Tax practice

The IRS e-Services suite of services, including the transcript delivery system, the e-file application, the disclosure authorization and TIN matching will be unavailable from Saturday, November 3, at 9 p.m. Eastern, until Monday, November 5, at 6 a.m. for maintenance.

The Internal Revenue Service has made progress in automating installation and monitoring in a large segment of its computers, but it hasn't yet implemented key patch management policies and procedures, according to a new report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

Accounting Today's updated round-up of Hurricane Sandy news, as its aftermath continues to impact the profession. For more updates, follow the #Sandy hashtag on our Twitter accounts @AccountingToday, @TaxProToday and @ATomorrow.

In 2005, the Internal Revenue Service finalized substantial revisions to Circular 230 governing the rules for practice before the IRS. The revisions were in response to what was believed by the IRS to be improper practices in the preparation of tax opinions in support of tax-sheltering transactions. The IRS believed that tax practitioners were relying in their opinions on statements and representations from the tax shelter promoters that they knew or had reason to believe were not accurate.

Highlights from the world of tax from the previous month

Don't lose the Circular 230 legend just yet

With few resources and a growing problem, the IRS is struggling

The IRS is granting taxpayers and tax preparers affected by Hurricane Sandy until November 7 to file returns and accompanying payments.

Marketing season is well underway for preparers readying for Tax Season 2013, and a recent discussion on the LinkedIn Tax Business Owners of America group revealed several pointers for preparers.

A new study by tax prep software provider Drake Software reveals that tax preparers have taken to certain avenues of social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn, but that most still have these communication and network tools on the to-do list.

Many tax practitioners focus on improving their efficiency during tax season, but there are plenty of things they can do in advance to ensure success from January to April, according to 2020 Group chairman and CEO Chris Frederiksen.

After New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a “state disaster emergency” for all of the state, Commissioner Thomas Mattox of the Department of Taxation and Finance announced the postponement of certain tax filing and payment deadlines for those directly affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The South Carolina Department of Revenue said that some 3.6 million Social Security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers have been exposed in a cyber attack.

The IRS said on Tuesday that its PTIN system is unavailable due to Hurricane Sandy. The IRS Return Preparer Office also announced that it's postponing tests and the RTRP Webinar scheduled for October 31 due to the storm.

The outcome of next week’s election is likely to determine tax policy, but some elements may be outside the control of whoever gets elected to the White House and Congress.

Tax practitioners are working harder nowadays to keep up with a changing profession, an official with the American Institute of CPAs told attendees at Accounting Today’s Growth & Profitability Summit.

Papers, papers and still more papers. When can I destroy these tax documents?

The IRS is warning about a new tax scam that uses a Web site that mimics the IRS e-Services online registration page.

A Santa Barbara-based CPA who claimed on his Web site that he has appeared as a tax and financial expert on national television shows was convicted by a federal jury on charges that he underreported more than $1 million by pretending that his accounting income had been earned by his nonprofit foundation for providing “marital counseling.”

IRS Advisory committee’s 2012 Report suggests a number of reporting changes to the IRS