WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Lawyers for a whistleblower who helped the U.S. government in a major tax fraud case against Swiss bank UBS AG said on Monday that authorities have made a decision in their client’s case claiming a whistleblower payment.

Attorneys for Bradley Birkenfeld said in a statement that the Internal Revenue Service has ruled on his claim. The lawyers said they will announce it at a press conference on Tuesday, an event that should have implications for other whistleblowers.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tax planners are developing ways to help well-to-do U.S. clients avoid the full impact of taxes set to take effect next year under President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul.

With some legal uncertainty still surrounding the new levies, advisers are devising methods for high-income taxpayers to shelter investment and other forms of income.

WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) – U.S. Senate tax writers
approved a $205 billion package of tax breaks in a rare show of
bipartisan unity on Thursday, but across Capitol Hill in the
House of Representatives, sniping over taxes between Democrats
and Republicans was in full force.

Hours before leaving for a five-week break, the Senate
Finance Committee passed legislation including a $15 billion
business research tax break. It also contained a popular $132
billion provision to prevent the alternative minimum tax,
targeted at the rich, from hitting the middle class.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senate tax writers approved a $205 billion package of tax breaks in a rare show of bipartisan unity on Thursday, but across Capitol Hill in the House of Representatives, sniping over taxes between Democrats and Republicans was in full force.

Hours before leaving for a five-week break, the Senate Finance Committee passed legislation including a $15 billion business research tax break. It also contained a $132 billion provision to prevent the alternative minimum tax, targeted primarily at the rich, from hitting the middle class.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a largely symbolic plan to extend all expiring individual income tax cuts, leaving a deep rift over tax policy unresolved until after November’s elections.

The Republican measure, passed largely along party lines but with the help of 19 Democrats, would extend all current low individual tax rates set to lapse at year-end, a contrast to a rival Democratic bill passed by the Senate that would raise some tax rates on the wealthiest.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives is expected on Wednesday to pass a largely symbolic plan to extend all tax cuts, leaving a deep rift over tax policy unresolved until after November’s elections.

The Republican measure extends all current low individual tax rates that are set to lapse at the year-end, a counterpoint to a rival Democratic bill passed by the Senate last week that would raise tax rates on the wealthy.

WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) – Republican U.S. presidential
challenger Mitt Romney’s proposal to slash income taxes by 20
percent across the board would boost income for the wealthiest
taxpayers while reducing it for the middle class, according to a
nonpartisan analysis released on Wednesday.

The report by the centrist Tax Policy Center found that
Romney’s tax cuts would boost after-tax income by an average of
4.1 percent for those earning more than $1 million a year, while
reducing by an average of 1.2 percent the after-tax income of
individuals earning less than $200,000.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bipartisan group of U.S. Senate tax-writers clinched a tentative deal on Wednesday to renew dozens of business tax breaks that have expired or will lapse at year-end, two top senators said, with further action set for Thursday.

The rare bipartisan pact crafted by Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee would also prevent the alternative minimum tax, intended to ensure the rich pay some taxes, from creeping into the tax bite on the middle class.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. presidential challenger Mitt Romney’s proposal to slash individual income taxes by 20 percent across-the-board would primarily boost the income of the wealthiest taxpayers, according to a nonpartisan analysis released on Wednesday.

The report by the centrist Tax Policy Center found that Romney’s tax cuts would boost after-tax income by an average of 4.1 percent for those earning more than $1 million a year, while reducing by an average of 1.2 percent the after-tax income of individuals earning less than $200,000.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The partisan fight in the Congress over the “death tax” – the Republicans’ moniker for federal taxes levied on estates passed on by individuals to their heirs – is back.

Debate is ramping up because the estate tax is part of the mass of tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003 that are now set to expire at the end of 2012.