IRS officials estimate some $290 billion dollars that should have come into federal coffers in 2001 never made it into Uncle Sam's pockets. But, take heart. The IRS has a seven-component strategy for bringing in the bucks.

The meltdown of the subprime mortgage industry, often associated with the lower end of the U.S. housing market, continues to spread upward, bringing uncertainty into the jumbo mortgage loan market (loans above $417,000).

According to IRS estimates, there is a $345 billion gross "tax gap" for 2001. The tax gap is the difference between taxes the IRS thinks should have been paid and taxes that actually were paid.

Reaction to Rupert Murdoch's $5.6 billion takeover of the Dow Jones Co. and The Wall Street Journal is a reminder of how highly businesspeople value the venerable news organization.

There are plenty of judgment calls associated with accrual accounting, giving managers some wiggle room in recognizing expenses and income. But can investors spot the wiggle? Do they identify and price that discretionary portion of earnings correctly?

The auditing and reporting requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act — effective since 2004 for larger and midsize corporations and yet to take hold for the smallest companies — have triggered complaints about the costs and questions about the effectiveness of the law.

The allure of a star is nearly irresistible, and mutual fund investors are not immune. Investors are drawn to mutual fund families that boast a stellar performer, and the less luminous funds in the family benefit from a spillover effect resulting from their proximity to the headliner.

Tax amnesties, which have been offered in 35 states and the District of Columbia since the 1980s, are enjoying a wave of popularity. Data from the Federation of Tax Administrators show that since 2000, states have offered 35 tax amnesty programs.

Multinational corporations, including some of the icons of American business, routinely cut tax liability through pricing schemes.