By Jeanne Sahadi, senior writerJanuary 7, 2010: 7:47 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The tax man has gotten a lot more aggressive in slapping liens on taxpayers who are seriously delinquent in their payments.

In fact, the Internal Revenue Service issued 475% more liens last year than it did in 1999.

But it hasn’t been doing so judiciously, which is causing unnecessary harm to some taxpayers and, ironically, to federal coffers, according to national taxpayer advocate Nina Olson.

“Taxpayers are being greatly harmed for very little benefit to the government,” Olson told CNNMoney. (more…)

By Jeanne Sahadi, senior writerJanuary 17, 2010: 2:01 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Everybody’s angry at banks. Federal deficits are wide and need addressing. And the president and Congress are starting to map out next year’s budget.

That means they’re talking taxes in Washington. The capital is awash in proposals for how to raise revenue and score political points.

There’s no guarantee all of them – or even some – will pass.

But they are an indication of the direction the White House and Congress may go as they finalize decisions for how to pay for health reform, reduce debt, support other government efforts and garner votes in a mid-term election year.

President Obama on Thursday called on Congress to recoup any federal bailout money that hasn’t been repaid by imposing a fee on large banks, even if they themselves haven’t taken bailout money, or if they’ve repaid the bailout money they did take. (more…)