Practice Management

Steven Miller, who is being forced out as acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, said the agency has learned from its mistakes while denying that it had targeted nonprofit groups for review because of their political views.

The advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is continuing to press ahead with a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service to force it to reject tax exemptions from political groups, despite a high-profile scandal over improper screening of Tea Party and other conservative groups.

Despite other hearings being held in Washington this week of a more political nature, it’s nice to know that the Ways and Means Committee is continuing to search for ways to make life easier for small businesses, at least as far as complying with the Tax Code. A hearing was held by the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures on Wednesday, May 15, on the Ways and Means Small Business Tax Reform Discussion Draft.

(Bloomberg) President Barack Obama appointed Daniel Werfel, controller of the White House budget office, as acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

Alan Walther has moved up the ranks at The Bonadio Group to office managing partner in the firm’s Albany office. He previously served as partner in Bonadio’s Government, Compliance and Labor Division.

President Obama announced during a press conference late Wednesday afternoon that he had asked for and received the resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller, over the recently revealed news that the agency had been targeting for extra scrutiny the applications of Tea Party and similar groups for tax-exempt status.

The IRS has revealed additional details about what may be the first round of sequester-related the closures planned for May 24, June 14, July 5, July 22 and August 30 of this year.

The U.S. budget deficit will shrink by the end of fiscal 2013 to $642 billion, the smallest shortfall in five years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Victims of severe storms, straight-line winds, and flooding that began on April 16 in parts of Illinois may qualify for tax relief.

According to a newly released report, a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration audit found that “ineffective management” had led the Internal Revenue Service to use “inappropriate criteria” to identify applications for tax-exempt status for review, leading to Tea Party and similar organizations receiving undue scrutiny and delays in their applications.