A federal court has disallowed a more-than-$80-million tax refund claim filed by a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Co. Judge John R. Tunheim concluded that claim stemmed from a sham tax shelter that the bank had purchased from KPMG for $3 million.The case was one of three that the United States won before three different federal judges on the same day.

The American Institute of CPAs has expressed its unhappiness with the failure of the Financial Accounting Foundation to support the creation of a board to establish GAAP standards for privately held companies. A statement from Barry Melancon, CEO of the AICPA cited the widespread support generated for those standards that had been communicated to FAF. Read more...

The Department of Justice has sued a Newark, N.J.-based tax preparer who it alleges falsified reported income and listed fake dependents so his customers could claim the maximum earned income tax credit. The agency seeks to bar Luvander Hollaway from preparer federal tax returns for others.