Practice Management

The Government Accountability Office released a comprehensive overview of the tax reform debate.

The Internal Revenue Service announced that several thousand telephone operators are helping the Federal Emergency Management Agency answer calls from Hurricane Katrina victims.

The Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department announced an increase to the optional standard mileage rates for the final four months of 2005.

In a merger effective Sept. 1, Larson, Allen, Weishair & Co. LLP acquired the 30-person firm Hopkins Parker & Co. PLC located in Phoenix.

The heads of the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform announced that both of the panel's meetings scheduled for September will be postponed indefinitely.

Aronson & Co. announced a merger with Capron Associates LLP, a small public accounting firm based in Bethesda.

In an effort to provide relief for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Internal Revenue Service said it would accelerate its review and approval process for new organizations seeking tax-exempt status in order to provide relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Looking to expand its geographic reach, accounting firm Wiss & Co. LLP has formally merged with The Distinctive Group in an agreement effective Aug. 1.

Schneider Downs & Co. Inc., with offices in Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio, announced a deal to merge with BKR Longanbach Giusti LLC, another Columbus-based accounting firm.

The Internal Revenue Service currently has no corporate strategy to combat identify theft, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. Until it adopts an agency-wide strategy, it will be unable to help taxpayers and the government combat what TIGTA calls "the growing threat" of identity theft and support the prosecution of offenders.