I'll take considerable heat for my opinion on this, since the IRS encourages electronic filing, as do many accountants. In fact, the IRS boasts that two out of three 2008 returns were filed electronically. Clearly, electronic filing is the thing of the future and will be required for every return someday soon.

Until then, I suggest filing the old fashioned way, particularly if you're worried about an audit. Why? Paper filing means it's more work for the IRS to access all the information in your return. Your duty as a taxpayer is to be truthful and accurate, but you don't have to make it easy for the IRS.

All of those twentysomethings who voted for Barack Obama last year are about to experience the change they haven't been waiting for: the return of income tax bracket creep. Buried in Nancy Pelosi's health-care bill is a provision that will partially repeal tax indexing for inflation, meaning that as their earnings rise over a lifetime these youngsters can look forward to paying higher rates even if their income gains aren't real.

TIGTA today publicly released its audit report of the IRS's processing of taxpayer requests for copies of tax returns and transcripts.

TIGTA's audit concluded that the IRS needs to strengthen its controls over taxpayer requests for copies of tax returns and transcripts in order to prevent unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information. Tax transcripts provide most of the information contained in a tax return. Taxpayers request copies of their tax returns or transcripts for many reasons -- to obtain a loan to start a business, to buy a home, to attend college or to verify income for child support. In addition, third parties such as financial institutions, insurance companies or universities could also submit requests for tax returns or transcripts to the IRS on behalf of taxpayers.

A New York state administrative law judge has ruled that billionaire former hedge fund manager Julian H. Robertson Jr. spent only 179 days in New York City in 2000, not the 183 days alleged by New York tax authorities. As a result, the ALJ ruled that Robertson was not a New York City resident and thus not liable for $47.7 million in New York City income taxes and interest for that year.

SECRET plans to seize more than £4billion a year from Britain and make its citizens pay taxes direct to Europe emerged last night.

The leaked proposals, seen by the Daily Express, state that Britain should lose the billions of pounds in rebate that was agreed by Margaret Thatcher 25 years ago.

The plans – with a foreword by European Union Commissioner Jose Manuel Barroso – would cost every British family at least £155 a year.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that property taxes in Chicago have increased an average of 9.6% this year. The property taxes on President Obama's home at 5046 South Greenwood Avenue increased 1.0%. Other Chicago politicians with below average property tax increases include:

* Alexi Giannoulias (Illinois Treasurer): 1.0%
* Richard Daley (Chicago Mayor): 3.5%
* Rahm Emanuel (President Obama's Chief of Staff): 3.7%
* Lisa Madigan (Illinois Attorney General): 4.4%
* Dan Hynes (Illinois Comptroller): 4.9%

With the federal estate tax disappearing for most people, state death taxes have emerged as a surprise new worry.

With this pathetic $25-billion deficit government at the helm, who the hell knows? People do know, however, it is they who have to feed this poorly run, mean and incompetent provincial beast.

We also know next July 1, thanks to the harmonization of the GST and PST, there will be new taxes on gas, diesel, propane, heating fuel, insurance, electricity, natural gas, TV, phone and Internet service, haircuts, ballet lessons, rink rental fees, movies, tailoring, periodicals, mutual-fund fees, massages, chiropractors, audiology, train, plane, taxi and bus fares, vitamins, dry-cleaning, grass-cutting, snow removal, camping, firewood, fast food, new homes over $500,000, gym fees, home renovation labour, and real Christmas trees.

One day after explaining to Congress how many "home-buyers" were climbing aboard this gravy train, Mr. George appeared on Neil Cavuto's program on the Fox Business Network. Mr. George said his staff has found at least 53 cases of IRS employees filing "illegal or inappropriate" claims for the credit. ...

MARIA BARTIROMO: But- on the tax issue, allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire would essentially be tax increase.

House Speaker NANCY PELOSI: That wasn’t a tax increase. It is- it is- eliminating a tax- decrease that was there.

We thought cash for clunkers was the ultimate waste of taxpayer money, but as usual we were too optimistic. Thanks to the federal tax credit to buy high-mileage cars that was part of President Obama's stimulus plan, Uncle Sam is now paying Americans to buy that great necessity of modern life, the golf cart. The federal credit provides from $4,200 to $5,500 for the purchase of an electric vehicle, and when it is combined with similar incentive plans in many states the tax credits can pay for nearly the entire cost of a golf cart. ...

The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC) is a coalition of groups from across the U.S., formed in 1982 to provide information and support to people involved in or considering some form of war tax resistance (WTR). Affiliate organizations and individual supporters are joined together in a common struggle for a more just and peaceful society. We oppose militarism and war and refuse to complicitly participate in the tax system which supports such violence. NWTRCC sees poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia, economic exploitation, environmental destruction and militarization of law enforcement as integrally linked with the militarism which we abhor. Through the redirection of our tax dollars NWTRCC members contribute directly to the struggle for peace and justice for all.

