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The Senate Finance Committee has released an energy tax package addressing advanced electricity infrastructure, domestic fuel security, advanced technology vehicles, and conservation and energy efficiency. The committee is scheduled to consider the bill on Tuesday, June 19.Among its provisions, the bill authorizes $750 million in each of calendar years 2008 and 2009 for clean renewable energy bonds; creates a new category of tax credit bonds for advanced coal facilities; and extends the 30 percent investment tax credit for solar and fuel cells, and the 10 percent credit for microturbines for two years. It expands the investment tax credit for clean coal facilities. The bill also extends for two years and modifies the personal tax credit for residential solar electric, solar water heating, and fuel cell property. The modification raises the cap on the credit for solar electric property to $4,000. "This bill reflects energy needs in the 21st Century," said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member of the Finance Committee. "People need tax certainty to invest in infrastructure and keep production moving. Production has to meet demand, and alternative energy has never been in such demand."

From Boston to Beijing, the accounting profession may soon have a new type of financial statement - one without net profit at the bottom line, with finance information separated from operations, tax information off to the side and cash flow reported separately.

The tax gap - the difference between the amount that taxpayers pay voluntarily and on time and what they should pay - continues to generate congressional hearings and legislative proposals. The most recent data from 46,000 returns examined under the National Research Program show a net gap of $290 billion for the year 2001.

The Treasury Department has created a committee to study problems in the accounting profession - and in something of an unexpected move, former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Arthur Levitt was selected to lead the effort, along with former SEC chief accountant Donald Nicolaisen.

Valuation for financial reporting has long befuddled accounting professionals. Differences among industrial sectors often lead to inconsistencies, and recent new requirements for fair-value reporting have made the process even more confusing.

Do consumers really understand what a fiduciary standards means in the financial services industry? And, perhaps more importantly, do they even care? A new survey from the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) was unveiled recently at its annual convention in Chicago and it certainly answers those two questions.

Thomson Tax & Accounting has acquired the Employee Benefits Institute of America Inc., an Edmonds, Wash.-based provider of benefits research and guidance to corporations and advisory firms.

Taxpayers have an additional two days this year, until July 2, 2007, to file the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, Form TD F 90-22.1, according to the Internal Revenue Service.The deadline for FBAR forms is June 30, 2007. But because June 30 falls on a Saturday, the IRS is allowing taxpayers to file by July 2. FBAR information returns for the 2006 calendar year must be filed with the U.S. Department of Treasury, P.O. Box 32621, Detroit, Mich., 48232-0621. The address for commercial delivery is: U.S. Department of Treasury, Currency Transaction Reporting, 985 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, Mich., 48226. The FBAR form is not available for electronic filing, but many income tax software packages can prepare a printed copy. FBAR forms are also available on the IRS Web site or FinCEN Web site, and from the IRS via telephone at (800)-829-3676. The FBAR form is required for each U.S. person who has a financial interest in, or signature authority or other authority, over any financial accounts, including bank, securities or other types of financial accounts, in a foreign country, if the aggregate value of these financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.

Accounting and business software vendor Intuit Inc. announced that users would soon be able to run its QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions mid-market accounting software on servers running the Linux open-source. The new, free Linux Database Server Manager application will allow QuickBooks Enterprise to operate on Linux servers. Previously, companies running on Linux had to have a separate Windows server to house the QBE database. "IT professionals are an integral part of a mid-market business' success, and have shown real enthusiasm for working on the Linux platform," said Angus Thomson, vice president and general manger of Intuit's Mid-Market Group. According to technology researcher IDC, Linux servers now represent 12.7 percent of all server revenue.

Nonprofit software provider AccuFund Inc. has unveiled AccuFund Hosted, an online version of its AccuFund Accounting Suite. AccuFund said set-up, training and support for its new hosted product would be provided by local resellers. Pricing is available on a quarterly or monthly basis with a one-year commitment. Pricing on a monthly basis is only $289.80 for one user, which includes all modules and phone support. The company said that customers have the option of putting 15 percent of their payments for AccuFund Hosted towards a later purchase of the AccuFund Accounting Suite software system.