Practice Management

The Internal Revenue Service is reminding tax-exempt political organizations that filing deadlines are approaching for disclosure statements prior to the Nov. 2 election date. Information on 2004 political contributions and expenditures will be available for public inspection on the IRS Web site.Certain political organizations that are tax exempt under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code are required to file Form 8872, Report of Contributions and Expenditures. Organizations have the option of filing either monthly or quarterly.For quarterly filers, the third quarter report were due Oct. 15. Organizations filing monthly reports must submit their September information by Oct. 20. A pre-election report for both quarterly and monthly filers is due Oct. 21, or Oct. 18 if the report is sent by registered or certified mail.The October filings are the last reports that will be available to the public prior to the Nov. 2 election. A post-election report will be due on Dec. 2.

When President Bush signs the FSC/ETI bill, the days of small business owners and professionals such as doctors and lawyers expensing luxury SUVs are over.Writers of the 600-page measure closed a tax break that allowed business owners to save as much as $33,000 on the purchase of a $1000,000 vehicle, according to Tax Analysts.The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 created the break by increasing from $25,000 to $100,000 the amount that small businesses can expense in the first year for buying a vehicle weighing 6,000 pounds or more.The incentive was originally written to assist farmers and contractors to invest in larger equipment, but the floodgates opened when it was discovered that luxury SUVs also qualified.The amendment reduces the SUV deduction to $25,000, while still allowing the farmers and contractors the break.

New data suggesting that income tax noncompliance is on the rise among the Internal Revenue Service's own employees is causing some hand-wringing among members of an IRS task force formed to address the problem.

Thomson Tax & Accounting has acquired Gear Up Inc., a Vancouver, Wash. provider of training and continuing professional education for tax and accounting practitioners.

B&C Advisory Group, a diversified consortium offering CPA, financial planning and information technology consulting services, said that it has added regional management consultant Nolan Brown Partners LLC to its portfolio.

Global investment group Investcorp has signed an agreement to purchase Thomson Media for $350 million in cash.

NEW BILL WOULD PREVENT DOUBLE TAXATION OF TELECOMMUTERS: Democratic Senators Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman, both of Connecticut, have introduced a bill to prevent double taxation of taxpayers who work from home. The Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act of 2004 would prohibit states from imposing personal income tax on nonresidents for any period that the individual is not physically present in the state.

Although Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan have taken their toll on Florida this season, disaster tax relief affects most preparers at some time during their career.

As the Internal Revenue Service continues to labor to finalize Circular 230 on the requirements for tax shelter opinions and when they may be relied on, a recent court decision may have already done a significant portion of its work.

House and Senate negotiators agreed to a corporate tax bill that repeals the Foreign Sales Corporation-Extra Territorial Income Tax regime, and cuts taxes across a broad swath of businesses.