Taxpayers who request letter rulings, closing agreements and certain other rulings from the Internal Revenue Service must utilize the government's Pay.gov starting this summer. The requirement replaces the ability to pay these fees via check and money order.

A tax preparer who earned more than $100,000 while claiming he was permanently disabled has been ordered to pay the state of Ohio $57,000 in restitution.  Fernando Cruz of Maineville, Warren County, Ohio, was found guilty of worker's compensation fraud.

Liberty Tax has hired Edward L. Brunot as chief operating officer effective June 1. His appointment follows a tax season in which the number of returns dropped 16.4 percent from the 2016 season. Also during the last year, Liberty has continued to be hurt by fraud reported at some Baltimore, Md., store operators in 2016 which hampered the effort to recruit franchisees.

A former police sergeant has pleaded guilty to embezzling funds from the accounts of disabled veterans. Glenn P. Pearson, 61, who served on the police force in Whitman, Mass., also admitted to preparing phony returns for his tax preparation clients that cost the government more than $1.5 million.