WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) – When U.S. tax agents started
singling out non-profit groups for extra scrutiny in 2010, they
looked at first only for key words such as ‘Tea Party,’ but
later they focused on criticisms by groups of “how the country
is being run,” according to investigative findings reviewed by
Reuters on Sunday.

Over two years, IRS field office agents repeatedly changed
their criteria while sifting through thousands of applications
from groups seeking tax-exempt status to select ones for
possible closer examination, the findings showed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A senior U.S. Internal Revenue Service official knew in 2011 that IRS agents were giving extra scrutiny to conservative Tea Party groups, according to documents from a watchdog office obtained by Reuters on Saturday.

In a scandal that has already embarrassed the IRS and become a distraction for the Obama administration, a report from the Treasury Department’s Inspector General For Tax Administration (TIGTA) was expected to be issued publicly next week on the IRS practice, who knew about it and when.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A senior Republican senator condemned the Internal Revenue Service on Saturday for singling out conservative political groups for extra scrutiny, while the IRS described the incident as isolated and not politically motivated.

“When we start letting the IRS impose its will on people and doing it in a partisan, biased way, then we’re exposing our country to some real problems,” Senator Orrin Hatch told Reuters.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two U.S. policymakers from opposite ends of the political spectrum on Friday said momentum is building for a top-to-bottom revamp of the tax code, but the biggest question is whether there is political will to get it done.

Mark Mazur, assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury Department, and Mark Prater, a long-time Republican Senate tax counsel, cited major policy proposals and two years of public hearings and private meetings that have set the groundwork for the first rewrite of the code since 1986.

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) – The political goal is the same
as it was in the mid-1980s: grassroots support for an overhaul
of the U.S. tax code. But lawmakers’ approach this time is
thoroughly modern.

The chairmen of Congress’s tax-writing committees on
Thursday launched a website they hope will boost public support
for overhauling the tax code in the same way that a “Write
Rosty” letter-writing campaign did a quarter-century ago.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The political goal is the same as it was in the mid-1980s – seed grass-roots support for an overhaul of the U.S. tax code – but the approach launched Thursday relies on email, not snail mail.

The chairmen of Congress’s tax-writing committees have unveiled a Web site they hope will boost public support for overhauling the tax code in the same way that a “Write Rosty” letter-writing campaign did a quarter-century ago.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Monday to give states the power to enforce their sales tax laws on online purchases, but the legislation faces a tougher fight in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 69 to 27 to back the measure, which pits brick-and-mortar stores like Wal-Mart Stores Inc and cash-hungry state governments against such Web retailers as eBay Inc and Republicans wary of new tax measures.

WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate voted
overwhelmingly on Monday to give states the power to enforce
their sales tax laws on online purchases, but the legislation
faces a tougher fight in the Republican-controlled House of
Representatives.

The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 69 to 27 to back the
measure, which pits brick-and-mortar stores like Wal-Mart Stores
Inc and cash-hungry state governments against such Web
retailers as eBay Inc and Republicans wary of new tax measures.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – “Tax the other guy, not me!” was the main message from a variety of special interest groups commenting on tax breaks in a report issued on Monday, underscoring the problems faced by the U.S. Congress as it considers a revamp of the tax code.

Republican Dave Camp, chairman of the powerful tax-writing Ways and Means panel in the U.S. House of Representatives, commissioned the report.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to move forward with legislation that would allow states to force retailers to collect online sales taxes, though the measure lost supporters after opponents stepped up lobbying this week.

The bipartisan proposal cleared a procedural hurdle after 63 members in the 100-seat Senate backed it; the measure previously was held up by opponents. Critics largely cited potential burdens on small businesses, many in states that do not impose sales taxes.