Practice Management

The government is upping its enforcement measures in the wake of its success in catching tax cheats, penalizing promoters, barring unscrupulous preparers and shutting down abusive tax shelters, according to officials. At a joint Internal Revenue Service-Justice Department briefing, agency executives noted that last year, IRS Criminal Investigation referred more than 3,000 cases to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution, nearly a 20 percent increase over the previous year. During fiscal year 2004, the conviction rate on cases investigated by the IRS and referred to Justice was 95.4 percent. "If you're thinking about cheating on your taxes, think twice," said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. "The IRS is ramping up its enforcement efforts, particularly for high-income individuals and corporations. Where we need to, we turn to the Justice Department to take people to court." The Justice Department's Tax Division's criminal enforcement priorities include prosecuting schemes that involve using trusts or other entities to conceal control over income and assets; shifting assets and income to hidden offshore accounts; claiming fictitious deductions; using frivolous justifications for not filing truthful tax returns; failing to withhold, report and pay payroll and income taxes; failing to report income; and failing to file tax returns.

Daszkal Bolton LLP, an area CPA and business advisory firm, has merged with the practice of DeWoody & Co., effective immediately. Terms were not disclosed. DeWoody & Co. specializes in tax and accounting services for high-net-worth individuals in north Palm Beach County. As a result of the union, Daszkal Bolton has opened a 21-person office in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. That unit will be headed by DB principal Jeff Bolton. "As the Big Four national CPA firms jettison clients to service larger national and multi-national companies, we expect middle-market professional services firms such as ours will continue to benefit," said Bolton. "We are gaining clients because they have ready access to our expertise and resources and understand our commitment to grow as they grow." Going forward, the firm will operate under the Daszkal Bolton brand. The merger boosts Daszkal Bolton's total employees to 100 in its two offices.

South Bay area CPA and business advisory firm Windes & McClaughry Accountancy Corp. said that it would merge its practice with Torrance-based Timothy Good & Co., effective immediately. Terms were not disclosed. Going forward, the consolidated firm will operate under the Windes & McClaughry brand. The addition of Timothy Good & Co. bolsters Windes & McClaughry's partner ranks to 24 shareholders. "The South Bay is a growing, dynamic market, and we are very excited to expand our presence there," said Jack Hinsche, managing partner of Windes, in a statement. One of the larger accounting firms in the South Bay area, Good serves a variety of privately held businesses with financial statements, tax planning, and estate and trust services. Founded in 1926, Windes offers audit and assurance, business valuation, cost segregation, employee benefits, estate and trust planning, human resources recruiting and consulting, litigation support, and tax planning and consulting.

The Internal Revenue Service is accepting applications for joining its Taxpayer Advocacy Panel. The TAP provides a forum for citizens from each state to make suggestions regarding IRS decision-making, and works to identify and prioritize taxpayer issues. "We are committed to working with taxpayers to improve the customer-service focus of the IRS," said Nina Olson, IRS National Taxpayer Advocate, in a statement. "Working with taxpayers directly helps us identify issues that may not be on the IRS radar screen. We can also hear their concerns about issues the IRS is already addressing." TAP applicants must be U.S. citizens and be able to commit 300 to 500 hours during the year to the panel. In addition, they must be current with their tax obligations and pass a criminal background check. The application is available at www.improveirs.org, or by calling (888) 912-1227. Applications must be received by the TAP office by April 29.

* SUPREME COURT REQUIRES TAX COURT TO INCLUDE TRIAL JUDGES' REPORTS ON APPEAL: The Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 decision that the Tax Court may not exclude from the record on appeal Rule 183(b) reports submitted by special trial judges.The Tax Court's chief judge appoints special trial judges to hear certain cases, but the ultimate decision, when tax deficiencies are greater than $50,000, is reserved for the court itself. Tax Court Rule 183(b) directs the special trial judge to submit a report to the chief judge, who assigns the case to a judge of the court. The Tax Court judge is to give due regard to the report and presume that findings of fact contained in the report are correct. The Tax Court judge may then adopt the report "or may modify it or reject it in whole or in part."

The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 enacted Code Sec. 409A, which requires the current inclusion in income of deferred compensation that does not meet the new, more stringent requirements of Code Sec. 409A.

The Winter 2004-2005 Statistics of Income Bulletin, a quarterly compilation of information on various topics from federal tax returns and other documents, has been released by the Internal Revenue Service. For tax years 1995 to 2001, corporation aggregate pretax book income -- the amount reported to shareholders -- peaked at $853.7 billion in 1999, falling to $221.3 billion in 2001. Aggregate tax net income peaked in 1997 at $607.5 billion, declining to $270.8 billion in 2001. In all years but 2001, aggregate pretax book income exceeded tax net income, reaching a maximum dollar difference of $318.4 billion in 1999. Preliminary data also show that taxpayers filed 130.6 million individual income tax returns for 2003. Adjusted gross income totaled $6.2 trillion, while taxable income was $4.2 trillion, and total income tax was $750 billion. The largest component of AGI was salaries and wages, totaling nearly $4.7 trillion. A total of $261.4 billion in business net income was reported on 14.4 million returns.

Gary Barnett, the embattled football coach at the University of Colorado, whose program has been investigated for sexual assault and recruiting violations over the past several years, now has Uncle Sam to contend with. The Internal Revenue Service has begun an investigation into two summer football camps that Barnett operates for boys ages eight to 13. Although university officials and the IRS declined to reveal what the investigation has centered on, Barnett's lawyer told the Rocky Mountain News that he thinks the probe is related to media reports that focused on allegations of questionable accounting and lax oversight of camp expenditures. Barnett said that he was cooperating and was "anxious for the truth to get out." The IRS probe follows a report by a Colorado grand jury that criticized how Barnett's football camps tracked money, alleging that the procedures amounted to a "slush fund" for the coaches. The grand jury convened about a year ago to delve into allegations that the CU program freely used sex and alcohol to procure potential recruits.In 2001, three women charged that they had been sexually assaulted by CU football players. Those charges quickly morphed into a series of investigations by the police, prosecutors and the grand jury.

The General Accountability Office and the Internal Revenue Service have added their own muscle to a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board proposal that would restrict the ability of accountants to provide tax services to audit clients.

E-file, direct deposit and e-payment programs are running at record paces so far this year, according to the Internal Revenue Service. Through March 25, 49 million returns were filed electronically, a 7 percent increase from last year. Overall, 64 percent of all returns were e-filed, up from 62 percent for the same period last year. While this percentage will decline as April 15 approaches, the IRS still expects to have more than half of all individual tax returns filed electronically for the first time. "This shapes up as a really strong year," said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. "Taxpayers who haven't filed yet should check into e-file and Free File." Also, record numbers of individuals are now paying their taxes with credit cards. So far this year, almost half a million taxpayers have paid their taxes with a credit card, up from 324,000 at the same time last year.