Practice Management

The 11th meeting of the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform will be held on Sept. 8 in Washington.

The Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission Defense voted to consolidate 26 defense finance and accounting service centers into five locations, two more than originally proposed by the Pentagon.

The U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service announced proposed regulations that provide further guidance to Section 482, which determines taxable income in connection with cost-sharing arrangements affecting intellectual property.

A Council On State Taxation representative told the National Conference of State Legislatures they should expect a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee this fall.

A recent report from Government Accountability Office says that the Internal Revenue Service needs to establish a more "results-oriented approach" to reducing the tax gap -- the difference between taxes owed and taxes paid in the country.

American Express' foray into acquiring and operating accounting firms has ended.

* IRS SUSPENDS PLAN TO CLOSE ASSISTANCE CENTERS: The Internal Revenue Service will scrap its plans to close 68 Taxpayer Assistance Centers after Congress insisted the agency further study the potential impact of the closures.

The AMT Credit Fairness Act has been introduced in the House with significant bipartisan sponsorship. The bill provides relief for incentive stock option alternative minimum tax victims by accelerating the refund of stranded ISO AMT overpayment credits that, under current law, would not be returned within the taxpayer's lifetime.

IRAs, 401(k)s and similar retirement savings vehicles have experienced phenomenal growth over the past several years, both in terms of the number of participants and in the sheer dollar value of those accounts. Unfortunately, the opportunities to run afoul of the qualified withdrawal rules also have grown. These missteps by account owners have not gone unnoticed by either the Internal Revenue Service or the courts.

BST Advisory Network LLC will merge its operations with Ferraro Andrie CPAs PC of Saratoga Springs effective Oct. 1, creating a fraud and forensic accounting team alternative north of New York City.