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With the Tax Code constantly in a state of flux with new tax laws, not to mention delayed effective dates on tax provisions, sunsetting provisions, and phase-ins and phase-outs, every year offers some new wrinkles for tax professionals to worry about.The 2007 tax year is no exception.

DELOITTE DECLINES ATARI RE-ELECTIONBig Four firm Deloitte declined to stand for re-election as auditor to video game manufacturer Atari Inc. A regulatory filing did not give a reason for the decision. New York-based Atari said that its audit committee had received several proposals from other accounting firms. At press time a successor had not been named.

Big changes are coming for financial statements, if the Financial Accounting Standards Board's recent discussion with its advisory board is any indication.This spring, at a meeting of its Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, the board and staff discussed their working ideas on what statements could and should look like in the future if they are going to be useful. The discussion took place in the context of the board's joint project with the International Accounting Standards Board on financial statement presentation. It was held in anticipation of releasing a preliminary views document sometime this fall.

In order to be a member of the Philanthropic Advisors Network, I pay my dues to the National Committee on Planned Giving.Accountants reading this article may also be members of this group, which provides both educational programming and ethical standards for those who work in this field. Those who belong to the NCPG know that one of its major themes is "Leave a Legacy."

INVESTORS OPPOSE SOX REFORMTwo thirds of investors would be concerned about any easing of Sarbanes-Oxley rules, according to a national survey by the Center for Audit Quality, released in conjunction with the five-year anniversary of the legislation.

You might think that five years after a bill was passed, figuring out how to comply with it would be pretty much cut-and-dried. That's simply not the case with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.While there is a good understanding of the kinds of excesses and vulnerabilities that its major sections are supposed to prevent, exactly how to go about implementing compliance procedures - and to what extent different-sized companies are responsible for compliance - is still very much up in the air.

COUGAR MOUNTAIN UPDATES LINEUPCougar Mountain Software released Version 12 of its CMS Professional Accounting, Fund and Point of Sale products.

SOFTWARE & SERVICESWHERE THEIR MOUTH IS

CALIFORNIABianchi, Lorincz, Huey, Hudson & Co. LLP and Kasavan & Pope LLP have joined to form Bianchi, Kasavan & Pope LLP, Monterey, Salinas, Hollister and Morgan Hill. ... JGD & Associates, San Diego, received the Excellence in the Workplace Award at the San Diego Small Business Awards.

As many of you may have surmised by now, my politics more often than not lean a bit toward the right.