Thank you for your interest in war tax resistance. If you decide to register and resist, you will join a long line of courageous resisters, from Henry David Thoreau’s time to the present. Many of us are angry and frustrated by the U.S. government’s military actions around the world, and it often seems as if there is not much we can do about it. War tax resistance is a powerful way to resist the state and oppose its harmful actions. By conscientiously resisting taxes, you take a solid step towards refusing to be a part of the destruction. Our military can only harm people when citizens allow it. If enough of us withhold from war and pay for peace, we can stop the harm.

TIGTA found that the accuracy rate of tax returns prepared during the 2009 filing season by volunteers trained by the IRS was lower than last year's accuracy rate.

The Idea is, you can't obstruct it from anyone downstream. However the same laws apply to them as well. Therefore all the way down the line nobody gets to use it. At least until it reaches the lake that their corporate buddies have polluted. Then in turn can be sold to you at outragous prices with other peoples urine and meds in it! Brilliant! Absolutly marvolous!

Way back in 1991, I began to learn the truth about the privately owned Federal Reserve Banking system. My research led me to connect the dots between the disaster that struck America in 1913: The fraudulent ratification of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Amendments and the Federal Reserve Act. In order to syphon off the wealth of America, it was necessary to create two entities to get the job done: The so-called income tax amendment and the unconstitutional central bank. Lest the states should decide to rear up their heads over all this, the Seventeenth Amendment was fraudulently declared ratified and the states lost their right of representation in Congress.

Most astounding of all is what this Congress is willing to do to struggling middle-class families. The bill would impose nearly $400 billion in new taxes and fees. Nearly 90% of that burden will be shouldered by those making $200,000 or less.

People no longer trust Congress, the President, the courts, the media, corporations, political parties, and other institutions of society. People even doubt science and medicine.

Passengers who use the program typically pay less than $200 a ticket, yet taxpayer subsidies for that same passenger routinely are hundreds -- sometimes even thousands -- of dollars.

Yes, the Texas Legislature directed by Attorney General Dan Morales, in their attempt to immediately void common law liens, and liens by the "Republic of Texas" against the State of Texas and various officials have even provided within the code the court pleadings you need to void your IRS "Notice of Federal Tax Lien"; and even bring FELONY CHARGES AGAINST THE SERVICE AND THEIR AGENTS.

The allure of a VAT for politicians is that it applies to every level of production or service, rakes in piles of money, and is largely hidden from those who ultimately pay it—namely, consumers.

House Democratic leaders are discussing adding a tax on insurers as a way to reduce the overall price tag of their health care bill.

Motorists should pay higher taxes in the form of a national road-pricing system to cut carbon dioxide emissions, according to the Government’s climate change advisory body.

This is not the way I roll. Every time I write out a gigantic cheque to the Inland Revenue, I get a bit excited. Woooo! I go. What a seriously grown-up thing to be doing! It’s like drinking whisky, buying an engagement ring or chopping down a tree. In a world where nearly other signifier of adulthood — fighting Vikings, dying during childbirth, growing a beard, nurturing your own yeast-culture, having a leg ripped off in an horrific agricultural accident — has been replaced with an unending childhood of telly, jogging bottoms and strawberry-flavoured medicine, writing a bracingly large cheque is pretty much the only adult duty we have left. On this basis alone, I find it exhilarating. I kind of want it to hurt a bit.

This week, the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute floated the idea of a national transaction tax that would raise $100 billion to $150 billion a year. The tax, at a rate of 0.1% to 0.25% of the value of the trade, would be levied on all financial transactions such as stock trades, but not on consumer transactions such as with credit cards. ...

IRS’s ability to detect identity theft-related refund and employment fraud is limited, but by the end of 2008, IRS had cataloged over 50,000 incidents. According to IRS, about 90% of fraudulently claimed refunds were stopped in 2008 with about $15 million issued before IRS became aware of the fraud. IRS does not know the amount of refund or employment fraud that goes undetected.

The IRS appears to be a collection agency working for foreign banks and operating out of Puerto Rico under color of the Federal Alcohol Administration (“FAA”). But the FAA was promptly declared unconstitutional inside the 50 States by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of U.S. v. Constantine, 296 U.S. 287 (1935), because Prohibition had already been repealed.

An increasing number of influential Democrats and fiscal-policy experts have signaled that lawmakers will have to get a handle on the deficit. And they recommend seriously considering the creation of a value-added tax (VAT) on top of the federal income tax.

