Practice Management

UNDER FSC/ETI BILL, SUV WRITE-OFFS WILL GO: 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.

The International Accounting Standards Board and the Accounting Standards Board of Japan announced that they have started talks about a joint project to minimize differences between international financial reporting standards and Japanese accounting standards.

As worldwide legislative and regulatory changes make tax risk planning a top priority, many companies are aligning their tax strategies with their organization's overall enterprise risk profile, according to a survey of corporate tax directors by Ernst & Young.

A Connecticut district judge ruled against the Internal Revenue Service and ordered the agency to refund more than $62 million to a General Electric subsidiary stemming from a transaction that the IRS said was a sham.

Regional accounting firm Rea & Associates has broadened its services with the acquisition of Columbus-based forensic accounting firm Ickert & Co.

The Internal Revenue Service is co-sponsoring a Webcast to help tax practitioners and payroll professionals prepare year-end filings.

Harper & Pearson Co., an auditing and business consulting firm based here, has merged two regional tax-consulting practices under its brand - Cabaniss, Horn & Passmore, and Kathy B. Devine Co.

More than 60 charities, churches and other tax-exempt groups have been contacted by the Internal Revenue Service about alleged improper political activities, the agency disclosed.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is reportedly under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service for violating the terms of its tax-exempt status in a probe that the group's chairman says stems from comments he made that were critical of President Bush.

The Internal Revenue Service warned consumers against bogus claims by promoters that tax debts can be settled for "pennies on the dollar" through the Offer in Compromise Program.