Michael Cohn

Announcing changes that will likely affect wealth managers helping clients with tax planning, the IRS said earlier this week that many tax benefits for the 2012 tax year will increase due to inflation adjustments. That includes personal exemptions and standard deductions, with tax brackets also widening next year.

This week is National Save for Retirement Week, and a variety of financial planning groups are promoting that fact to attract clients.

Financial services professionals and firms need to do a better job of implementing globally accepted international standards for financial reporting, according to a new report from a task force led by the International Federation of Accountants.

A majority of married couples in their 60s lack the knowledge about how to maximize their Social Security benefits and whether or not to expect Social Security advice from a financial planner.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued an alert to make auditors more aware of the risks they face when auditing companies with operations in emerging markets such as China.

Certified financial planners said they are satisfied with their choice of careers and plan to keep the CFP designation for 19 years, according to a new survey by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

The Internal Revenue Service has extended the due date until Sept. 9, 2011, for taxpayers with undisclosed foreign bank accounts to participate in its latest offshore voluntary disclosure initiative.

The Treasury Department proposed regulations Friday for a Premium Tax Credit for buying health insurance as part of the effort to implement the health care reform law.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner blamed a “broken” tax system as one of the chief causes of the U.S. budget deficit.

Two Republican congressional leaders have written to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman demanding information on how the IRS is spending $1 billion in funds the agency received under the health care reform law.

The Internal Revenue Service increased its audits of high-income taxpayers last year by as much as 75 percent.

Educator and personal financial services pioneer Charles A. Moran, CFP, has been appointed as the new chair of the board of directors of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc.

MarketRiders has released a 2010 Portfolio Report Card showing that stock and bond market portfolios returned between 4 to 16 percent.

The House approved an $858 billion extension of the Bush-era tax rates and unemployment benefits late Thursday night, a day after the Senate approved the bill, sending the bill to President Obama’s desk.

The Bush tax cut and unemployment benefit extension legislation passed a key procedural hurdle in the Senate on Monday, overcoming the 60-vote threshold needed to come up for a vote later in the week.

Former President Bill Clinton stood alongside President Barack Obama at a news conference and endorsed Obama’s deal with congressional Republicans to extend the Bush-era tax cuts and unemployment benefits.

Even though the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board technically lost a Supreme Court ruling Monday, the board is likely to emerge stronger now that the element of uncertainty has been removed.

The Supreme Court ruled against the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in a 5-4 decision, finding that the way board members are appointed is unconstitutional.