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Upcoming Closures for TAS and IRS

Due to the current budget situation, including the sequester, all IRS and TAS offices will be closed on May 24, June 14, July 5, July 22 and Aug. 30, 2013. Tax-filing and payment deadlines will remain the same. More information about the impact of the shutdown is available on IRS.gov. ...

Return Preparer Test Refund Update

Some preparers made appointments to take the test to become a registered return preparer, and paid the required fee. Since a U.S. District Court issued an injunction stopping the testing, the IRS is refunding those fees. Learn more about this news and related information on the Registered Tax Return Preparer Test page of the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) Tax Toolkit....

New Success Story: TAS Saves Taxpayer?s Car from Repossession

When a taxpayer whose return was being delayed by the IRS was facing a possible repossession of his vehicle, TAS stepped in to help. See how his TAS case advocate saved the day on the on the Success Stories page of the Tax Toolkit....

NTA makes the case for regulating tax preparers

Each year, taxpayers hire paid practitioners to prepare and file nearly 80 million individual tax returns, due to the overwhelming complexity of the tax code. Efforts by the IRS and Treasury to regulate preparers were halted when a U.S. district court found, in the Loving v. IRS case, that Treasury lacked authority to issue such standards. The National Taxpayer Advocate believes the district ...

TAS Case Advocates: Your Voice at the IRS

TAS case advocates assist qualifying taxpayers nationwide in resolving problems with the IRS. Identity theft was the most common issue in TAS casework during fiscal year 2012 (10/1/11 – 9/30/12) and rose 61 percent over the last fiscal year. TAS also found an increasing number of taxpayers were defrauded by tax preparers. Learn more about TAS Case Advocacy on the Taxpayer Advocate Servi...

National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Nina Olson Testifies on IRS Budget

In her recent testimony before Congress, National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Nina Olson notes the IRS could only answer 57 percent of calls on tax day – an “F” in any grading book. Learn more about IRS budget issues and the NTA’s recommendations in her testimony before Congress on the Taxpayer Advocate Service’s Tax Toolkit....

Taxpayer Advocate Service: Advocacy in Action; Improvements to Online PTIN System

TAS received nearly 220,000 new cases in FY2012. In addition, identity theft-related cases rose 97 percent. Learn more about TAS’s mission and work on the Who We Are page of the Tax Toolkit. In addition, learn about the recent improvements to the IRS’s online Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) system on the Renewing or Applying for a PTIN page....

NTA Interviewed on Tax-Related Identity Theft; Video Explains What to Expect From TAS; New Tax Reform Comments Available

In a recent interview on Federal News Radio, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson outlines the recent dramatic increase in tax-related identity theft, discusses how TAS and the IRS are working to help victims and the proposed new civil penalties for those who commit identity theft. In addition, new tax reform comments submitted by members of the public are now available on the Tax Reform Sug...

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson Testifies on Tax Fraud and Tax ID Theft

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on April 16 about several key tax issues, including tax fraud, tax identity theft and tax reform. Read her testimony on the Taxpayer Advocate Service’s (TAS) Tax Toolkit....

2013 Tax Forum Registration, PTIN Renewal Applications Update

Each year, TAS participates in the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums, a three-day series of tax education and networking conferences for tax professionals. Learn about registration, dates and locations for the 2013 Forums on the TAS at the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums page on the Taxpayer Advocate Service’s (TAS) Tax Toolkit. In addition, all enrolled agent renewal applications for SSNs ending in ...




How to cope with 'the devouring workplace'

Posted: Sat May 25 03:00:02 PDT 2013

When the CEO of Yahoo, recently mandated that telecommuters return to the office, she reversed the trend of trying to make it easier for people to achieve some kind of work-life balance. A new mother herself, her order impacts the moms and dads who used telecommuting to support their children. It is ironic that she justified this order in the name of better collaboration. Her decision does hig...

Amy's Baking Company kicks us out after we find flies in the vodka (three times)

Posted: Fri May 24 22:08:47 PDT 2013

We went in with an open mind Friday night to try Amy's Baking Company for the first time, but our quartet was kicked out after pointing out bugs in not one, not two, but three versions of one simple vodka martini. After Tuesday's cancellation of a press conference and media interviews, I really wanted to get a firsthand account of the restaurant and the owners Amy and Samy Bouzaglo. If you've...

Premium Stories Unlocked: Real estate heavy hitters

Posted: Fri May 24 21:00:05 PDT 2013

Premium Stories Unlocked highlights content that was subscriber-only for the first 30 days since publication, but is now available to non-subscribers Real estate is once again hot in South Florida and our April 19 print edition listed Heavy Hitters in Commercial Real Estate. This search page lists the slideshows we did with Morning Edition and then eight categories with more detailed informati...

Viewpoint: Why you should help your employees become U.S. citizens

Posted: Fri May 24 21:00:00 PDT 2013

The Miami hospitality industry has long been a champion of hospitality and driver of employment, and we now have a prime opportunity to show a whole new kind of hospitality: by supporting our employees who aspire to become American citizens. Several of our local hotels and the Greater Miami & the Beaches Hotel Association have joined The Bethlehem Project, a chance to be hospitality ambassador...

