Practice Management

Reznick Group said it has signed a letter of intent to acquire another accounting firm, Tidwell DeWitt, building its presence in the Southeast and adding more services.

Of the roughly one hundred thousand cases a year that go before the Internal Revenue Service Appeals Division, more than 80 percent get resolved without going to litigation. That by itself is a good reason for tax professionals to utilize the appeals process, according to Sarah Ingram, chief at the IRS Appeals unit."We see large taxpayers, small taxpayers, individuals. We see large-dollar figures, any topic under the sun," she said. "Almost half of those cases come from the Collection Division, including either collection due process or offers-in-compromise kinds of activities."

IRS APPOINTS NEW COMMISSIONER

With the Tax Code constantly in a state of flux with new tax laws, not to mention delayed effective dates on tax provisions, sunsetting provisions, and phase-ins and phase-outs, every year offers some new wrinkles for tax professionals to worry about.The 2007 tax year is no exception.

The Senate Finance Committee continued its examination of whether to raise taxes on the earnings of managers of private equity firms and hedge funds by looking at the impact of carried interest taxation on pension funds.

Financial services firm Braver said it was merging with Nelson, Adam & Dickson, an accounting firm based in Concord, Mass.

Two upstate New York CPA firms are merging, with the Rochester-based firm of Bernardi & Russo joining forces with Buffalo-based Freed, Maxick & Battaglia.

Crowe Chizek said it plans to combine practices with Carter, Belcourt & Atkinson, expanding the Oak Brook, Ill.-based accounting firm's footprint in Florida.

Small businesses added 44,000 jobs in the United States in August, according to a new report, but large companies shed 6,000 jobs last month, bringing the total number of new jobs to 38,000.

The House Ways and Means Committee held hearings on proposals to raise taxes on managers of private equity firms and hedge funds, and to combat the expanding impact of the alternative minimum tax, as well as listening to testimony about the impact of the Bush tax cuts.