Practice management

Accounting firm Wiss & Co. has created an economic advisory group to help business owners and executives deal with the recession.

The Internal Revenue Service’s program for allowing “Son of Boss” tax shelter investors to settle their tax disputes often did not lead to greater taxpayer compliance, according to a new report.

The House included a taxpayer accountability amendment in the economic stimulus bill that provides protections to federal workers who expose waste, fraud and abuse, drawing praise from whistleblower advocacy groups.

Whether navigating your firm through the choppy waters of today’s unstable economy or mapping out both long- and short-term strategies, a trio of CEOs from CPA firms in both the U.S. and Canada agreed that communication with staff members and an understanding of the competition are among the more critical factors in driving a firm’s growth and evolution.

Over 33 million callers could not reach the Internal Revenue Service’s toll-free assistance number last year to ask about economic stimulus payments, and the IRS could get swamped again this year with calls.

A Republican congressman has introduced a bill that would provide all U.S. taxpayers with immunity from IRS penalties and interest, but the main goal seems to be tweaking his Democratic colleagues.

The House has approved an $819 billion economic stimulus package despite unanimous Republican opposition.

Former H&R Block Chairman and CEO Mark Ernst has taken a job with the Internal Revenue Service as deputy commissioner for operations support.

The Senate Finance Committee has approved approximately $522 billion in tax cuts, incentives and investments by a vote of 14-9.

Congress and the Obama administration are crafting what is shaping up to be the single most expensive spending bill in American history, and nobody can agree on whether it will work.

We all know name tags as those dorky stickers that we’re made to wear during networking events. We reluctantly pen our name and then stick it to our chests in an effort to make ourselves more approachable. Well, what would happen if we intentionally left them on, even after the event was over? Read more on Accounting Tomorrow's blog.

The Senate Finance Committee is considering President Obama's economic stimulus package as leaders call for increased tax cuts.

South Florida accounting firm Daszkal Bolton is the latest to offer services to clients who have suffered losses from Bernard Madoff's $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

How do you build up your firm's plan to the point that it effectively guides decisions and resource allocation, while still being flexible enough to meet the changing conditions of your firm and marketplace?You must integrate planning into your management's culture.

The House Ways and Means Committee has passed a bill containing $275 billion in tax cuts as part of the overall economic stimulus package, approving it on a party-line vote of 24 to 13.

The Internal Revenue Service's announcement of two new alternative dispute programs for offer-in-compromise and trust fund recovery penalty cases comes as welcome news to practitioners who regularly practice before IRS Appeals."The IRS should be complimented in trying to do programs like these," said Marty Davidoff, CPA, Esq., of E. Martin Davidoff and Associates. "It's the IRS at its best. They're looking for different ways to resolve controversies."

CONGRESS KILLS MINIMUM DISTRIBUTIONS FOR 2009Washington, D.C - Congress has passed a waiver of the minimum distribution rule for 2009, but not for 2008, for employer-provided qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts and annuities in H.R. 7327, the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008. The Treasury Department is studying whether to provide relief with regard to 2008 minimum distributions.

On Dec. 16, 2008, the Internal Revenue Service released the long-awaited final tax return preparer regulations. Although they had been expected to be issued in November, they were further delayed by the changes to Code Sec. 6694 included in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. In addition to the final regulations, the agency also promulgated Notice 2009-5, providing some interim guidance for the 2008 tax filing season, and Revenue Procedure 2009-11, updating the list of IRS forms that are subject to the preparer penalties.The final regulations do not differ significantly from the proposed regulations, but make several changes in response to comments received. The interim guidance responds to the statutory changes made by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and can be relied on by tax return preparers until final guidance is issued. Tax return preparers will want to make sure that they are familiar with these new requirements to avoid penalties as the 2008 tax return season gets underway.

The Senate has approved Mary Schapiro by a unanimous vote as the next Securities and Exchange Commission chairman.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has sent a letter to Congress signed by 27 U.S. companies asking for a two-year easing of taxes on debt purchases to be included in economic stimulus legislation.