Washington, D.C. (September 28, 2016)  
By  Michael Cohn

Despite years of cuts to the Internal Revenue Service budget and its employee count, the agency is nonetheless collecting more tax revenue, according to a new report.

The report on IRS compliance activities, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, noted that in fiscal year 2015, the IRS continued to lose employees who could provide taxpayer service and enforce the tax laws. Although there was a slight increase in the IRS’s fiscal 2014 budget, the budget for fiscal 2015 declined 3 percent to $345 million, from $11.3 billion to $10.9 billion.

September 23, 2016  
By ROGER RUSSELL 

A CPA-attorney, when asked what he does for a living, replies that he “practices tax.”

This is understandable, according to James Mahon, a shareholder in the Tax and Litigation practice groups of law firm Becker & Poliakoff.

“In the tax area, the lines between accountants and attorneys can be blurred. Some lawyers prepare tax returns, and many accountants help structure business transactions in order to achieve optimum tax benefits,” he explained.

September 23, 2016  
By Robert Trinz

With summer now behind us, it’s time for older taxpayers—those ages 65 and above—to consider how they will be affected by the higher post-2016 floor beneath medical expenses.

Some may lose their medical expense deduction next year, while others may even be forced to take the standard deduction for the first time as a result of the raised floor. As this article explains, the first line of defense for older taxpayers is to make sure they aren't missing any medical deduction dollars. Then, it may pay to employ a bunching strategy for 2016-2017 expenses to make sure such taxpayers make the best use of their medical expense deductions.