Practice management

The Internal Revenue Service has published final regulations on how to treat the sale or exchange of a musical composition or of the copyright in a musical work.

After prodding by a group of senators and an embarrassing report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Internal Revenue Service has signed an agreement with the Bureau of Prisons to end fraudulent tax returns filed by prisoners.

The new cost basis reporting rules won’t affect this year’s returns, but they are already in effect.

The American Institute of CPAs is providing a checklist developed by leading CPA financial planners to help accountants identify financial planning opportunities during tax season.

President Obama urged businesses to make their buildings more energy efficient and called on Congress to provide tax incentives to help.

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted Thursday to approve bipartisan patent reform legislation, including provisions banning tax strategy patents.

Approximately $33 million in credits for plug-in electric and alternative-fueled vehicles were erroneously claimed by at least 12,920 taxpayers through July 24, 2010, according to a new government report that also found nearly $50,000 worth of the credits going to prisoners.

The outlook for small business expansion remained bleak for most of 2010 as fewer and fewer business owners sought to access credit; a trend that has continued since 2009, according to a new report.

IMGCAP(1)]Credit scores have become a major factor for consumers and businesses that seek financing ranging from mortgages, car and student loans to business credit lines and bank loans.

The Senate approved an amendment Wednesday to repeal the expanded 1099 information reporting requirements in the health care reform law.

A coalition of 15 national organizations urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to keep a provision in S. 23, The Patent Reform Act of 2011, which would stop tax strategy patents. The bill goes to mark-up on Feb. 3.

The Internal Revenue Service warned small businesses and their tax preparers Wednesday that a group of tax return forms should not be filed until it is ready to start processing them.

Accounting and advisory firm Baker Tilly has joined the NetSuite Solution Provider program and will use the Web-based service as part of its own cloud computing consulting practice.

The Internal Revenue Service’s efforts to do more oversight of paid tax preparers will not be fully operational until 2014 and needs to happen sooner, according to a new government report.

Organizations are expected to invest more money to protect personal information in response to increased government regulation and enforcement and to stem the rising tide of risk, according to a new report released Wednesday by Ernst & Young.

With many indications showing that the Internal Revenue Service is behind in the number of tax returns filed so far this year compared to last year, Liberty Tax Service reported positive growth Wednesday in revenue, same-store sales and tax returns filed.

Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., and Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., have introduced similar but competing amendments to repeal the expanded 1099 information reporting requirements in the health care reform bill, intending to attach the amendments to a re-authorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration.

The American Institute of CPAs has developed new reporting standards aimed at cloud computing providers, health care claims processors, and other information system service organizations, which will ultimately replace those offered through SAS 70.

The Internal Revenue Service has significantly improved its ability to identify and replace aging computers, according to a new government report.

Now that the drama has ended and year-end legislation to extend the Bush-era tax cuts has been enacted, work remains for those "in the trenches" to sort out appropriate reactions. For most businesses, the response will be multifaceted.