When ideas collide: How face-to-face meetings achieve what the Internet cannot

Posted: Fri May 24 21:00:00 PDT 2013

With the majority of communications taking place in cyberspace, one may wonder if there?s still a place for conferences and meetings with in-person, unscripted human interaction. For entrepreneurs seeking to grow their companies, and investors and others looking to preview new opportunities and re-connect with partners and friends, nothing can replace the spontaneity that occurs when creative ...

Covered California to pay $12M for ad agency and PR over two years

Posted: Fri May 24 19:32:39 PDT 2013

Covered California, the new health benefit exchange that's been making news all week, sneaked more in at the last minute. It's paying giant PR firm Weber Shandwick $12 million over two years to market the exchange, which will offer insurance to uninsured Californians and small businesses. The contract with Weber Shandwick goes through April 2015, officials said late Friday, just as the Memoria...

State Farm development: Lots of jobs, less parking for ASU students

Posted: Fri May 24 18:04:38 PDT 2013

The planned $600 million-State Farm Insurance regional headquarters that Tempe city officials confirmed today may bring thousands of jobs and tax revenues to the state, but for Arizona State University students, it will also mean less parking. The roughly 2,000 parking spots located on the north side of Rio Salado Parkway, just west of Rural Road ? commonly known as Lot 59 North ? will be elim...

Castle & Cooke moving forward with Hawaii ?Big Wind? project

Posted: Fri May 24 17:56:02 PDT 2013

One half of Hawaii?s controversial 400-megawatt ?Big Wind? project ? in which large wind farms on Lanai and Molokai would pump electricity to Honolulu via an undersea cable ? is still moving forward. Castle & Cooke Inc., which kept the rights to build a wind farm capable of producing up to 200 megawatts of renewable energy when CEO David Murdock sold the majority of the Pineapple Island to Ora...

What caused the Skagit River bridge to collapse?

Posted: Fri May 24 17:53:03 PDT 2013

During the coming days and weeks, state officials and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the exact sequence of events leading to the collapse of the I-5 bridge spanning the Skagit River. The Washington State Patrol confirmed that a truck from Canada en route to Vancouver, Wash., struck the trusses that supported the bridge, causing the collapse. But the 70,000-pl...

China Airlines adding nonstop flights between Taiwan and Hawaii

Posted: Fri May 24 17:47:51 PDT 2013

China Airlines will launch regular nonstop flights between Taiwan and Hawaii on June 2, the airline said Friday. The airline will fly nonstop between Taipei and Honolulu International Airport using Airbus A330 aircraft twice a week, in addition to its seven weekly flights between Taipei and Honolulu that stop in Tokyo, according to Focus Taiwan News Channel. The airline?s direct flights are i...


A Surprising Thing About Buffett

Posted: Sat May 25 09:30:44 PDT 2013

Warren can manage people as well as money.    ...

HP's Strong Q2 Showcases the Growing Irrelevance of PCs

Posted: Sat May 25 09:30:01 PDT 2013

Some news outlets and financial analysts continue to worry about weakness in Hewlett-Packard's PC business. However, HP's Q2 results highlight the irrelevance of PC sales to total company profitability.    ...

A Big Mistake With California Obamacare

Posted: Sat May 25 09:21:23 PDT 2013

A big mistake has been made related to Obamacare in California. But who made the mistake?    ...

Tackling Cancer: Pancreatic Cancer's Biggest Current & Upcoming Players

Posted: Sat May 25 09:15:02 PDT 2013

Cancer research is big business, and it pays to know where research dollars are headed.    ...

What to Expect From Michael Kors

Posted: Sat May 25 09:10:35 PDT 2013

Everything has been going Michael Kors' way recently, and it doesn't look likely to change soon.    ...

Has the Federal Reserve Slaughtered the Gold Bulls?

Posted: Sat May 25 09:00:43 PDT 2013

With gathering evidence that quantitative easing may slow or end in the foreseeable future, is it time for the gold bulls to seek refuge?    ...

Why GameStop Can Keep Rising

Posted: Sat May 25 09:00:25 PDT 2013

How can shrinking sales and profits end up delivering such strong returns?    ...

The Surprising Reason Oil Prices Could Fall

Posted: Sat May 25 09:00:22 PDT 2013

Eni?s chief executive highlights an anomaly in the relative pricing of natural gas and oil that suggests oil prices could fall over the next few years.    ...

The Most Important Consequence of the U.S. Shale Oil Boom

Posted: Sat May 25 09:00:19 PDT 2013

How the U.S. shale oil and gas boom could affect the price of crude oil over the next several years.    ...

The Country That Could Become a Huge Importer of U.S. Natural Gas

Posted: Sat May 25 09:00:16 PDT 2013

Because of falling domestic natural gas output and growing demand, Mexico is set to become an even larger importer of U.S. liquefied natural gas.    ...







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