The Street by Jeff Klientop NEW YORK (TheStreet) — The 2012 elections hold major consequences; one of them is tax policy. While there is much that we could present regarding the potential changes, we will constrain our comments to how tax changes may directly affect investors in the stock and bond markets. Already written into [...]

The following story illustrates why it is important for individual investors to work with a fiduciary investment advisor instead of a non-fiduciary brokerage firm. If you are currently working with a brokerage firm, I recommend you look carefully at what you are being charged on for monthly statements for various services and transactions. – Charles [...]

by BILL BISCHOFF While Hurricane Irene turned out to be milder than expected, it still caused deaths, injuries and an estimated $5 billion to $7 billion in property damage. And Irene was not the only big problem this year. In the spring we had devastating tornadoes in Missouri and widespread flooding in the Midwest. The [...]

The number of federal individual income tax returns examined by the Internal Revenue Service has continuously increased over the past five years, with 1 out of every 90 taxpayers examined in fiscal year 2010, according to a statistical report released today by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. That’s up 23 percent from fiscal year 2006, [...]

Sweep finds big problems with sales practices for structured products, particularly RCNs; suitability a huge concern By Mark Schoeff Jr. July 27, 2011 3:29 pm ET Broker-dealers have been engaging in sales practices for structured products that hurt retail investors, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission report released on Wednesday. In sweep examinations of [...]

Sorry, real estate investor, the Internal Revenue Service is coming to get you, and it won’t be pretty. The IRS is stepping up property scrutiny as a result of a 2008 Government Accountability Office finding: “At least 53% of individual taxpayers with rental real estate activity for Tax Year 2001 misreported their rental real estate [...]

3/14/2011 – Bob Veres We’re all hearing about the tragedy in Japan, with horrific photos and video footage of the aftermath of the earthquake and 10-meter Tsunami.  The humanitarian disaster, with thousands dead and tens of thousand homeless, will continue to capture the world’s attention.  If you can bear to look, here’s some remarkable Japanese [...]

By LAURA SAUNDERS of the Wall Street Journal In a rare show of leniency, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Thursday announced new rules designed to make it easier for people struggling with tax debts to climb out of the hole. Among the changes, the IRS said it would place fewer claims on taxpayers’ property [...]

December 29, 2010 (Bloomberg News) Taxpayers who claim income tax deductions for home-mortgage interest, gifts to charity and state and local taxes will have to wait until middle to late February to file their 2010 returns. The Internal Revenue Service attributed the late start of the filing season to changes in tax law for 2010 [...]

By Janet Hook and John McKinnon – Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON—Congress passed the most far-reaching tax bill in a decade late Thursday, averting across-the-board tax increases, enacting new breaks for individuals and businesses and laying a marker for how Washington might work in an era of divided government. The bill goes to the White House [...]