Practice management

The Internal Revenue Service has seen a 60 percent increase so far this year in electronic filing of tax returns by small businesses and large corporations.

Three Democratic congressmen have announced plans to draft legislation that would impose a war surtax to pay for operations in Iraq as a way to demonstrate their opposition to the war.

"We were stretching our ranks much too thin and we simply couldn't hire people fast enough to keep up with such a rapid growth. I felt the substantial growth was causing us to get away from our culture to have a solid work/life balance. If we had kept letting market conditions run their course on our firm without taking action, we could have lost what made us great--our employees. So we slowed down this rapid escalation and staffed up to provide employees with a good work/life balance."

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., has proposed a bill that would change the tax treatment of corporate stock option deductions.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new set of allowable living expense standards that it will use to determine the ability of a taxpayer to pay a delinquent tax liability.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., has proposed a 50-cent tax on each gallon of gas in an effort to limit carbon emissions.

CCH predicted that the indexing of many features of the Tax Code to adjust for inflation will bring taxpayers some relief next year as the company released its 2008 tax rate projections.

LexisNexis introduced LexisNexis Tax Advisor-Federal Code, containing federal tax content organized from a Tax Code perspective.

After the delivery truck pulled up, a guy got out and yelled, “Buddy. We have your copy of Office 2007 here. Should we leave it in the driveway? I don’t think it will fit in the door. Watch it. That thing weighs a ton.”

The Internal Revenue Service has issued proposed regulations governing patents on tax strategies and advice as a bill works its way through Congress outlawing such patents.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez called on the Senate to pass a permanent moratorium on taxes for Internet access and electronic commerce.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued regulations governing practice before the agency.

The October issue of our sister publication CPA Wealth Provider has some information which will shock most. It is a ranking of CPA firms with financial planning practices by assets under management. Eleven have over one billion dollars under management. Yes, I said one billion dollars each with Plante and Moran Financial Advisors leading the pack with $5.255 billion. There are 41 firms listed with $100+ million of assets under management.

A church is demanding a correction and an apology from the Internal Revenue Service after the IRS closed a two-year examination of its tax-exempt status that had been prompted by a guest sermon delivered on the eve of the 2004 presidential election.

The Internal Revenue Service may start adjusting tax penalties for inflation to make sure the penalties retain their bite.

TAX COURT RULES FOR EMBEZZLER'S HUBBYWASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Tax Court has ruled in favor of a taxpayer, David Billings, who asked to be relieved from liability for the tax owed on money that his wife embezzled from her employer without his knowledge.

Maximizing contributions to retirement savings plans is a priority with which few people would disagree. When money is needed for life's more immediate necessities or deemed necessities, however, retirement savings for that "distant future" may get squeezed out - at least temporarily.But even during those times when every dollar of salary may be called upon to satisfy an immediate need (or if salary itself is in short supply), tax-preferred retirement savings do not necessarily need to grind to a halt. Through gifts from one family member to another, or through moving regular savings into retirement savings, tax-preferred retirement savings opportunities need not be lost.

Many accounting firms are well-managed. In fact, some are over-managed and under-led.There are numerous conferences and courses devoted to managing an accounting practice. The American Institute of CPAs, several state societies, most regional associations and several consultants sponsor such programs. Much attention is paid to management and very little to leadership.

The Internal Revenue Service is not doing enough to control system administrator accounts on its computers, putting taxpayer information at risk, according to a new report.

New proposed Internal Revenue Service regulations to determine the value of a taxable estate may create a series of traps for unwary executors and tax preparers, according to the American Institute of CPAs.Moreover, the regulations lead to the situation where an estate must be held open for a number of years to determine the amount of the deduction for a contingent obligation.