Practice Management

The Internal Revenue Service said it would soon issue guidance to help businesses determine how to use the special 50 percent bonus depreciation allowance included with the recent economic stimulus legislation.

An increasing number of taxpayers filed or intended to file their tax returns online this tax season, according to recent data supplied by both the Internal Revenue Service and global researcher The Conference Board.As of early March, IRS statistics showed that the 2008 e-filing level was up 5 percent over the same period last year. And in a survey undertaken just prior to tax season, The Conference Board found that 40 percent of taxpayers planned to file online, up from 34 percent three years ago. More than two thirds of consumers said that they have filed online for three years or more, up from less than 55 percent in 2005.

IRS REHIRES PRIVATE COLLECTORSWashington, D.C. — The Internal Revenue Service has decided to renew the contracts of two companies involved in its controversial private debt collection program.

There’s encouraging news for firms interested in pursuing strategies to retain and promote women: You don’t have to re-invent the wheel.In fact, the timing couldn’t be better, as dozens of top programs are under way at firms across the country. We talked with leaders at three of those firms who were eager to share what they’ve learned.

The Senate has overwhelmingly passed a housing relief bill that includes a $7,000 tax credit for purchasers of foreclosed homes in addition to $4 billion in grants for local communities to buy and repair foreclosed properties.

Steinway Replaces Deloitte with UHY

Despite a recently issued safe harbor now available for like-kind exchanges of vacation properties, the Internal Revenue Service continues to keep taxpayers guessing on the precise boundaries of the law itself.Last September, the Government Accountability Office came out with a critical report on like-kind exchanges in which it complained that the IRS needed to give taxpayers more guidance on like-kind exchanges of second homes and vacation retreats. The GAO claimed that the IRS had agreed with its findings and had promised to release more specific guidance. The latest IRS response seems to fall short of that commitment.

California accounting firm Macias Gini & O'Connell has acquired Moreland & Associates, expanding its Sacramento base to Newport Beach and San Marcos.

New England regional accounting firm Vitale Caturano has acquired Jornata, a Boston-based technology solutions provider that specializes in Microsoft's SharePoint collaboration software.

A federal judge has ordered the Internal Revenue Service to refund over $20,000 in taxes to the Democratic Leadership Council, saying the IRS broke its own rules by first granting tax-exempt status to the DLC and then revoking it.