Practice Management

In a move aimed at reducing the paperwork burden for small businesses, the Internal Revenue Service said it would boost the number of small businesses eligible to file a simplified expense form.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers in a conference this week agreed to extend $145 billion worth of President Bush's tax cuts.

Legislation that extends soon-to-expire provisions of last year's tax cuts for families -- at a cost of about $146 billion over a 10-year period -- easily sailed through Congress late yesterday.

Outsourcing provider Xpitax has added accounting services for clients, including bookkeeping and write-up solutions, work paper conversion, and year-end accounting work and financial analysis, to its offerings.

Chicago (Sept. 21, 2004) -- KPMG LLP has sold its U.S. Corporate Recovery practice to privately held Mesirow Financial, a financial services firm based here.

Washington (Sept. 21, 2004) -- In its aggressive crackdown on credit counseling abuse, the Internal Revenue Service filed a $15 million suit against Germantown, Md.-based AmeriDebt Inc. in anticipation that the company's tax-exempt status would be overturned.

New York (Sept. 21, 2004) -- Metro New York area accounting and consulting firms Yohalem Gillman & Co. LLP and Cipolla Sziklay LLC have created a joint venture specializing in providing forensic accounting, valuation and litigation services to middle-market businesses and their attorneys.

IRS GETS TOUGH ON 527S: Having identified concerns about dozens of filings among the growing tax-exempt Section 527 political group segment, the Internal Revenue Service is moving to improve reporting and disclosure by those groups.

Finally, it appears that the Internal Revenue Service has had its say for a while on the rules governing the sale of a principal residence.

by Roger Russell