Practice Management

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.

Less than a week to go before April 15, and it's almost time to take a well-deserved rest after a long tax season.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has introduced a bill to help struggling homeowners with a refundable tax credit, even as a bipartisan Senate bill faced a threatened veto from the Bush administration.