Practice management

Lawmakers at a congressional hearing Wednesday pressed Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman to ease up on audits of small businesses.

Just in time for the G20 economic summit in London, the U.S. Treasury Department has signed a tax information exchange agreement with the government of Gibraltar.

As the tax deadline looms in two weeks, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants has some advice for businesses and individual taxpayers.

The Treasury Department has opened its ballyhooed Web site that will allow ordinary citizens to keep an eye on efforts to stabilize the financial system.

A new report suggests that companies adopting the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s recent proposals on modifying mark-to-market and fair value accounting standards should provide more extensive disclosures to help investors make sense of the impaired assets.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has bowed to pressure from lawmakers and banking interests and put forward a proposal to relax fair value standards.

The Congressional Research Service has found that both the Senate and House bills that seek to tax bonuses paid to employees of entities receiving assistance from the federal government under the Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 may have constitutional problems.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has announced legislation that would make existing tax breaks permanent for working families and individuals.

Executives from the nation’s largest banks pledged their cooperation and commitment to President Obama and his administration in order to begin the recovery process.

President Obama and his top economic advisors have determined that neither General Motors nor Chrysler have put forth acceptable plans to receive more bailout funds, which could effectively shut down the two auto giants.

Frank Brosens, a founding partner at hedge fund concern Taconic Capital Advisors, has withdrawn his nomination as overseer of the $700 billion bank bailout program.

Both the House and Senate Budget Committees have finalized the markup of budget proposals that are similar to the administration budget proposal.

A searing report from the Government Accountability Office has charged the Small Business Administration with poor controls and oversight that resulted in a number of companies receiving undeserved funds from a program designed to boost small businesses in underserved communities.

As part of its previously announced Power to Get More Done Initiative, which aims to help firms deal with the shaky economy by giving them money to hire extra staff and invest in their business, financial and tax software provider Intuit has announced the co-sponsors and judges for the effort.

The Obama administration will ask the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, to form a task force to recommend an overhaul of the tax code.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner proposed a sweeping revamp of government regulatory powers over the nation’s financial system highlighted by establishing a single agency “with responsibility for systemic stability over the major institutions and critical payment and settlement systems and activities.”

The Internal Revenue Service is looking for civic-minded volunteers to serve on the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, which listens to taxpayers, identifies key issues and makes recommendations for improving IRS service.

Northeast super regional CPA and business advisory firm J.H. Cohn has unveiled a new ad campaign with the tagline, “The Experience to Face the Unprecedented.”

In a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner asked lawmakers to grant the Treasury Department more power to seize failing financial firms.

From Accounting Technology editor Bob Scott’s most recent popular e-letter “Consulting Insights" comes this Random Thought: “I’ve decided if I were a public official, I would run government like a business, meaning I would invest in financial instruments, treat my employees as disposable, and pay out enormous and unmerited bonuses.”