Practice Management

The trustees of London-based Reuters Group have given their consent to a $17.2 billion combination offer from electronic publisher Thomson Corp, based in Toronto.

Wiss & Co. has merged with Behan, Ling and Ruta CPAs PC, a New York-based wealth management firm.Financial terms of the deal, which became effective April 1, were not disclosed.

The 2007 tax filing season set a number of records at the Internal Revenue Service -- highlighted by the more than 76 million electronically filed individual tax returns and more than 140 million visits to the IRS Web site.

For every achievement that the Internal Revenue Service reaches when it comes to technology, there seems to remain a disconnect with the agency’s capability of fulfilling its longer-term strategic plans.

Rankings can be very subjective, but they are still captivating. Everyone has an opinion of what they think is the best movie or song. As a Baby Boomer, I remember for years listening to a local station’s Top 500 classic rock and roll rankings to see if “In the Still of The Night,” was still ranked No 1.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has named Mary Moore Hamrick as director of its newly established Office of External Relations.The public affairs and government relations offices will now be combined under the single communications department. To head those offices, the board also announced that two new deputy directors have joined the board. Colleen Brennan will head up public affairs activities, while Kent Bonham will oversee government relations.

Amper, Politziner & Mattia CPAs and Consultants, announced that Martin I. Blaustein and the staff of White Plains, N.Y.-based Blaustein & Co. LLP have joined the firm.

Churches, charities and other tax-exempt organizations that paid the federal excise tax on long-distance or bundled telephone service qualify for this year’s one-time telephone excise tax refund, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

On the heels of announcing its bid to combine with Reuters Group, Thomson Corp. said that its education unit’s assets will sell for $7.75 billion in cash.

Crowe Chizek and Co. LLC announced that it intends to combine practices with New Jersey-based Enterprise Financial Consulting Group LLC.