Practice management

The Internal Revenue Service has introduced an electronic filing system that allows small tax-exempt organizations to file Form 990-N "e-Postcards" to report their annual income.

House Democrats plan to reintroduce a bill this week that would shift tax breaks from oil and gas to renewable energy sources.

Germany has committed to sharing tax evasion information as a widening tax scandal involving its citizens and the tax haven of Liechtenstein spreads to other parts of Europe.

Fox Coaching Associates has launched a business development Web site for accountants, lawyers and service professionals to help attract more clients and generate additional business.

It's no secret that creating a firmwide disaster recovery plan helps ensure business continuity in the face of crisis, but having one in place could ultimately affect your insurance premiums as well.Gary Marchitello, managing partner and property practice leader at New York-based Integro Insurance Brokers, said that disaster recovery plans are not mandatory when negotiating premiums. But presenting one to your insurer can save you between 25 and 50 percent -- particularly if you are located in a catastrophe-prone area.

A case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court could have huge implications for state tax law when it's decided in late spring.

IRS BOOSTS TAX AUDITS

IRS FILES OVERWHELM STORAGE SPACE

In speaking with CPAs from across the country, I've diagnosed many cases of marketing paralysis, or inactivity. The symptoms include:

The Internal Revenue Service has given some farmers, fishermen and other agricultural industry taxpayers until March 10 to electronically file the newly revised Form 4136, "Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels."

The Marketplace provides you, the tax and accounting professional, a tool to help find the products and services you need to easily and efficiently run your practice or to recommend to your clients. Browse by category below or search by company name.

In November, we devoted a column to the issues surrounding the new return preparer penalty standards under Internal Revenue Code Sec. 6694 enacted as part of the Small Business and Work Opportunity Act of 2007. Those changes focused on the expansion of coverage of Code Section 6694 to tax returns beyond income tax returns; an increase in the penalties imposed, including penalties based on 50 percent of fees derived from return preparation; and an increase in the disclosure standard required to avoid penalties to more likely than not (greater than 50 percent) from a realistic possibility of prevailing on the merits (greater than one third).

The Congressional Budget Office has issued a report on the deductibility of state and local income taxes, looking at the benefits and drawbacks of the system.

Accounting firm Grant Thornton reported that its 2007 revenues increased 14.4 percent, to $1.075 billion.

The economic stimulus package that President Bush signed into law last week is drawing attention mostly to its tax rebates for individuals, but the bill also contains several provisions that should benefit small and midsized companies.

The Internal Revenue Service wants senior citizens, disabled veterans and retired railroad workers to make sure to file a tax return in order to receive a rebate, even if they don't normally do so.

As thousands of CPA firms across the country embark on that annual ritual known as filing season, more and more practices are looking toward document management and workflow solutions to ease the ensuing crush of paper.

Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing What’s Obvious But Not Easy by David Maister was given to me at the recent Winning Is Everything Conference, where he was a keynote speaker. This is the same David Maister who wrote the critically acclaimed Managing the Professional Firm (1993). I read that book twice and have heard him speak a number of times, and was always impressed by what he said, but always thought it was a bit theoretical.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued Revenue Procedure 2008-16, which provides a safe harbor under which the IRS will not challenge whether a property that is rented to others but also occasionally used by the owners for personal purposes qualifies as property that may be exchanged in a like-kind exchange under Section 1031 of the Tax Code.

The Georgia Senate has approved a bill that will do away with the state portion of the property tax.