Practice management

The Internal Revenue Service has issued over 50,000 Preparer Tax Identification Numbers since opening its online registration system less than a month ago, but the system has experienced a number of birth pains, the IRS reported.

Some of the $203 million in stimulus funds provided to the Internal Revenue Service through last year’s Recovery Act are at risk of being misspent due to continued problems with contract oversight, according to a new government report.

The financial firms that suffered the greatest stock-price declines during the economic crisis tended to be those with the highest proportion of independent directors, according to a new study.

The Internal Revenue Service has added new lines to the Schedule M-3 for research and development costs and Section 118 exclusions.

The Internal Revenue Service has released a draft Form W-2 for 2011, which employers use to report wages and employee tax withholding.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued final regulations under a law change that will require reporting of basis and other information by stock brokers and mutual fund companies for most stock purchased in 2011 and all stock purchased in 2012 and later years, making it easier for investors to report their gains and losses next year on their tax returns.

The average U.S. state sales tax rate increased to a record average of 5.52 percent in the first nine months of 2010, the highest level since at least 1982, according to a new report.

The Internal Revenue Service continues to prepare the rollout for the registration of return preparers, with the first step being Preparer Tax Identification Numbers, followed by testing and continuing education requirements. Although the rules with respect to practice before the IRS as set forth in IRS Publication 947 are not changing, there continues to be a great deal of confusion, which will only be increased by the new registration requirements.

The numbers tell the story and it all boils down to time management. If you bill for your time directly or on an hourly basis, diligent timekeeping is something you must do in order to get paid for all of the work you perform for clients. If you bill on a fixed-fee basis, accurate time records help determine how profitable specific clients and projects really are - and if they're unprofitable, time records help us realize the viability of a client for the long term.

When given the opportunity to get in front of a prospective client, the expected and unfortunate inclination of most accountants is to try to impress the client with how great their firm is, and make every effort to convince them to engage.

IRS RELEASES HEALTH CARE TAX CREDIT FORM

While some states are now passing legislation that favors lenders, at the same time there are tantalizing federal and state tax benefits being offered to distressed homeowners who are facing foreclosure or considering short-selling.

The rising emphasis on transparency, accountability and financial reporting, coupled with the globalization of commerce, means more work is on the horizon for accounting firms. That's the good news. But one look around a firm's meeting room will tell you that the profession is graying, and conversations with human resources executives will reveal that turnover rates among young accountants are on the rise.

Integration is an important term that firms often use when talking about their technology, but many are finding the challenge even more difficult as they move to a digital platform. For years there has been discussion over whether you should buy best of breed or a suite from one of the leading vendors.

Brooklyn attorney William Halby has lost his latest try at deducting his expenses for prostitutes, erotic massages, and pornography from his tax returns.

Four members of Congress have written to IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman asking him to investigate potential tax irregularities by three tax-exempt groups that run college football bowl championships.

Father and son hotel developers were convicted of tax fraud after they were accused of concealing more than $150 million in assets and failing the report $49 million in income.

Watchdog groups Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center have called on the Internal Revenue Service to investigate whether Crossroads GPS, a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization reportedly founded by former George W. Bush advisors Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie, is operating in violation of its tax status.

With the IRS hearings scheduled for today on the proposed Circular 230 regulations on education and testing of tax return preparers, it’s becoming somewhat confusing to remember just where we are in the process of registering preparers.

Patrice Tierney, the wife of Rep. John F. Tierney, D-Mass., has pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns in connection with an offshore Internet gambling scheme.