Practice management

A Texas restaurant owner has been sentenced to two years in jail after he was convicted of trying to bribe an IRS agent by offering her free pizza and a job.

An influential group of financial executives is urging Congress to oppose the Obama administration’s proposals for reforming the corporate tax system, especially the rules used by multinational companies to defer paying taxes on foreign earnings.

The House has introduced a bill to ban patents on tax-planning methods and strategies after previous versions of the legislation died in the last congressional session.

The Internal Revenue Service spent nearly two years and $19.5 million to develop its new Web portal, but canceled the project six months before its scheduled completion date, according to a new report.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a House subcommittee that he intends to simplify the Tax Code and devote more money to IRS enforcement.

The IRS should be doing a better job of ensuring that the sensitive personal and financial information on taxpayers’ paper documents doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, according to a new report.

The Internal Revenue Service has increased its audit rates of the wealthiest individuals and corporations, according to testimony by IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman.

A California congressman has introduced legislation that would require federal agencies to use interactive data-tagging technology to track the use of government bailout funds by companies.

Accounting firm Marks Paneth & Shron has assembled a team to help clients with holdings in Swiss bank accounts comply with the IRS’s stepped-up enforcement efforts.

The Senate Finance Committee released a set of policy options for financing health care reform, including modifying the current tax treatment of health-related expenses.

Super-regional CPA and business advisory firm J.H. Cohn LLP posted annual revenues of $246.4 million, an 11 percent rise over the year-ago period.

Admit it - you're good at what you do. Clients trust your proven ability to help improve their businesses. Perhaps it's time to enlarge your vision of yourself from accountant to consultant.

The Making Work Pay Credit is this year's economic stimulus to help get the economy going, just as the economic stimulus payments and related recovery rebate credit were last year's effort to stimulate the economy.

Proposed legislation that was written initially to target hedge fund managers could impact a much larger array of partnerships in areas such as real estate.

COS. FORESEE MORE TAX AUDITS

H&R Block said it is re-aligning its tax and corporate structures and putting CEO Russ Smyth in charge of tax operations.

The IRS is providing a new withholding adjustment option for pension plans as a way to get around some of the glitches that have developed with the new Making Work Pay tax credit.

The IRS should follow the lead of state motor vehicle bureaus to improve customer service, according to a new report from an IRS watchdog.

The Obama administration and the Treasury Department are calling for greater regulatory control of the over-the-counter derivatives market.

Accounting firm Meyers Norris Penny has launched an upgraded Web site that takes advantage of new Web technologies.