Business: Taxes and Tax Season

KANSAS CITY - H&R Block Inc., the nation's largest tax preparer, on Tuesday named the former president of McDonald's Europe as its new chief executive.

ALBANY, New York (Reuters) - Wall Street banks and brokerages may cut bonuses for their highly-paid workers by some 20 percent this year, New York Gov. David Paterson said on Monday, estimating that each 10 percent reduction in bonus pay costs the state $350 million in tax revenues.

July 18 (Bloomberg) -- House Minority Leader John Boehner said the U.S. economy is surprisingly strong and dismissed calls by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a second stimulus package of tax rebate checks.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - An official of the Swiss bank UBS announced that it was halting its offshore banking services for US citizens after it came under scathing criticism for facilitating massive tax evasion.

WASHINGTON - The IRS Criminal Investigation Division completed more than 4,200 investigations in the 2007 budget year, with about one half resulting in conviction for a crime, according to a report issued Thursday.

WASHINGTON - A man wanted by Liechtenstein for leaking secret banking information that identified millionaire tax cheats across Europe and the United States has described to congressional investigators how money was concealed.

ZURICH (AFP) - Swiss authorities on Thursday received a formal demand from the United States for information from Swiss banking giant UBS on a tax evasion probe, a government official told AFP.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - UBS AG will stop providing offshore private banking services to U.S. residents through unregulated entities, the Swiss bank said on Thursday at a congressional hearing on overseas tax-dodging.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US Senate investigative panel accused two prominent banks in Liechtenstein and Switzerland on Wednesday of helping wealthy Americans hide billions of dollars and evade taxes.

GENEVA - A U.S. Senate subcommittee accused banks in Switzerland and Liechtenstein of helping wealthy Americans evade billions in taxes each year, and urged the establishment of tougher laws to combat offshore tax havens around the world.

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- Congressional Democrats are considering a second round of rebates to taxpayers, saying the benefits of the first checks sent to more than 100 million households this year are being eroded by rising energy prices.

SAN DIEGO - Barack Obama on Sunday proposed up to a 50-percent tax credit for small businesses providing health insurance to their employees, a program he hopes has special appeal to Hispanics and other minority groups struggling for a toehold in the U.S. economy.

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama unveiled a proposal on Sunday to give $6 billion a year in tax credits to small businesses that provide health insurance plans.

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - A federal judge has refused to dismiss charges of conspiracy and tax evasion against the imprisoned founder of Adelphia Communications Corp. and his son, ruling the charges don't amount to double jeopardy.

HUDSON, Wis. - Republican John McCain told a mostly female audience Friday that his plans to cut income, business and estate taxes would help women while Democrat Barack Obama's proposals would only erect new economic obstacles for them.

WASHINGTON - The government on Friday sent out the last of the economic stimulus checks for people who filed tax returns before April 15.

Wal-Mart and other retailers reported strong June sales on Thursday, but shares fell on fears that consumer spending will slow after tax rebate checks run out.

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service warned taxpayers Thursday of a rash of identity theft scams where thieves try to steal personal information by promising tax benefits or threatening penalties.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Department stores posted disappointing June same-store sales results on Thursday, hurt by slow mall traffic and consumers looking to cut discretionary purchases, and shares of the companies fell.

SANTA FE, N.M. - New Mexico is reaping a revenue windfall because of high prices for oil and natural gas, and a debate is brewing about whether the extra cash should be spent on highways, schools, health care or tax rebates.

(Reuters) - Retailers may have a challenging 2009 as sales at its domestic stores continue to fall and in the absence of a stimulus like this year's tax rebates, analysts at Morgan Stanley said, as they lowered their price targets and 2009 earnings estimates across the sector.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A flurry of visits by Chinese leaders to cities hit by sluggish exports and a reported tax rebate for textile exporters are being interpreted by the market as signals that Beijing might cautiously ease tight economic policies.

Election '08: McCain shouldn't be "choosing" between low taxes and spending cuts. Both are needed. And on economics, Obama loses. Blind to the entitlement crisis, his new spending would mean crippling new taxes.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some households apparently used tax rebate checks to pay down debt and help offset rising costs for food and fuel, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said on Tuesday.

PHOENIX - Republican presidential candidate John McCain acknowledged the steep drop in U.S. jobs and said he would help the economy by cutting taxes, encouraging free trade, building nuclear power plants and launching other initiatives.

SYDNEY, Australia - "Crocodile Dundee" star Paul Hogan challenged Australian tax authorities Friday to track him down in the United States after a newspaper report that he was under investigation for tax evasion.

ZURICH, Switzerland - UBS AG, Switzerland's largest bank, said Friday it expects its second-quarter results to be "at or slightly below break-even" due to a tax credit that will at least partly offset investment losses. It also said it won't need to ask for more capital when it reports the results next month.

ZURICH (AFP) - Swiss banking giant UBS, hit hard by the subprime crisis, on Friday said it would break even or report a slight loss for its second quarter thanks to a substantial tax credit.

ZURICH (Reuters) - Battered Swiss bank UBS said on Friday it should be saved from another hefty loss in the second quarter by a large tax credit, giving a much-needed though short-lived boost to its share price.