* Push on corporate tax rules goes global. Howard Schneider – The Washington Post. A global effort to tighten corporate tax rules is gaining momentum as politicians in Europe and the United States take aim at American tech giants whose savvy use of international tax laws has provoked a public backlash. Link    

* Europe pushes to shed stigma of a tax haven. Andrew Higgins – The New York Times. There is relentless pressures being piled on opaque money centers around the world amid a sweeping global assault on tax evasion and the secrecy that enables it. Link    

* Tax fairness top agenda at European summit. Gebriele Steinhauser and Sam Schechner – The Wall Street Journal. Faced with public outrage over tax-evasion scandals at a time of austerity budgets, European leaders pledged Wednesday to ensure that everybody—from high rollers to big multinationals—pay their fair share to cash-strapped governments. Link 

* From Google to FedEx: The incredible vanishing subsidiary. Jessica Holzer – The Wall Street Journal. Some of the biggest U.S. companies, including Google Inc. and FedEx Corp. have quietly removed hundreds of offshore subsidiaries from their publicly disclosed financial filings over the past several years. Link 

* Google defends taxes in face of Labour onslaught. Elizabeth Rigby – The Financial Times. Eric Schmidt defended Google’s tax practices on Wednesday and said the internet group would continue to invest in the UK “no matter what” after Ed Miliband, Labour leader, criticised the company for going to “extraordinary lengths” to avoid paying tax. Link

* CBO report: The pros and cons of carbon tax. Ryan Tracy – The Wall Street Journal. Instituting a carbon tax could help reduce the deficit and “produce incremental benefits” for the environment, but could also raise the cost of many goods and services, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a report Wednesday. Link    

* Apple tax critics avoiding the truth. USA Today editorial. Apparently it has come to the attention of certain U.S. senators that Apple Inc. has been abiding by the law and acting in its shareholders’ best interests. Link    

* Here comes the sun. Joe Nocera – The New York Times opinion. Apple CEO Tim Cook spent Tuesday claiming that the sun was setting when it was actually rising, and, predictably, by the time the hearing had ended, most of the senators were agreeing with him. Link

* iDodge: Apple’s new killer product. Robert Shrimsley – The Financial Times opinion. Apple has found itself under fire for its tax-avoidance techniques which include the use of offshore havens, channelling profits through low-tax regimes such as Ireland. Link

* Remaining silent on the IRS. David Firestone – The New York Times opinion. Lois Lerner, the director of exempt organizations for the Internal Revenue Service, asserted her Fifth Amendment rights this morning when asked to testify before a House committee. Link

* IRS inquiry status told to White House in April. Jonathan Weisman and Brian Knowlton – The New York Times. The chief White House lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, learned last month that a Treasury inspector general had concluded an audit of the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups, weeks before the matter became public, according to a senior White House official. Link 

* How the IRS seeded the clouds in 2010 for a political deluge three years later. Zachary Goldfarb and Kimberly Kindy – The Washington Post. The story of the IRS’s policy of targeting right-leaning groups was one of a bureaucracy caught in a morass of uncertainty and outside pressure. Link    

 * How the IRS spun out of control. Joseph Tanfani – The Los Angeles Times. With little oversight from Washington, agents in Ohio had been singling out some conservative groups for extra scrutiny, seeking to make sure they were not too heavily involved in politics to qualify as tax-exempt. Link    

* 10 questions for the tax men of Congress. John Harwood – The New York Times. Dave Camp and Max Baucus sat down with John Harwood of The New York Times and CNBC on Thursday, one day before the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on the IRS’s actions. Link    

* States bank on online sales tax. Amy Schatz – The Wall Street Journal. Congress hasn’t yet agreed to end tax-free shopping on the Internet, but some states already are planning how they’ll spend the money. Link   

* Tax court slaps down IRAs holding ‘alternative assets’ Laura Saunders – The Wall Street Journal. A U.S. Tax Court decision offers a cautionary tale for people who want to invest individual retirement account funds in “alternative” assets, especially operating businesses. Link    

*  Actavis could lower tax rate with Warner Chilcott deal. Vipal Monga – The Wall Street Journal. Generic drug-maker Actavis Inc. may be able to lower its tax rate if it acquires smaller rival Warner Chilcott PLC. Link    

* Merely a tax misunderstanding. The Wall Street Journal editorial. At Friday’s hearing, acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, who was fired by President Obama this week but is sticking around to help with the transition, was almost casual about the pattern of biased enforcement that cost him his job. Link    

* The IRS scandal started at the top. Kimberly Strassel – The Wall Street Journal opinion. President Barack Obama now professes shock and outrage that bureaucrats at the IRS did exactly what the president of the United States said was the right and honorable thing to do. Link

Some important dates in the week ahead:

 Monday, May 20

Securities and Exchange Commission accountants address SEC financial reporting at the Compliance Week annual conference. Washington.

