Practice Management

Several Republican members of Congress forwarded constituents' letters to the Internal Revenue Service claiming the NAACP had veered into political advocacy, a potential violation of the civil rights group's tax-exempt status.

In a pair of private letter rulings, the Internal Revenue Service said that it would allow a taxpayer to make a late election, agreeing that the taxpayer had relied on tax prep software that didn't adequately handle a tax provision.

While the extension of the reduced rates on capital gains and dividends, alternative minimum tax relief, and the continuation of enhanced Section 179 expensing have received the most publicity, there are a host of other changes in the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005.

In a political victory for Republicans, President Bush signed the sixth tax cut in the past six years yesterday, in a Rose Garden ceremony.

Hispanics are less likely than non-Hispanics to say that they owe money to the Internal Revenue Service for 2005 (14 percent versus 22 percent) and they are more likely than non-Hispanics to report having received a refund for 2004 (73 percent versus 62 percent), according to poll results released by Hispanic market research firm Encuesta Inc.

A federal judge has sentenced Richard Hatch, who won the first season of the CBS reality show "Survivor," to 51 months in prison for tax evasion.

The Internal Revenue Service said that it plans to revoke the tax-exempt status of the 41 credit counseling agencies it has audited as part of a crackdown on the industry's practices.

The Thomson Corp. has ac quired Telecom Compliance Services, a regulatory compliance services firm for the telecommunications industry based in Atlanta.

I always tell people I'm one firm better than the last firm I worked with - and it's true. Throughout nearly 20 years of consulting to over 500 CPA firms, I've learned what the best practices are from dozens of world-class firms I've been privileged to work with.The 25 best, in no special order, are:

Tax research and software provider RIA has upgraded its proprietary Checkpoint service to include expansion of user access to BNA content, international standards and titles from sibling Thomson company PPC.The company, headquartered here, said that, as part of the upgrade, the service will now make available more than 90 PPC auditing, tax and accounting titles, including its Guide to Public Company Audits and 1040 Deskbook materials.