Practice management

Despite the constitutional, judicial and legislative pronouncements affecting nexus, states vary widely on what level of activity renders a business liable to pay state tax.“There are plenty of gray areas, and on some issues a state will say it depends on the facts and circumstances,” said George Farrah, executive editor of state tax and accounting for BNA.

IRS ENFORCEMENT PAID OFF LAST YEARWashington, D.C. — The Internal Revenue Service stepped up its compliance activities last year and saw its revenues jump, according to a new report.

The huge farm bill working its way through the final stages of the House/Senate Conference Committee appears to have preserved at least a few tax provisions. In March, the conference committee had stripped out the tax provisions that had originated with the Senate Finance Committee. However, when it came time to count votes, negotiators decided that some of the tax provisions had to stay in.The farm bill can be looked at as a net tax increase, with the somewhat unusual feature for legislation in recent years of providing for more revenue-raising offsets than tax incentives. The negotiators have agreed on $1.4 billion in tax incentives and $10 billion in offsets. The figure of $1.4 billion is a significant reduction from the $2.4 billion in tax incentives originally proposed by the Senate Finance Committee.

The Internal Revenue Service said that economic stimulus payments directly deposited to individual retirement accounts and other tax-favored accounts may be withdrawn tax- and penalty-free.The relief is designed to help taxpayers who may have been unaware that by choosing direct deposit for their entire regular tax refund, they were also choosing to have their stimulus payment directly deposited as well. The tax relief is available for amounts withdrawn from tax-favored accounts that are less than or equal to a taxpayer’s directly deposited stimulus payment.

Yes, we have a human capital dilemma. Yes, the next biggest concern for CPA firms is succession planning. As you consider these issues, which of the following statements most closely matches your beliefs about your firm’s succession?* My firm does not have enough quality players on the bench to ensure success in the future.

The number of tax evasion prosecutions fell 5.3 percent last year, continuing a steady decline for at least two decades, according to a new study.

The Internal Revenue Service won another tax shelter case, this one involving a sale-in/lease-out transaction.

The Internal Revenue Service reported that its e-file program set another record this tax season, with more than 86 million individual tax returns filed so far this year, a 12 percent increase over last year at this time.

CPA firm Marcum & Kliegman is expanding from New York to New Jersey by merging with RosenfarbWinters, a specialist in forensic accounting.

The National Conference of CPA Practitioners held a quarterly meeting in Washington to meet with various senators and representatives as well as the Internal Revenue Service, and talk about tax policy.

The Internal Revenue Service's Spring 2008 Statistics of Income Bulletin is a bit of misnomer as it mainly covers income stats for 2006 and 2005, but the report does provide some interesting insights into income patterns and sources in recent years.

Under new regulations, taxpayers must consent to the disclosure or use of their tax information by return preparers. Stiff penalties can be imposed on the preparer who makes unauthorized disclosures.

The Senate has approved a bill offering more than $1.2 billion in tax relief to veterans and military families.

The Senate voted 82-13 to override President Bush's veto of the Farm Bill, which includes nearly $2 billion in tax relief.

Under new regulations, taxpayers must consent to the disclosure or use of their tax information by return preparers. Stiff penalties can be imposed on the preparer who makes unauthorized disclosures.

The Treasury Department said it plans to start sending out more tax rebate checks as soon as it finishes mailing checks for regular tax refunds.

The American Institute of CPAs' Private Companies Practice Section and the Texas Society of CPAs have begun their fifth annual survey of management policies at small and midsized CPA firms.

Somerset CPAs has launched a video blog on YouTube to provide businesses with advice on growth.

Under new regulations, taxpayers must consent to the disclosure or use of their tax information by return preparers. Stiff penalties can be imposed on the preparer who makes unauthorized disclosures.

Presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has written to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman asking him to fix problems her constituents have reported with receiving the wrong amount on their tax rebates.