Practice management

The Internal Revenue Service released information Tuesday on the procedures that foreigners and U.S. citizens without a Social Security number because of religious objections can use to register as tax preparers.

A federal judge has ruled in favor of Amazon.com after the Seattle-based e-commerce giant sued to stop the North Carolina Department of Revenue from collecting personally identifiable information about its customers that could be linked to their purchases.

Craig Shaber, a practicing attorney from San Diego, has pleaded guilty to tax evasion in a case involving a series of shell companies that he set up with an accountant who pleaded guilty last year.

Nearly half the senior executives polled in a recent survey said they are most concerned about the prospect of providing a concise description of the uncertain tax positions of their companies to comply with the Internal Revenue Service’s new disclosure requirements.

The Justice Department has dismissed tax fraud charges against UBS after the Swiss bank complied with a deferred prosecution agreement that it signed last year.

President Barack Obama accused the Republican leadership in Congress of vowing to repeal the financial reform bill as the midterm elections approach next week.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun sending notifications to approximately 1 million tax return preparers to remind them that they must renew their Preparer Tax Identification Numbers if they are still paid preparers, and posted videos on YouTube in English, Spanish and American Sign Language.

Volunteers who prepare income tax returns at the Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program sites improved their accuracy during the 2010 filing season, according to a new report that found a 90 percent accuracy rate, compared to only 59 percent a year ago.

By now you've probably heard about our Growth & Profitability Summit (known around our office as GroPro), November 17-18 in Las Vegas. We're excited because we know it's going to be a successful gathering of accounting superstars who are sharing their tips and knowledge on how firms can grow their practices.

Recently issued proposed regulations on domestic series limited liability companies should help give taxpayers and their advisors a bit more confidence in using series LLCs as a method of dividing a business venture into a variety of units to accomplish a variety of objectives.

Sometime in the 1990s, a group of marketing types must have gotten together to come up with the next big trend for businesses to use.

After years of being halted by accountants with their arms outstretched and hands spread wide (Stop!) when I approached them about their marketing plans, I finally realized what makes them so unwilling to market themselves: They are uncomfortable.

TOP 100 MERGER

In a profession where the traditional definition of quantum change means wearing a striped shirt instead of a solid oxford, CPA and business advisory firm Sikich has, in just over a decade, established a progressive roadmap for multidisciplinary practices.

IRS PRIVATE LETTER RULINGS SHOULD GO OUT FASTER

It’s been five years since Connie Mack, as chair of President Bush’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, said that it would “take a fresh look at the existing Tax Code and will formulate options for making the tax system simple, fair and productive.

Vice President Joe Biden indicated that the White House could be ready to make a deal with Republicans on expanding the level of income that would qualify for the Bush tax cuts extension.

Tax forms and other government documents will now be subject to a kind of literacy test, under a new government law that so far has not attracted a whole lot of attention.

Lambda Legal has published a short guide aimed at tax professionals and California’s registered domestic partners explaining the consequences of a significant shift in federal tax policy as they file their tax returns for 2010.

While we await the lame duck Congress to find out if and how much our taxes will rise next year, it might be well to remember that government — and the programs it loves to fund — will only keep growing until it runs out of funding. Hardly any government will willingly reduce programs, cut funding, or otherwise act within reasonable limits.