Practice Management

In a series of deals effective Jan. 1, LarsonAllen LLP acquired four firms, expanding its presence in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Arizona.

Business taxpayers in Illinois will be the first in the country able to pay state withholding and federal taxes at the same time, through a single system.

Oregon’s Aldrich Kilbride & Tatone LLC has increased its staff 50 percent by merging with a San Diego firm. In a separate deal, Cleveland’s SS&G Financial Services Inc. announced that it has acquired an Ohio neighbor.Financial terms of both mergers were not disclosed.

Dixon Hughes PLLC has acquired West Virginia’s Simpson & Osborne AC, while Maryland’s Katz, Abosch, Windesheim, Gershman & Freedman PA recently announced its own acquisition of Annapolis, Md.-based Siebert Kullman PA.

One of New England’s largest independent CPA firms, Carlin, Charron & Rosen LLP, has announced a pending merger with UHY Advisors.Terms of the merger, which should close May 1, were not disclosed. In May 2006, UHY acquired the Boston-based accounting firm Brown & Brown LLP, absorbing the firm’s 80 employees.

The Internal Revenue Service will begin processing both e-file and paper tax returns that include claims for the major “extender” provisions enacted by Congress on Feb. 3.

Joining an increasingly loud chorus, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson released her annual report to Congress, designating the alternative minimum tax and the federal tax gap as the most serious problems facing taxpayers.Olson also reserved a healthy dose of the 80-page-report’s scorn for concerns about the Internal Revenue Service’s collection policies and the transparency of IRS information to the tax-paying public.

Over the years, Practical Accountant has written about firms’ growing use of mission statements and taglines to describe what a firm is about to potential clients. These marketing techniques serve a number of functions. They may identify the type of clients that the firms are targeting, contain the firm’s philosophy, or define what is unique about the firm. Similarly, we have reported on firms’ use of vision statements and core values for similar objectives.

Partnership taxpayers can electronically file now use the modernized e-File platform when filing Form 1065, “U.S. Return of Partnership Income,” and Form 1065-B, “U.S. Return of Income for Electing Large Partnerships.”

Liberty Tax Service announced the acquisition of eSmartTax, the income tax preparation business of San Jose, Calif.-based C&S Technologies.