Practice Management

IMGCAP(1)]Small business is said to be the lifeblood of the nation’s economy.

The Internal Revenue Service has started accepting taxpayer records in electronic format from small businesses using Intuit’s QuickBooks and Sage’s Peachtree accounting software for audits and examinations.

The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, a federal advisory committee of 101 citizen volunteers across the country, has released its annual report, with recommendations that include calling for the IRS to protect against identity theft by allowing taxpayers to “lock” their accounts when no tax returns are required.

The Internal Revenue Service’s comparative study of its private debt collection program was not designed soundly enough to support its decision to discontinue contracting out debt collection to private companies, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman indicated that the IRS is continuing to refine its new requirements for tax preparer registration, testing and continuing education, and announced that the IRS would waive the requirement for continuing education in the first year of implementing the new program, as well as set up a new office at the IRS dedicated to tax return preparers.

Businesses that have developed complex networks of related trusts and partnerships to evade taxes are making it difficult for the Internal Revenue Service’s efforts to close the tax gap, according to a new government report.

The Internal Revenue Service released information Tuesday on the procedures that foreigners and U.S. citizens without a Social Security number because of religious objections can use to register as tax preparers.

A federal judge has ruled in favor of Amazon.com after the Seattle-based e-commerce giant sued to stop the North Carolina Department of Revenue from collecting personally identifiable information about its customers that could be linked to their purchases.

Craig Shaber, a practicing attorney from San Diego, has pleaded guilty to tax evasion in a case involving a series of shell companies that he set up with an accountant who pleaded guilty last year.

Nearly half the senior executives polled in a recent survey said they are most concerned about the prospect of providing a concise description of the uncertain tax positions of their companies to comply with the Internal Revenue Service’s new disclosure requirements.