Practice Management

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations addressing the tax treatment of an exchange of property for an annuity contract.

The Internal Revenue Service announced that the appeals arbitration process is no longer a pilot program but part of business as usual at the agency.

The chairman of the Joint Economic Committee is asking the Internal Revenue Service to refrain from taxing online gamers.

In a second October acquisition, Clifton Gunderson LLP announced that it will acquire the Schaumburg, Ill.-based firm of Nykiel, Carlin & Co. Ltd.

Two Indianapolis accounting firms -- Zurface, Sanders & Rasor and LM Henderson & Company PC -- have merged.

Individuals who owe delinquent federal income taxes will now be able to apply online for a payment agreement, the Internal Revenue Service announced.

The tax prep software industry is both expanding and contracting, as Wolters Kluwer and Thomson continue their acquisitions, while new entrants surface with online and application service provider offerings.Thomson's Creative Solutions purchased Dunphy Systems in May, with the intention of converting existing Dunphy customers to Creative Solutions. CCH, on the other hand, announced its acquisition of Rockville, Md.-based ATX/Kleinrock in August, but will keep it as a distinct product line. CCH followed this move with an announcement in September that it would acquire Rome, Ga.-based TaxWise. It likewise will keep TaxWise as a separate product line, according to CCH president and chief executive Kevin Robert.

Carpathia Corp., a provider of accounting consulting, staffing and executive search and placement, announced its investment in a trio of California-based accounting services firms - Irvine's Corporate DNA, Walnut Creek's The Nolan Group, and San Francisco's A4C. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.The move into metropolitan Los Angeles and San Francisco is Carpathia's first foray outside its home base in the Philadelphia area.

SURVEYED TACS ARE RIGHT 75 PERCENT OF THE TIME: Using one of dozens of scenarios, undercover government auditors were mostly satisfied with the levels of assistance that they received at several of the Internal Revenue Service's Taxpayer Assistance Centers. A report from the office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration details the results of auditor visits to more than 70 TACs during the 2006 filing season. Using 47 standard scenarios, the auditors made anonymous visits to 50 TACs asking 200 tax law questions. Later, an additional 10 scenarios relating to the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act of 2005 were developed and another 20 visits to additional TACs were made to ask 80 questions.The report found that TAC workers:

Moss Adams LLP announced plans to acquire Phoenix-area firm Epstein Weber & Conover PLC, in a deal that will be effective Jan. 1, 2007. Financial terms were not disclosed.