The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case involving a state’s ability to tax income from a trust based on the beneficiaries residing there before taking any distributions. At issue in the case, North Carolina Department of Revenue v. The Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust, is whether the Due Process Clause of

Senator Elizabeth Warren really hates it when corporations that report billions of dollars in profit pay little or no tax to Uncle Sam. (She’s totally steamed about Amazon.) As a policy-oriented presidential candidate and scholar of business law, Warren favors technical solutions to perceived problems, and last week she tackled this one in a post

Another one in the books; bias in the TCJA; talking basis; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers. School for scandal Boyum Barenscheer (https://myboyum.com/blog/): In its 2018 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners reported that owners and executives accounted for only 19 percent of all

Some of the largest U.S. technology companies pushed for a corporate tax overhaul in 2017 by suggesting they would go on hiring sprees and boost the economy. Just over a year after getting what they wanted, data show these firms gave most of their huge tax savings to investors. The top 10 U.S. tech companies

Just about everyone who has studied tax law is familiar with the landmark Supreme Court decision in Eisner v. Macomber. It was first argued before the court 100 years ago, on April 16, 1919. (It was reargued later that year and decided in 1920.) The case involved stock dividends — additional shares — issued by

The European Union has taken a closer look at how Google uses operations in Ireland to help reduce its corporate tax obligations within the trade bloc, two people familiar with the matter said. Officials from the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, held in-depth talks with Irish authorities late last year about whether the internet-search

Recent headlines touting a budding rebound in U.S. car sales should not be celebrated. The much lauded 17.5-million-unit figure reported for March auto sales was actually buoyed by fleet sales, which rose to a two-year high. Retail auto sales — a pure reflection of cars sold to individuals — fell 4 percent in March and

When Hayden Myer made an eye doctor’s appointment for the end of April, he told the clinic that he might not show up for the visit if his tax refund didn’t arrive in time. The 27-year-old, who says his vision is bad enough that he avoids driving at night, has been wearing a four-year-old pair

Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democratic socialist who’s built a career promoting policies to raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires, said he plans to make public his federal tax returns by April 15, the annual filing deadline. Sanders of Vermont has said he’ll release 10 years of returns, and disclosed this week that his literary fame

Low-income and minority taxpayers were more likely to use expensive tax preparation offerings like refund advances and refund transfers, according to a report Friday from the Government Accountability Office, and tax preparers often didn’t present them with information about the fees ahead of time. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg The GAO report, and recent disclosures about a provision

Nearly half of Americans fail to check whether their tax preparer includes their Preparer Tax Identification Number and signs their return, putting them at risk of being scammed, according to a new survey. More millennials are liable to this compared to Generation X and Baby Boomers. The online survey of 1,270 adults by YouGov and

Some 50 million taxpayers have not yet filed their tax returns. The IRS said Friday that with the filing deadline looming on Monday for most of the U.S. (April 17 in Maine and Massachusetts), the agency expects to receive about 14.8 million individual income tax returns for the week ending April 12, most of them

Higher education; tough stains; don’t Betta on it; and other highlights of recent tax cases. Jersey City, N.J.: Preparer Cesar Cruz, 76, has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for preparing false returns for clients. Cruz, who previously pleaded guilty, was also sentenced to a year of supervised release and ordered

The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents employees at the Internal Revenue Service, is warning Congress against the impact of proposed budget cuts on the agency’s ability to deal with taxpayers. The administration’s proposed 2020 budget would cut funding for taxpayer services by nearly $90 million below the current level, even though it would likely

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday about the 2019 tax season, his first as head of the IRS, as the agency managed to open filing season on time despite the recent government shutdown. “I am pleased to report that the 2019 filing season opened on time on

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and her husband reported an adjusted gross income of $846,394 on their 2018 federal tax return, with $324,687 of that total coming from her work as an author. Warren, one of 17 declared candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, released her 2018 tax returns on Wednesday following up on her

Customer service and bothersome clients; SALT works-in-progress; time needed for Trump’s returns; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers. Tips and tricks Liberty Tax (http://www.libertytax.com/tax-lounge): The IRS estimates that almost a third of Americans file in the first two weeks of April (most of them in your office…). Five pointers for filing near the

It’s tax time for everyone, but for entrepreneurs in the rapidly growing cannabis business, it’s a particular challenge. That’s because they are confronted with the issue of filing taxes for a federally illegal market, even though it’s perfectly legal in the state in which they do business. Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code prohibits

As Tax Day approaches next week, accountants are finally getting to the end of a particularly grueling busy season. Some CPAs are finding particular sticking points for their clients. “Lots of clients are surprised by the payroll withholding change for 2018 vs 2017,” said Steven Zelin, a CPA in New York City who is known

The French want to pay less tax. That was the clear message that emerged from a two-month “Great Debate” that saw voters present their grievances and suggest remedies to President Emmanuel Macron. “There’s an exasperation about taxes,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said in Paris Monday, as he was presented with a study outlining the findings