For the last few years, there has been a push, mostly by libertarians, for an elimination of all federal income taxes, and replacing them with a “Fair Tax.” Neal Boortz, a talk show host out of Atlanta has been one of the lead proponents of the new tax concept. Essentially, the fair tax would be a consumption tax on goods and service. The tax would not be charged on essential items such as food or clothing, so individuals in lower and middle income groups who do not overconsume would pay very little taxes over the course of the year. The most important thing to note in the Fair Tax proposal was that it would be a substitute for federal income taxes, essentially eliminating the IRS as we know it.

Benson's petition for a Writ of Certiorari demands to know whether the US Government can arbitrarily silence and then rule against anyone who questions the legality of the imposed taxes or anyone who requests confirmation that the 16th Amendment was actually ratified.

This is an important case as the US Government has taken the position that laws against illegal tax shelters may be used to silence and punish anyone who asks to see the actual law which requires wage and salary earners to pay a tax on their labor.

Michigan State Rep. Gary McDowell, D-Rudyard, said today that the Michigan House-Senate Conference Committee, which is looking for ways to erase a $2.8 billion budget deficit for fiscal 2010, is considering imposing a 3 percent provider tax on more than 15,000 physicians who practice in the state.

President Obama gave ABC News' George Stephanopoulos a stern talking-to Sunday for suggesting that a mandate to buy health insurance would amount to a tax. But the language of the health care reform plan proposed by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., explicitly labels the penalty attached to the mandate as an "excise tax."

While former soccer star and current Argentina national team coach Diego Maradona was visiting a fat farm in Italy, local authorities seized his earrings to help pay off a $54 million tax liability from his playing days for the Napoli soccer team (1984-1991).

A word of caution for Keith Chrimson, Hiram Amason, Brandon Finch, Agraciana Rojas and Lorna Todd: An arrest warrant was issued for you Friday because you did not pay your court fines.

Baucus, key Senate negotiator, offers proposal that lacks public option but includes co-ops and would impose tax on high-end insurance plans.

Reporting from Sacramento - While Californians are still feeling the sting of income and sales tax hikes signed into law earlier this year, now comes news that state tax authorities plan to take a little more from their pockets.

For only the second time in 30 years, the tax board is lowering the point where each tax bracket begins, bumping many people into a higher category. At the same time, officials are cutting back some deductions. Everyone will pay more, even people whose bracket or income doesn't change.

The extra sums will total as much as $140 per family, on top of the increases previously enacted.

State revenue agents have begun nabbing scofflaws by mining information posted on social-networking Web sites, from relocation announcements to professional profiles to financial boasts. ...

The Tax Court yesterday rejected a taxpayer's attempt to use the TurboTax defense successfully employed by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Andrea Schreindl was charged in California with Unauthorized Access to a Computer and Unauthorized Inspection of Return or Return Information. Ms. Schreindl, while an employee of the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB), accessed and inspected, without authorization, the Federal tax information of twenty-one people that had been provided to the FTB by the IRS.

American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, a nonprofit organization that sends millions of shekels worth of donations to Israel every year for clearly political purposes, such as buying Arab properties in East Jerusalem, is registered in the United States as an organization that funds educational institutes in Israel.

The U.S. tax code enables nonprofits to receive tax-exempt status if they engage in educational, charitable, religious or scientific activity. However, such organizations are forbidden to engage in any political activity. The latter is broadly defined as any action, even the promotion of certain ideas, that could have a political impact.

Financing land purchases in East Jerusalem would, therefore, seem to violate the organization's tax-exempt status.

Americans had to work from January 1 until August 12 this year just to cover the cost of government. That is 26 days more than they had to work last year to cover the cost of government.

Two men, posing as IRS agents, persuaded several neighbors to take furniture and other items from a house last weekend after helping themselves to some of the contents.

“At this time we have no money and we are not allowed to open to raise the money. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID.”

Comic-strip writer Bob Thaves famously quipped, “A fool and his money are soon parted. It takes creative tax laws for the rest.” In this case it took the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS” or “the Service”) aggressive interpretation of the tax code to part millions of Americans with billions of dollars in excise tax collections. Even this remarkable feat did not end the IRS’s creativity. When it finally conceded defeat on the legal front, the IRS got really inventive and developed a refund scheme under which almost half the funds remained unclaimed. Now the IRS seeks to avoid judicial review by insisting the notice it issued, acknowledging its error and announcing the refund process, is not a binding rule but only a general policy statement.

The case has broad implications for banks and tax havens around the world.

Like many seniors, Arlene and "Murch" Murchison live on a fixed income.

They face a roughly $1,400 annual tax bill, but this year will be different thanks to an innovative new program that allows older residents in the city of Saco, Maine to work off a portion of their tax burden instead of paying out of pocket.