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Campaign finance and tax law

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IRS Adds Functions to Online Payment Agreement Application

Earlier today the IRS introduced new features to their interactive Online Payment Agreement application. The changes will make it easier for taxpayers and their authorized representatives to make changes to existing installment agreements.

According to the news release, the system will now permit:

• Individuals to revise their payment due dates and/or amounts on existing agreements.
  Individuals to revise existing extensions to regular installment agreements and direct debit installment agreements.
• Individuals to revise existing regular installment agreements to a payroll deduction installment agreement or a direct debit installment agreement.
• Practitioners with valid authorizations to use the signature date found on their approved Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, or the caller ID as an alternate way to authenticate when requesting agreements for clients.

US House Votes to Extend Internet Tax Ban

On October 23, the United States House of Representatives voted with a massive 405 – 2 majority to extend the current ban on Internet taxes for the next four years. This is a small victory, as many from the tech industry lobbied to extend the ban indefinitely. First enacted by Congress in 1998, the Tax Freedom Act Amendments Act was set to expire on November 1, 2007.

Although the legislation passed through the House with flying colors, it stalled in the Senate. In order to extend the ban the act would need to pass the Senate and be signed by the President.
"Every day, broadband technology changes the way Americans live, from how they do business to how they learn and communicate to how they access medical treatment," claims Walter McCormick Jr., president and CEO of the United States Telecom Association. "An Internet access tax penalizes that way of life. In essence, we're talking about a tax on economic opportunity, on knowledge, and on finding one's voice in the democratic process."

For more information check out this article on PC World, or this editorial in the Washington Post.

E-Filing Up 5 Percent Says IRS

According to the IRS’s official website the number of tax returns being filed electronically is up five percent from the same time period last year. According to IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson, "taxpayers are filing electronically at a record pace this year, E-file reduces taxpayer errors and gets refunds back quickly." So far 73 percent of all returns have been e-filed this tax filing season, up from 70 percent for the same period last year. Also up is the number of people having their returns deposited directly into their bank accounts. 76 percent of all refunds issued this tax-filing season were directly deposited, up from 71 percent for the same period last year.