Practice Management

CPA firm Hill, Barth & King has acquired Stikelether & Associates of Fort Pierce, Fla., expanding the firm’s presence on the state’s “Treasure Coast.”

Switzerland’s longstanding banking secrecy laws are about to become as holey as Swiss cheese after authorities caved in to pressure from international tax authorities.

Taxpayers who do not file their return and pay their tax by the due date may have to pay a penalty. Here are seven things you should know about failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties, according to the Internal Revenue Service. 1. The failure-to-file penalty is generally more than the failure-to-pay penalty. So if you cannot pay all the taxes you owe, you should still file your tax return and explore other payment options in the meantime.

Provisions in the recently signed $787 billion economic stimulus package - the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - will have a ripple effect across all industries, according to experts.

Philadelphia-based Parente Randolph has combined with Lazar Levine & Felix in a $16 million merger, expanding its footprint in New Jersey and New York City. As part of the deal, Lazar Lipton Valuation Services, an affiliate of the firm, will become a division of Parente Randolph. The deal will increase Parente to 650 members, including 82 principals."[The merger] really started with our strategic planning process several years ago," said Parente Randolph chairman and chief executive Robert Ciaruffoli. "We made the decision to become the go-to firm in the mid-Atlantic region, which we defined from New York City to Washington, D.C."

Is your firm interested in entering the federal government market? In an uncertain economy, the federal government can be a reliable source of revenues, often with good margins. A terrible economy, ironically, might be about the best time to try, due to a confluence of events - an unending spate of bailout and stimulus initiatives, coupled with the new administration's strong demands for transparency and accountability.Just administering the programs will require the Treasury Department and other branches of the government to use thousands of additional auditors and other accounting professionals. The requirement for extra hands on deck will be compounded by what the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee called an "unprecedented level of accountability" that will be part of the bailout and stimulus programs going forward.

Despite the current economic slowdown, the busy season is well underway as firms across the country are preparing the onslaught of returns that roll in during the weeks and months prior to April 15. The increased workloads during this period create the need for more workers to assist with the rush, and temporary employees are an effective resource during these times.In years past, firms have increased staff by up to 40 percent during tax season to supplement full-time staff. Temporary employees offer a number of advantages for big firms, and therefore are a commonly used resource during the busy season.

IRS SEES LESS E-FILINGKennesaw, Ga. - In early February, the Internal Revenue Service reported a nearly 10 percent drop in electronic tax filing from tax professionals, despite a push by the agency to encourage more e-filing.

2008 was a tough year for investors and 2009 so far is shaping up to be more of the same. Nevertheless, investors should not lose sight of the value of capital losses for tax purposes.Capital losses can help lessen the sting of the market's decline. Just as the government shares some of your gains by taxing them, it shares some of the losses by allowing certain deductions and carryovers. This article dusts off a handful of capital loss rules that are particularly relevant in today's economy - rules that may have been forgotten over recent years.

Accountability, according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, is "the obligation or responsibility to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions."Let's explore what this definition means.