Domestic Taxes

The IRS chief said that for criminal investigations, his agency obtains a search warrant before requesting the contents of emails.

Senate immigration bill creates new visa for lower-skilled workers.

Federal government doesn't particularly study if programs work.

Will stronger tax collections push back the debt limit debate?

Central banks setting targets that could set them up for trouble.

China's new growth levels could be end of an era. 

Republicans are touting the fact to make the case that the government has a spending problem, not a taxing one.

Corporations paid about as much in taxes in 2011 as they received in tax breaks, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

The GAO analysis, released in time for Tax Day, found that corporations reduced their tax bill by roughly $181 billion in 2011 – mostly through the use of a tax break that allowed businesses to quickly write off the purchase of equipment, and another that allows corporations to defer paying taxes on offshore income.

In all, corporations paid around $181 billion in taxes that year, and the Congressional Budget Office says that corporate revenues hit $242 billion in 2012. Corporate profits – and thus corporate revenues – took a tumble after the 2008 financial crisis, before eventually rebounding.

GAO also found that individual taxpayers took advantage of more than two-thirds of the 80 tax breaks used by corporations.

“Modifying any of these 56 tax expenditures as part of broader corporate tax reform would likely affect both corporate and individual taxpayers to some degree,” the report said. Read more...

A Senate Democrat is dropping a bill, in time for Tax Day, that aims to simplify the filing process for many people in the U.S.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s proposal, according to a draft obtained by The Hill, would call on the Treasury Department and the IRS to offer certain taxpayers a page-long return already filled out with his or her information by 2018.

“A simple return is a smart and simple fix that would help make the federal income tax process easier for millions of Americans and will also help consumers save billions,” Shaheen (N.H.) said in a statement. Read more...

Gallup's poll found 55 percent think their taxes are fair, down four percentage points from last year. Read more...

Stock market likely to keep rising, despite bearish signs.

Tax cheats prefer the south, west. 

Administration: Japan step on TPP shows president's use of economic diplomacy.

China's growth slows adds to concern about worldwide recovery.

Greece one step closer to bailout.

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama reported income of $608,611 in 2012 and paid $112,214 in total taxes.

The anti-tax activist suggested Obama is pushing a "hidden tax increase” with his proposed change to Social Security.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the chamber’s top tax writer, said Thursday that he wants to “carve a middle ground” on tax reform, and rewrite the code in a way that raises revenue for deficit reduction.

Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, praised President Obama’s most recent budget at a panel hearing for taking the same center course he was trying to plot.

“We will close billions of dollars of loopholes,” Baucus, the Finance panel’s chairman, said in his opening statement. “Some of this revenue should be used to cut taxes for America’s families, and some of the revenue should also be used to reduce the deficit. It’s all about finding common ground so we can move forward together.” Read more...