In a recent speech at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, IRS commissioner Doug Shulman tried to make the case for tax simplification. In his prepared remarks he said “Most taxpayers want simplicity. They want to pay what they owe, understand what tax benefits they are entitled to, and not get tripped up by the system. However, today’s Tax Code is anything but sim [...]

Paying Taxes 2012, an annual study by the World Bank, International Finance Corp. and PricewaterhouseCoopers, ranks 183 countries based on difficulty of compliance with business taxes. The study measures the tax systems by viewing a domestic company complying with the different tax laws in each economy. The study measures cost of compliance from the perspective of hou [...]

Employers who are tasked with complying with the U.S. tax system, already one of the world's most complicated and onerous, may now be looked upon as collection agents for the IRS. In a recently issued opinion (U.S. v. Heli USA Airways, Inc.), a district court determined that an employer is liable for an employee's unpaid taxes and penalties that IRS sought to collect [...]

Earlier today, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman addressed the 24th Annual Institute on Current Issues in International Taxation which is sponsored by the George Washington University School of Law and the IRS. As always, those of us who work in the "tax world" listen carefully to the comments made by the Commissioner in order to understand the direction in which the I [...]

On December 23, Congress passed H.R. 3765, the “Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011” (“Bill”). The Bill was signed into law shortly thereafter. The Bill provides for a two month extension of the payroll tax cut which was already in place for 2011 and a corresponding extension of a lower tax rate on self-employment income. Befor [...]

The Council on Jobs and Competitiveness recently issued a report supporting comprehensive corporate tax reform. The reform would include a reduction in the rate corporations pay in federal taxes. Its principal recommendation was for the U.S. to move from a system with a high tax rate and a narrow base to one with a lower rate and a broader base. The report noted that [...]

The White House followed up the State of the Union address by releasing a fact sheet named “Blueprint for an America Built to Last” which highlights the administration's proposals for corporate tax reform and support for domestic manufacturing. The corporate tax reform is structured as a framework of ideas that: forces companies to pay a minimum tax for overseas pro [...]

House and Senate conferees are in negotiations over a bill to extend the payroll tax cut and 100% percent bonus first-year depreciation through the end of 2012. Current law allows bonus first year depreciation equal to 100% of the cost of qualified property placed in service after Sept. 8, 2010 and before Jan. 1, 2012, and 50% of the cost of qualified property placed [...]

On Monday February 13, 2012, the Administration submitted its fiscal 2013 budget proposal to Congress. The budget proposal contains changes to spending and deficit projections. As is true with all budget proposals, it includes an outline of future tax proposals by the administration. Here are some of the highlights of the tax proposals: The administration is proposin [...]

It is that time of the year where discussions are often focused on seeking ways to save money on taxes. The U.S. currently has the distinction of being the country with the highest corporate income tax rate in the industrialized world. While tax reform and reduction in the corporate tax rate has been a topic of recent discussions, there are c [...]