers in this case--all hotels and casinos--provided free meals to their employees in on-premises, employees-only cafeterias. The tax dispute was whether the employers could deduct the entire cost of [...]

The IRS is seeking bids from both law firms and debt collection agencies interested in helping it collect the billions of dollars in overdue taxes that it is owed by [...]

The debt limit extension bill signed by President Clinton on March 29 contained provisions intended to ease the federal regulatory burden on small business. The provisions, which are part of [...]

In 1987 and 1990, the Redlarks paid interest on income tax deficiencies for prior years. On their schedules C for those years they deducted part of that interest, claiming it [...]

In July 1995, Congressman Bill Archer, House Ways and Means Committee chairman, asked the General Accounting Office to investigate the low-income housing credit. An Internal Revenue Service internal audit report [...]

The IRS TeleFile system became available nationwide on January 11, 1996. Only taxpayers who (1) can use form 1040EZ to file and (2) receive a booklet from the IRS in [...]

The Internal Revenue Service has announced that more taxpayers will be able to have 1995 federal tax refunds deposited directly into their U.S. bank accounts. Previously, only those who filed [...]

Recent changes in the Internal Revenue Service employee manual end a popular IRS initiative that encouraged people who should have filed returns to do so. IRS policy no longer considers [...]

Here is a rundown of comparative percentages of earnings paid in income tax and Social Security contributions for a single person at the income level of an average production worker. [...]

The IRS has issued a revision to the Internal Revenue Manual that provides agents with new financial analysis procedures. IRS chief compliance officer Phil Brand says the procedures "establish a [...]

Brian Liddle, a professional musician, bought a 17th-century viol made by Ruggeri (a contemporary of Stradivari) for use in his business of playing the viol professionally. The viol, for which [...]

A preteen actress had earnings from her craft for three consecutive years. Her income level was such that she had to file a return and pay tax, but she failed [...]

The IRS recently defended its taxpayer compliance measurement program (TCMP) against congressional criticism that the program was not cost-effective. TCMP audits are the "fine-toothed comb" audits the IRS uses to [...]

Internal Revenue Service data for 1994 show that overall, the percentage of taxpayers' returns audited rose only slightly over 1993. However, the percentage of estate tax returns audited fell. Overall [...]

Boyd Brothers Transportation paid its long-haul truck drivers a higher rate than its other truckers to compensite them for extra travel expenses. During 1985 and 1986, Boyd Brothers treated its [...]

The U.S. Supreme Court recently said liquidated damages stemming from an age discrimination claim filed under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) are not tax-free. Schleier, an airline pilot, [...]

Barrett, a plastic surgeon, was under civil investigation by the Internal Revenue Service. When a $100,000 discrepancy was revealed between Barrett's books and bank records, the IRS transferred the case [...]