Practice Management

The Internal Revenue Service announced a major milestone in its corporate e-file program -- the successful e-filing of the nation's largest tax return from General Electric Corp. on May 18.

Senior corporate executives predict that merger and acquisition activity in 2006 will surpass last year's performance and remain strong across several industry sectors, according to a new survey from KPMG LLP.

UHY Advisors will acquire Boston-based accounting firm Brown & Brown LLP. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Internal Revenue Service announced regulatory revisions that the agency hopes will remove impediments to e-file for corporations and shareholders.

Financial services provider Wilmington Trust Corp. announced that it has acquired the Cayman Islands unit of PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Services Ltd. The unit provides company administration and bookkeeping services on the islands.

Taxpayers will be able to apply for a refund of the federal excise tax on long-distance telephone service for the past three years.

Along with an acquisition in Colorado announced in early May, BKD LLP said that moves taking effect in May and June will translate into approximately 60 new employees and an additional $10 million in revenues.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced two initiatives aimed at simplifying the way small businesses, individual taxpayers and tax preparers file and pay their federal taxes.

The Government Accountability Office says that the performance of the Internal Revenue Service's Offers in Compromise program has been mixed, and suggests that a combination of better management information and simplification could improve it.

Burr, Pilger & Mayer LLP, a regional accounting firms in the Bay Area, has merged in San Jose firm Brach, Neal, Daney & Spence LLP.