Practice Management

KPMG ANNOUNCES NEW TAX SERVICES HEADS: Moving on from its recent legal troubles, KPMG named vice chairs for its tax services and tax services operations.Shaun T. Kelly, 46, and Frederick S. "Rick" Smith, 49, will take over the respective tax leadership roles effective at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. Tax services vice chair James Brasher will assume other significant duties within KPMG's organization, while operations vice chair John Chopack will retire in early 2006, as previously planned.

As the U.S. mobilizes on a number of fronts to assist in the recovery from Hurricane Katrina, the Internal Revenue Service has mobilized as well. The IRS has already released several information releases in response to Hurricane Katrina.There have already been disasters this year involving droughts, floods, tornadoes and other hurricanes. The IRS had released relief guidance earlier this year involving Hurricane Dennis and a tornado in Wyoming. It is seldom, however, that a disaster of the scope and national impact of Hurricane Katrina comes along.

Calling the proposal for a "return-free" filing system "flawed" and "dangerous to taxpayers," 14 groups have written the President's Advisory Panel on Tax Reform to urge that it be taken off the table in any final report.While the timetable for a final report has been delayed by Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, with the final two scheduled meetings postponed, the return-free concept is one of the proposals under consideration by the panel.

The Internal Revenue Service has accused former U.S. ambassador to Ireland Richard Egan of setting up a $62 million illegal tax shelter as soon as he moved to Dublin, a charge Egan denies.

A new study estimates that almost 30 percent of children potentially eligible for the child tax credit live in households with incomes too low to qualify for the entire $1,000 credit.

City council member and former Washington mayor Marion Barry is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington for failing to pay taxes, according to published reports.

Complying with the current federal tax code costs American taxpayers at least $100 billion annually, and lost economic efficiency associated with the tax system may top half a trillion dollars, auditors for the Government Accountability Office told Congress.

After a delay brought on by Hurricane Katrina, the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform announced two October meetings and a deadline of Nov. 1 to issue its comprehensive report.

Deloitte Consulting, the consulting arm of the Big Four firm, has acquired Cresskill, N.J.-based Technology Consultants Inc., a provider of benchmarking and advisory services to the insurance industry.

RSM McGladrey announced that its $220 million acquisition of American Express Tax and Business Services is a done deal after receiving approval from the Department of Justice.