Practice management

If you're hoping to hit the ground running on or about April 24 (factoring in a few days of recuperation on a sun-drenched beach) with solid growth strategies you couldn't focus on during the busy season, here are some thoughts.Continuing to focus on three persistently challenging areas will yield maximum return - ongoing staffing shortages, changing regulation and leadership development.

IRS SELECTS FIRMS FOR COLLECTION EFFORT: The Internal Revenue Service awarded contracts to a trio of firms to participate in the first phase of its private debt collection initiative. A total of 33 firms took part in the bidding process.The selected firms are The CBE Group Inc., of Waterloo, Iowa; Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson LLP, of Austin, Texas; and Pioneer Credit Recovery Inc., of Arcade, N.Y.

An Ohio CPA can thank his inability to properly separate his accounting business from his financial planning business for a win in U.S. Tax Court that saved him thousands in additional tax."It was an uphill battle against overwhelming odds, but victory always makes it worthwhile," said Ron Lykins, a metropolitan Columbus, Ohio, CPA.

The new domestic production activities deduction (a.k.a., the manufacturing deduction) has generated many unresolved questions. In fact, the problem areas are so significant that individuals and businesses have reported delayed filing of 2005 returns until they get more guidance from the Internal Revenue Service.To say that proper application of the deduction is a "hot" issue may be an understatement, considering the IRS's own estimates of its impact. In requesting comments on the most recent version of Form 8903, Domestic Production Activities Deduction, the IRS estimated that over 17 million individuals and businesses will be affected, and that each taxpayer will average 31 hours and 54 minutes on the form.

The Internal Revenue Service's 2005 IRS Data Book is now available on the agency's Web site.One of the agency's priorities, an increase in enforcement, is documented in this year's book. During the 2005 fiscal year, the IRS completed more than 1.2 million audits of individuals, up almost 21 percent from the previous year's figure of just over a million.

Tax prep giant H&R Block Inc. announced that its first-quarter tax preparation and related fees rose 3.7 percent from a year earlier, to a total of $1.98 billion.

The Internal Revenue Service announced that its special enrollment examination could be converted to a computer-based test as soon as this fall.

A court order will allow the Internal Revenue Service to ask PayPal, a money transfer service owned by eBay Inc., to turn over information on customers who might be evading taxes.

Tax Freedom Day will fall on April 26 this year, according to the Tax Foundation's annual calculation using the latest government data on income and taxes.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox announced that Wall Street fund lawyer Andrew "Buddy" Donohue will join the agency as the next director of the Division of Investment Management.

Taxware, a provider of transaction tax calculation and compliance solutions, has released its annual list of the "Top 10 Most Unusual U.S. Sales Tax Laws for 2006."

Tax research and software provider RIA has upgraded its proprietary Checkpoint service to include expansion of user access to BNA content, international standards and titles from sibling Thomson company PPC.

The Government Accountability Office gave a thumbs-up to the Internal Revenue Service's $11-billion budget request, saying that the agency appears to have recognized that throwing money at enforcement can only reduce the tax gap so much.

H.R. 5114, the Tax Return Choice Act of 2006, was introduced in the House and referred to the Ways and Means Committee.

The Internal Revenue Service is looking to fill six vacancies on its Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee beginning in September.

A federal judge upheld a 1976 ruling and ordered the Internal Revenue Service to release detailed statistics on how the agency enforces the nation's tax laws to Susan Long, a Syracuse University professor and co-director of the non profit research group, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.

An analysis of the Internal Revenue Service's 2003 figures show that President Bush's tax cuts on investment income have had a major effect on citizens in the upper tax brackets.

Although the Internal Revenue Service is cajoling taxpayers to file their returns electronically -- in a move designed to save the Treasury billions of dollars -- at least one top IRS official copped to submitting her return on paper.

In a limited study, the Government Accountability Office said that paid tax-return preparers at 19 chain operations returned less-than-stellar service.

While leaders and the concept of leadership have developed during the last 20 years, they still have a long way to go if firms hope to prosper and survive in the 21st century. There are many facets to leadership, and it has often been said that leadership is what separates the successful firms from the also-rans.But how can you become the leader who will cause your firm to move ahead of the pack? Your firm's future success depends on your ability to both manage and maximize three distinct and significant practice areas: