Practice Management

An Internal Revenue Service advisory group has released a report detailing a wide-ranging set of 70 recommendations, including new requirements for tax preparers.

Reilly, Penner & Benton said it has merged with another Wisconsin accounting firm, Ragsdale, Spitz & Reuschlein.

President-elect Barack Obama plans to shift tax incentives to encourage more use of renewable energy sources, according to one tax expert.

The National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts, promoter of the Certified Valuation Analyst credential, has purchased the National Litigation Consultants Review, a newsletter that caters to testifying financial experts.

Accounting firm I.A. Rozen & Associates is searching for the "The Last Baby Born in 2008" as a way to call attention to year-end tax deductions for families.

The House Small Business Committee convened a hearing on the financial rescue program and found that $1.6 trillion in bailout funds have provided little assistance to small businesses so far.

Net@Work, a high-volume Sage reseller, has acquired Business Technology Solutions, a North Carolina-based VAR specializing in Sage MAS 90 and MAS 200, as well as Abra HRMS Accounting and Human Resources.

With tax season coming up, the IRS is reaching out to tax-exempt organizations and preparers to spread the word about the revised Form 990 and the extra information it will require.

Prosecutors have indicted John B. Ohle III, a former member of a bank's tax shelter promotion group, on charges of conspiring with lawyers at the law firm of Jenkens & Gilchrist and others to defraud the U.S. Treasury of an estimated $100 million in the sale of a tax shelter known as "HOMER."

A new career in income tax preparation could be a safety net for some of the thousands of bank and financial services employees who are losing their jobs due to the current economic crisis. Many of those being laid off are older employees who would not be able to find another comparable full-time job, but are not ready to retire.Tax professionals need many of the same qualifications that bankers and financial professionals possess. A tax preparer must be able to conduct a thorough interview to extract financial and personal information from their client and hold that information in complete confidence. Preparing income tax returns requires similar skills as completing banking, mortgage or investment documents.