Practice Management

A church is demanding a correction and an apology from the Internal Revenue Service after the IRS closed a two-year examination of its tax-exempt status that had been prompted by a guest sermon delivered on the eve of the 2004 presidential election.

The Internal Revenue Service may start adjusting tax penalties for inflation to make sure the penalties retain their bite.

TAX COURT RULES FOR EMBEZZLER'S HUBBYWASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Tax Court has ruled in favor of a taxpayer, David Billings, who asked to be relieved from liability for the tax owed on money that his wife embezzled from her employer without his knowledge.

Maximizing contributions to retirement savings plans is a priority with which few people would disagree. When money is needed for life's more immediate necessities or deemed necessities, however, retirement savings for that "distant future" may get squeezed out - at least temporarily.But even during those times when every dollar of salary may be called upon to satisfy an immediate need (or if salary itself is in short supply), tax-preferred retirement savings do not necessarily need to grind to a halt. Through gifts from one family member to another, or through moving regular savings into retirement savings, tax-preferred retirement savings opportunities need not be lost.

Many accounting firms are well-managed. In fact, some are over-managed and under-led.There are numerous conferences and courses devoted to managing an accounting practice. The American Institute of CPAs, several state societies, most regional associations and several consultants sponsor such programs. Much attention is paid to management and very little to leadership.

The Internal Revenue Service is not doing enough to control system administrator accounts on its computers, putting taxpayer information at risk, according to a new report.

New proposed Internal Revenue Service regulations to determine the value of a taxable estate may create a series of traps for unwary executors and tax preparers, according to the American Institute of CPAs.Moreover, the regulations lead to the situation where an estate must be held open for a number of years to determine the amount of the deduction for a contingent obligation.

CPA firm Alpern Rosenthal said it is merging with Cass, Levy & Leone in an effort to expand from its Pittsburgh base to Florida.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to implement the bank broker provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999.

Sanders Morris Harris Group, a financial services holding company, has acquired a 25 percent ownership interest in iPro One, a company that provides CPA practices with investment systems and products.