H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) turned in strong numbers for its last fiscal year, which ended April 30, 2009. Income from continuing operations climbed 15% to $513.1 million ($1.53 per share), compared to $445.9 million ($1.36 a share) the previous year. But, the income growth came on basically flat revenues of $4.1 billion.

The Tax Services division saw revenues grow 1.5% to $3 billion, with pretax income up 13.7% to $893.8 million. H&R Block prepared 5.8% fewer returns, though the average fee per returned was up 7.2%. The up-tick in fees resulted from increased tax return complexity and an increase in clients with higher adjusted gross incomes.

Haliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL) is the latest U.S. company headed oversees for friendlier tax laws.

The company is relocating its corporate headquarters from Houston to Dubai, which the Associated Press points out has some of the world's most liberal tax and residency laws. Haliburton said its moving because of the growth opportunities in the region and analysts say its smart strategically. The company also is eager to jumpstart is stock price which has barely budged over the past year.

Though the stated reasons are financial, there's obviously a political dimension.

The Democrats who control Congress are going to make Haliburton's life miserable. Last month, federal investigators claimed that Halliburton was responsible for $2.7 billion of the $10 billion in contractor waste and overcharging in Iraq, the AP said.

Not surprisingly, bigshots in Congress were outraged.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, called it "an insult to the U.S. soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years." House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) may hold a hearing on the issue, an aide told Reuters.

There's been a hubbub over similar moves by Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE:TYC) and other companies. In reality, there's little the Congress can do. In fact, I bet some Democrats would be happy to help Haliburton box its stuff up.

I ran across a rather interesting article on The New York Times website today discussing a new way that the IRS is planning on creating their tax laws. The direction in which they are headed in creating their new laws just may surprise you.

It seems as though the same people that get paid each year by citizens looking to avoid paying their taxes are going to be asked to help the IRS come up with their new laws. Is it just me, or does this seem a bit strange? As it is the government is already pretty lousy at collecting what is coming to them, I can only imagine what the impact of having tax lawyers write new laws will have on the situation.

I read an article a few days ago that discussed the difference in taxes owed and taxes collected by the American government. According to this report (using 2001 figures), the annual gap between what tax payers owe and what is actually paid is around $300 billion. That is a pretty hefty chunk of change. The article puts it in pretty good perspective pointing out that this gap could cover the federal deficit for a year, or pay for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan for 2007 and 2008.

Now the IRS is going to let tax lawyers work on new tax laws. An interesting decision in my book. These are the same people that make a living helping people avoid paying their taxes. Does this really make sense?