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HONG KONG (AP) — Oil prices fell more than $2 a barrel early Monday after the OPEC+ group of oil producing nations said it plans to increase output. U.S. futures fell U.S. benchmark crude oil sank $2.21 or 3.8% to $56.08 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Brent crude, the international standard, lost $2.14 to $59.15 per barrel.During the weekend, the OPEC+ group of eight nations announced it will raised its output by 411,000 barrels per day as of June 1, stepping up production increases. The group said strong fundamentals were behind the decision, though analysts…

Wesley Stanovsek was a dream hire for the IRS in 2024.With $80 billion in new funding from Congress, the IRS went shopping for young, tech savvy accountants and engineers who could deconstruct the complex returns of the wealthy and private companies. Stanovsek, based in Columbus, Ohio, specialized in S-corps, trusts and partnerships before getting hired by the IRS’s High Wealth division.In February he was fired, along with other IRS agents who were considered “probationary” since they had been there less than a year. Stanovsek was working on three “enterprise” cases at the time — two involving partnerships and one involving…

President Donald Trump said Friday that he will revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, the latest move in the escalating clash between the administration and the Ivy League school. “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. The president had previously suggested the university should lose its tax-exempt status. His latest statement came after Harvard sued the administration over its decision to freeze more than $2 billion in funding to the Ivy League school. The administration claimed the university was refusing to follow the administration’s demands…

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to eliminate the IRS’ Direct File program, an electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free, according to two people familiar with the decision.The program developed during Joe Biden’s presidency was credited by users with making tax filing easy, fast and economical. But Republican lawmakers and commercial tax preparation companies complained it was a waste of taxpayer money because free filing programs already exist, although they are hard to use.The program had been in limbo since the start of the Trump administration as Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency have slashed their way through the…

There are no sure things on the Churchill Downs racetrack — and this year, there are few sure things around the track as well.Uncertainty over the economy due to President Donald Trump’s oscillating tariff policies looms large over America’s longest running sporting event and the most exciting two minutes in sports — the Kentucky Derby.The track itself has put some projects on hold.Follow along for live coverage of the Kentucky Derby“Uncertainty is a theme out there in the American economy, and that’s one we pay attention to,” said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs. “So we did pause our $900 million…

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Saturday that he wants to step down as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year. The revelation came as a surprise because the 94-year-old had previously said he did not plan to retire. Buffett, one of the world’s richest people and most accomplished investors, took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 when it was a textiles manufacturer. He turned the company into a conglomerate by finding other businesses and stocks to buy that were selling for less than they were worth. His success made him a Wall…

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on March 6, including an order terminating the security clearances of those who work at the law firm Perkins Coie. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Alex Wong/Getty Images A federal judge on Friday struck down President Trump’s executive order targeting the prominent law firm of Perkins Coie, finding it unconstitutional and declaring it an attack on the foundational principles of the American legal system. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell is the first to permanently block an executive order issued by Trump…

Joseph Czuba stands before Circuit Judge Dave Carlson for his arraignment at the Will County, Ill., courthouse on Oct. 30, 2023, in Joliet, Ill. Charles Rex Arbogast/AP hide caption toggle caption Charles Rex Arbogast/AP JOLIET, Ill. — An Illinois landlord who killed a 6-year-old Muslim boy and severely injured the boy’s mother in a brutal hate-crime attack days after the war in Gaza began was sentenced Friday to 53 years in prison. Joseph Czuba, 73, was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan…

IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley discusses his promotion at the Treasury Department under President Donald Trump on ‘The Bottom Line.’ The Treasury Department wants to make the IRS more efficient under the Trump administration. And IRS data shared with FOX Business indicates total tax receipts for this tax filing season have increased 5% from last year. Additionally, the total number of tax returns processed is up 1.5%.”We are making Treasury efficient again. This isn’t just words on paper. The data backs the great work that we’re doing to make sure that the IRS works for the American people, not against them,” Deputy Treasury…

Donald Trump’s promise to strip Harvard University of its tax-exempt status prompted criticism Friday from a former Internal Revenue Service commissioner in the president’s first term, who said the process would take years and need a judge’s approval. “The IRS will not allow itself to be weaponized,” former IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg News. Rettig, who oversaw the agency from 2018 to 2022, was asked to respond to Trump’s social media post early Friday that said: “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” Trump made the announcement after…