 Monday, May 20 – Tuesday, May 21

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants conference on income and estate taxes and high-income taxpayers, and other topics. Las Vegas.

 Monday, May 20 – Wednesday, May 22

The Council on State Taxation program on state income and franchise taxes. New Orleans.

Tuesday, May 21

* Apple’s chief executive officer and chief financial officer testify at Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing on multinational corporations shifting profits offshore. 9:30 a.m. ET, Dirksen Senate Office Building. Washington.

* Former IRS acting director Steven Miller, former IRS director Doug Shulman, and Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Russell George appear at Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Internal Revenue Service’s 501(c)4 reviews. 10 a.m. ET, Dirksen Senate Office Building. Washington.

* Martin Baumann, chief auditor of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, Jeanette Franzel, board member, and Deloitte & Touche CEO Gregory Weaver speak on the state of the audit industry and auditor regulation at the Compliance Week conference. Washington.

 Tuesday, May 21 – Thursday, May 23

Practicing Law Institute program on tax planning for domestic and foreign partnerships and other structures. New York and San Francisco.

Wednesday, May 22

Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin and IRS exempt organizations chief Lois Lerner are among those speaking at the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the IRS’s treatment of political groups. 9:30 a.m. ET, Rayburn House Office Building. Washington.

 Thursday, May 23

Financial Accounting Standards Board meeting on revenue recognition, insurance contracts and other topics. 8 a.m. ET, FASB offices. Norwalk, Connecticut.

 Friday, May 24

Video webcast of the joint video conference of FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board. 7:30 a.m. ET.

* Apple CEO Tim Cook to propose tax overhaul. Cecilia Kang – The Washington Post. Apple chief executive Tim Cook plans to propose a “dramatic simplification” of corporate tax laws when he testifies for the first time before Congress next week, just as lawmakers are considering an overhaul of the tax code. Link    

 * U.S. Republicans eye Obamacare on the back of IRS controversy. Stephanie Kirchgaessner – The Financial Times. The Internal Revenue Service controversy threatens to complicate implementation of Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare law, reinforcing Republican opposition to funding the agency’s work on the legislation at a critical moment. Link    

 * The surprisingly muddled history of the 501(c)4 exemption. Jacob Gershman – The Wall Street Journal. It turns out that the origins of section 501(c)(4), providing exemptions for “social welfare” groups, are surprisingly foggy. Link

* Focus shifts to state estate-tax planning. Arden Dale – The Wall Street Journal. The federal government won’t tax an individual’s estate if it’s worth less than $5.25 million. But many states will tax estates worth far less. For example, New Jersey’s estate tax kicks in at $675,000. Link 

* House, Senate differ on how to pay for NC tax cuts. John Frank – The News and Observer. The House legislation offers smaller income tax cuts in exchange for fewer new taxes on services. Link 

* Possible Kansas tax compromise in the works. Brad Cooper – The Kansas City Star. A simmering standoff between the Kansas House and Senate over taxes cooled Wednesday amid a compromise extending part of a controversial addition to the state’s sales tax. Link    

 * Nina Olson for IRS commissioner. The Wall Street Journal editorial. Nina Olson is the ombudsman for the public inside the IRS. Her office parachutes in to aid individuals and businesses when the tax men are jerking them around. Link    

* Behind the IRS mess: A campaign-finance scandal. Steven Rattner – The New York Times opinion. Without trying to defend the indefensible profiling, it wouldn’t be that shocking if low-level staff members were simply, but stupidly, trying to find an efficient way to sift through the avalanche of applications. Link  

* A fine line between social and political. Floyd Norris – The New York Times. It would be much better if someone other than the tax collection agency had to decide whether to start investigations, but that is not what the law now says. Link

President Barack Obama announcing that the Internal Revenue Service acting commissioner had been ousted, May 15, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Welcome to the top tax and accounting headlines.

 * Tax scandal fells IRS chief. John McKinnon – The Wall Street Journal. The acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service was forced to resign Wednesday in connection with the inappropriate targeting of conservative political groups. Link

* Acting chief of IRS forced out over tea party targeting. Jonathan Weisman – The New York Times. President Obama announced Wednesday night that the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service had been ousted after disclosures that the agency gave special scrutiny to conservative groups. Link  

* Groups that sought tax-exempt status say IRS dealings were a nightmare. Josh Hicks and Kimberly Kindy – The Washington Post. Not only did IRS employees improperly target groups based on politics, but they also improperly demanded a host of details about the groups’ activities. Link  

