The IRS announced it will try to make it easier for homeowners in financial straights to refinance or sell their homes. The plan would speed up the process where financially distressed homeowners may request the a federal tax lien be made secondary to liens by the lending institution that is refinancing or restructuring a loan.They said the program will focus on those people who ordinarily pay their taxes in full "but because of these extraordinary times are getting behind in their tax p... Read Full Story

In support of the overall IRS Mission, Criminal Investigation serves the American public by investigating potential criminal violations of the Internal Revenue Code and related financial crimes in a manner that fosters confidence in the tax system and compliance with the law. While other federal agencies also have investigative jurisdiction for money laundering and some bank secrecy act violations, IRS is the only federal agency that can investigate potential criminal violations of the Inte... Read Full Story

Buy a car, save the planet, right? Political concerns aside everyone can agree that spewing a little less carbon into the atmosphere is a good thing. Even the IRS agrees with that. In fact they offer a tax credit for buying a hybrid. But don’t go thinking that claiming this credit is going to be a simple process. Attempting to claim it isn’t that hard, but actually receiving it may seem to be as much a matter of luck as it is anything else. That isn’t entirely the case; know... Read Full Story

With the ecomomy slowing down, massive job layoffs you can expect the Internal Revenue Service to accelerate collections. Never before have they been so aggressive. They will get to your bank accounts and paychecks. You need to resolve your tax issues before they do. Read Full Story

Did you know that we US taxpayers have a national advocate? Well, we do. And recently National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson reported to Congress that her office dealt with 644% more cases of identity theft in 2007 than in 2004. Olsons office fields these calls because these cases are related to stolen social security numbers.And it seems that the IRSs remedies tend to make things worse. They have resulted in freezing or delaying legit accounts and even collections, liens and levies being ... Read Full Story

OK, so its not really that shocking to learn that the wealthier of US citizens might be squirreling money away in Swiss bank accounts in order to avoid the pesky tax man. Its one of those wink-and-a-nod secrets about which everyone knows.But the news here is that the IRS is actually going after them. It started on July 1 with a US judge granting the tax collection agency the power to issues a summons to UBS for information about these secret accounts. This one summons reveled $20 billion i... Read Full Story

I suppose its really no surprise but efiling increased again this year. The IRS is reporting that 86.3 million US taxpayers did so electronically; thats a 12 % increase over last year.Why? Well, its impossible to definitively answer that question but there are a lot of contributing factors. The publics increasing ease and comfort with using the Internet must have helped this trend along. Whether or not this comfort is founded in fact taxpayers and the public in general become more at ease... Read Full Story

Whether you call it another tax benefit for the wealthy or help for strapped real-estate investors, its worth taking note that the IRS has recently clarified their position on swapping vacation homes you can do it now tax free. There are the usual rules that specific times, percentages and percentages of time are required to qualify but what it boils down to is that chances are owners of multiple homes now have other way of transferring assets without having to get the tax man involved. Read Full Story

I only ask because the IRS has been sending the rebates to the wrong taxpayers. And its not just checks but direct deposits, too. 15,000 by one estimate.Ill give you a moment to let that sink inWhy is this happening? The agency doesnt really know, says IRS spokesman Kevin McKeon. But if the rebate schedule says that you should have already received your then McKeon suggests you visit IRS.gov or call the toll-free service Refund Hotline at 800-829-1954.Oh, and if you happen to receive some... Read Full Story

They've had enough and now they're fighting back. Pastors across the US feel that the ban against partisan political rhetoric from the pulpit violates their First Amendment civil right to free speech. Since 1954 the IRS has seen it differently: if churches wish to continue to enjoy their tax-free status they should keep their mouths shut during election season. The pastors argue that other non-profits are able to take political positions and so should they.So later this year the pa... Read Full Story