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The Accounting and Finance Employee Confidence Index, a measure of overall confidence among accounting and finance workers in the U.S., dropped 1.7 points, to 62.9, in the first quarter of 2007, according to a recent survey commissioned by Spherion Corp.

The Internal Revenue Service announced that while the phase-out of the tax credit for Toyota and Lexus hybrids continues, General Motors Corp. and Nissan hybrids still qualify for the full credit.

Go ahead, say it: Forensic accounting is sexy. At least, that's how those in the field describe this fast-growing niche that incorporates investigation and auditing expertise to provide analysis in a judicial setting."I see more general service firms saying on their Web sites, 'We do forensic accounting,'" said Howard Silverstone, CPA, FCA, CFE and co-founder of Forensic Resolutions Inc., based in Haddonfield, N.J. "Part of it I think it's because it's sexy, and part of it is because they realize there's a legitimate market for it and people really understand it enough now that they are going to be looking for people like us."

Practitioners considering making an offer in compromise to the Internal Revenue Service on behalf of a client are faced with significant changes to the program. While negotiating an OIC has not been an option for most taxpayers, the changes in several key features mean that it will no longer be a feasible option for some.Topping those new OIC guidelines is a rule in which taxpayers filing a lump-sum offer must pay a non-refundable deposit of 20 percent of the offer amount with the application.

In the New Products section of the March 19-April 1, 2007, issue (page 28), the Web address for TBRC Cost Recovery's phone tax refund calculator was incomplete. The full URL is www.phonetaxrefundcalculator.com.

Would you give investment or insurance advice to a client without knowing their tax situation?

JACKSON HEWITT FRANCHISES SUED

Those who have suffered through this column for the past six-and-a-half years are probably by now well aware of my disdain for frivolous lawsuits.

I refer to my "Google's SOS to the SEC: The modern corporation and private property in the Third Millennium" (Jan. 29-Feb. 11, 2007, page 6). Google's recent filing of its annual report Form 10-K for 2006 permits me to update the chart that accompanied that article and was captioned, "Searching for tax savings: An overview of Google's tax accounting labyrinth for its stock compensation programs," so as to reflect the data for the entire year 2006, as well as for the fourth quarter. (The updated chart appears on page 8.)

Efforts to rid the European Union of the massive confusion caused by having its enterprises dealing with 27 different corporate tax systems could now come into effect as early as 2010.