* What the IRS scandal means for healthcare reform. Rachel Weiner – The Washington Post. A Republican senator, Nevada’s Dean Heller, has already announced legislation to suspend any funding for the IRS for new agents needed to deal with health-care reform until Congress is given more oversight over the implementation. Link

* Has the financial transaction tax received a mortal blow? Jason Douglas – The Wall Street Journal. Plans to introduce a tax on financial transactions in Europe may have received a mortal blow on Wednesday– it emerged the region’s central bankers aren’t keen. Link

* NC House will unveil tax plan Thursday. Gary Robertson – The Associated Press. House Republicans plan to offer their own North Carolina tax overhaul plan Thursday that would reduce personal and corporate income tax rates and expand the sales tax to cover more services. Link  

* Politics put to one side in sign of closer ties between Brazil and the US. Joe Leahy – The Financial Times. The growing relationship is leading to hopes that thorny technical issues may one day be worked out. This includes a tax treaty that would simplify business dealings between the two. Link

* Uneven IRS scrutiny seen in political spending by big tax-exempt groups. Nicholas Confessore – The New York Times. For the I.R.S.’s bipartisan legion of critics, the agency’s record has underscored its contradictory and seemingly confused response to the fastest-growing corner in the world of unlimited political spending. Link    

 * Q&A: Details of the IRS controversy. Laura Saunders – The Wall Street Journal. The Internal Revenue Service is embroiled in a controversy over its handling of applications by tea-party and other conservative groups seeking to set up as tax-exempt nonprofits known as 501(c)(4)s. Link 

* IRS officials in Washington were involved in targeting of conservative groups. Juliet Eilperin – The Washington Post. Internal Revenue Service officials in Washington and at least two other offices were involved with investigating conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, making clear that the effort reached well beyond the branch in Cincinnati that was initially blamed. Link    

* France weighs new tax to fund film, music industries. Sam Schechner – The Wall Street Journal. The French government is considering a new tax on smartphones, and broadening existing taxes to apply to foreign video-streaming companies, as it looks for ways to keep financing its cinema, music and literature in the digital age. Link 

* Cuccinelli’s deja vu tax plan. Juliet Lapidos – The New York Times. Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia has a tax plan that starts with closing tax loopholes and putting an end to special interest giveaways. Link    

* IRS: ‘We should have done a better job.’ Steven Miller – USA Today opinion. Mistakes were made, but they were in no way due to any political or partisan motivation. Link   

* Sales tax talk and reality. Floyd Norris – The New York Times opinion. The nation’s brick-and-mortar retailers are promoting the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would force Internet retailers to collect sales taxes based on where the product was being shipped. Link 

* Health insurance tax ‘scares the daylights’ out of some small-business owners. J.D. Harrison. Many small-business owners worry that a new tax on insurance providers in the health-care law will mean higher premiums for them, undermining the law’s capacity to lower their health-care costs. Link  

* IRS targeted groups critical of government, documents from agency probe show. Juliet Eilperin – The Washington Post. At various points over the past two years, Internal Revenue Service officials singled out for scrutiny not only groups with “tea party” or “patriot” in their name but also nonprofit groups that criticized the government and sought to educate Americans about the U.S. Constitution. Link  

* IRS focus on conservatives gives Republicans an issue to seize on. Jonathan Weisman and Matthew Wald – The New York Times. The accusations of IRS abuse are sure to fuel an effort that appears to be uniting dispirited Republicans and their conservative political base: investigating President Barack Obama and his administration. Link  

* Greek crackdown on tax evasion yields little revenue in tackling the deficit. Landon Thomas – The New York Times. Politicians, business executives and bankers are being raked through the headlines or incarcerated in a white-collar crackdown as the Greek government goes after people suspected of tax dodging. Link  

* Australia, Switzerland revise tax treaty to target evaders. Enda Curran – The Wall Street Journal. Australia has worked out a revised tax treaty with Switzerland that will give authorities new powers to target millionaire tax evaders, as the government scrambles to shore up its budget ahead of elections in September. Link  

* Anger as no-tax company wins mobile deal. Henry Mance and Kiran Stacey – The Financial Times. A company that has paid no corporation tax for eight years has won a 150 million pounds government tender to improve mobile connectivity, despite calls for it to be excluded from public sector contracts. Link  

* A British-American tax and trade agenda. David Cameron – The Wall Street Journal opinion. We must fight the scourge of tax evasion by promoting a new global standard for automatic information exchange between tax authorities. Link  

* The U.S. Senate is going after the NFL’s non-profit status. Dave D’Alessandro – The Star-Ledger opinion. When the Property Reducing Overexceptions for Sports Act (PRO Sports Act) comes up for a vote, we could see the end of the NFL’s tax exempt status forever. Link 

* Gas tax alternative drive takes wrong turn. USA Today opinion. a number of states are looking at alternatives to the gas tax. Some of the replacements they are coming up with range from punitive to ridiculously complicated to Big Brotherish. Link

Monday, May 13 – Thursday, May 16

* Government and private sector attorneys and accountants speak to Practicing Law Institute program, Basics of Accounting for Lawyers. New York.

* Federation of Tax Administrators electronic filing symposium. New Orleans.

Tuesday, May 14

Voters in south Florida’s Miami-Dade County go to polls to decide whether to increase local hotel taxes to help pay for a $350 million upgrade to the Miami Dolphins stadium.

Wednesday, May 15

Financial Accounting Standards Board meeting on not-for-profit financial reporting. 1300ET, Norwalk, Connecticut.

Wednesday, May 15 – Thursday, May 16

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Standing Advisory Group meeting. Washington, D.C.

Wednesday, May 15 – Friday, May 17

AICPA conference on tax planning, compliance and controversy. Las Vegas.

Thursday, May 16 – Friday, May 17

* Speakers from the Congressional Budget Office, Joint Committee on Taxation, International Monetary Fund, and Treasury Department are among those speaking to the National Tax Association and American Tax Policy Institute spring symposium and state and local tax program. Washington.

* Financial Research Associates’ private investment funds tax master class. New York.

Thursday, May 16 – Saturday, May 18

Securities and Exchange Commission Chief Accountant Howard Scheck and investigators for the PCAOB and FBI speak to Georgia Southern University’s fraud and forensic accounting conference. Atlanta.

* Falling deficit alters debate. Damian Palleta – The Wall Street Journal. Rising government revenue from tax collections and bailout paybacks are shrinking the federal deficit faster than expected, delaying the point when the government will reach the so-called debt ceiling and altering the budget debate in Washington. Link    

* Who would win or lose on online sales tax. Jayne O’Donnell and Hadley Malcolm – USA Today. Major retailers and local stores will be the big winners if the House follows the Senate and requires Internet retailers to collect sales taxes on online purchases. Link    

* Weigh taxes when picking a state for retirement. Arden Dale – The Wall Street Journal. When it comes to choosing the best state in which to retire, some people look beyond traditional needs like nice weather and recreational opportunities. Link    

* Stop the plunder in Africa. Kofi Annan – The New York Times opinion. Africa has suffered more from tax evasion than any other region as businesses use aggressive tax planning and plunder of national wealth through offshore-registered companies. Link

* Agreeing to disagree on Obama’s retirement package. Alan Sloan – The Washington Post opinion. The Obama administration wants to place limits on the tax-deductibility of retirement savings. Link    

* A simpler Internet sales tax. Raymond Dever – The Wall Street Journal opinion. Right now, local retailers have it relatively easy. True, they are they are unpaid tax collectors—but only for one or a few jurisdictions. Link    

* Sales tax fairness. The Chicago Tribune editorial. It is unfair to require that Main Street businesses collect sales tax owed by their customers and ship that money to state revenue departments, while online merchants get to skip that same obligation. Link    

* Challenge to dogma on owning a home. Floyd Norris – The New York Times opinion. With the federal budget under pressure, reducing the tax benefits for homeownership might be easier if the halo around homeownership were to sag. Link

* Swiss bank tied to indictment ponders U.S. registration -sources. John Letzing – The Wall Street Journal. A Swiss private bank that recently suspended an executive who allegedly helped U.S. taxpayers evade obligations is considering opening a U.S. branch, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday, a step intended to help it comply with U.S. regulations. Link 

* Tax collections from wealthy are saving government. Robert Frank – CNBC. Call it proof that the system is working—or proof that the system is broken—but taxes paid by the nation’s top earners are putting government back in the black. Link 

* Economists see deficit emphasis as impeding recovery. Jackie Calmes – The New York Times. The nation’s unemployment rate would probably be nearly a point lower, roughly 6.5 percent, and economic growth almost two points higher this year if Washington had not cut spending and raised taxes as it has since 2011, according to private-sector and government economists. Link

* Austria is pressured to reveal more about tax evaders. James Kanter – The New York Times. Austria faced renewed pressure on Wednesday to reveal more about tax evaders after senior officials of the European Union called for automatic information sharing to apply more widely and rapidly within the bloc. Link 

* Indian authorities investigate BMW over taxes. Prasanta Sahu – The Wall Street Journal. Indian authorities are investigating whether the local unit of German auto maker BMW AG owes an additional $120 million in taxes on auto-part imports since March 2011, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Link 

* State tax reform crackup. Francis DeLuca – USA Today opinion. Even in the face of continued political opposition, income tax reformers have changed their strategy. In the process, they’ve made tax reform a question of “when” and “how,” rather than “if.” Link