Practice Management

The House voted Thursday to censure former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., for violations of ethical rules.

irs, tigta, prisoners, taxes, fraud, tax refunds

House Democrats passed a tax cut package on Thursday aimed at extending the Bush-era tax cuts for taxpayers who earn below $250,000, but the prospects for passage in the Senate will depend on the deal worked out by a bipartisan group of four lawmakers and two Obama administration officials.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun sending more than 10,000 letters to tax return preparers nationwide to remind them of their obligation to prepare accurate tax returns, and during the 2011 filing season, IRS representatives will visit approximately 2,500 tax return preparers who received the letters to discuss their responsibilities and verify their compliance.

Wisconsin-based accounting and consulting firm Wipfli LLP has made its fourth acquisition of the year, acquiring Blascoe & Associates of Rockford, Ill., effective December 1.

CPA and business advisory firm Sanford Baumeister & Frazier has agreed to merge in the North Dallas practice of Hugly PC.

The Internal Revenue Service detailed how, starting Jan. 1, 2011, paid tax return preparers can comply with a new law that requires them to electronically file tax returns for individuals, trusts and estates.

The Senate has unanimously approved a clarification to the Federal Trade Commission’s oft-delayed Red Flags rule after lobbying by the American Institute of CPAs and a variety of state CPA societies.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin, D-Mich., introduced legislation Wednesday that would extend the Bush-era tax cuts only for those making less than $250,000 a year, and provide a two-year AMT patch.

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Douglas Shulman has written to congressional leaders informing them that he has directed the IRS’s technology team to reprogram its computers with the assumption that the Alternative Minimum Tax will be patched by the end of the year.