As states cast about for ways to balance their budgets without rousing the ire of tax-weary electorates, they’re turning to a surefire alternative revenue booster — audits of unclaimed property on companies’ books. It’s basically a no-brainer because compliance with unclaimed property regs is so poor. In the financial services industry, for example, less than one-fifth of companies are estimated to be in compliance with state laws, according to Deloitte.

Unclaimed deposits and securities are the major headaches in that sector, but companies in most industries are carrying unclaimed property in one form or another, whether it be uncashed vendor or payroll checks, unused gift cards, forgotten escrows, or undistributed benefits payments. There’s a temptation when the books close to slide these funds into income. Records are often lost or incomplete, and companies end up as plump targets for state action. more

The IRS is stepping up its drive to recruit the agents it’s going to need to implement President Obama’s ambitious plans for tighter enforcement. Commissioner Doug Shulman is touting his organization as “ a great place to work and build a career. … Our goal is to make the IRS the best place to work in government.” The agency has released a series of videos in which employees talk about their jobs; an international examiner, for example, describes the benefits as “fantastic,” and clearly enjoys the travel opportunities. Plus, she says, you get to meet “interesting, smart, truly gifted people” (and tax them, I guess). ###

A vinyl window company in Holly, Michigan, apparently didn’t notice when $1.7 million disappeared off its books over a 3-year period. But the IRS noticed when Pamela Blodgett, the company’s controller at the time, somehow inexplicably forgot to mention on her 1040 an increase in her income by coincidentally the same amount. more

More and more companies are revamping and rationalizing their tax IT infrastructure with an eye to getting more value out of their ERP and business performance management (BPM) systems by “tax sensitizing” them. I asked Christopher Iervolino to explain some of the nuts-and-bolts challenges in these projects. Iervolino is senior managing director at Itec Inc., a financial software consulting firm. more

This will only throw fuel on the already fiery discussion of the United States’ global tax competitiveness: A report just released by the European Commission reveals that the sharp decline in corporate income tax rates in the European Union’s member states, ongoing for the past 15 years, is showing no sign of slowing. Despite the global financial crisis, five states have reduced their statutory rates this year, and none have increased them. Even Greece managed to trim its top rate, from 25 percent to 24 percent. more