Practice Management

The Internal Revenue Service is preparing to redesign its Form 990, “Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax,” according to published reports.

The partners of Grant Thornton U.K. LLP and RSM Robson Rhodes LLP announced an agreement last week to merge the two firms.Financial terms of the deal, expected to be completed on July 1, were not disclosed. The combined firm will operate under the Grant Thornton name.

A veteran business reporter once advised me that if I really wanted to gauge the culture and future of a company I was writing on, check out their customer service department.

In recent hearings before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, both the American Institute of CPAs and the New York State Society of CPAs called for the repeal of the oft-debated alternative minimum tax.

"Boomers have both unrivaled influence and rich networks of peer advisors,” says Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist at Weber Shandwick, one of the world’s leading public relations firms.

Lacerte users want respect from their tax software vendor. And if they don’t get it soon, they’re going to look at alternatives.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has released preliminary data for the tax-filing season on returns received and processed as of March 10.

Braver PC announced that it will expand into the Providence, R.I., area thanks to a merger with Prescott Chatellier Fontaine & Wilkinson LLP.

While the percentage of employers offering health benefit has fallen over the past five years, employers, individuals and government must share responsibility for providing heath and retirement benefits while allowing companies to remain competitive in the global marketplace, according to a study from the Government Accountability Office. In the report, the GAO examined the practices that employers are using to control the costs of benefits including * the current and emerging practices employers are using to control the costs of health care benefits; * The current and emerging practices employers are using to control the costs of retirement benefits and; * Employers' workforce restructuring changes. According to the auditor general, the share of employers offering health benefits dipped due in part to an 8 percent plunge in the small business sector offering benefits. Meanwhile, despite active participation in define- benefit plans falling from 29 million in 1985 to 21 million in 2003 as employers terminated existing plans or froze benefits for active employees, active participation in defined-contribution plans rose from 33 million in 1985 to 52 million in 2003, as employers increased their offerings of these plans. The GAO said that like health and benefits coverage for active workers, an increasing share of retiree health benefits costs is being shifted to retirees, and many employers have terminated benefits for future retirees. The study pointed out that the challenges workers face in assuming greater cost, risk, and control of their health and retirement benefits make it more difficult for low-wage earners to afford health care coverage and save for retirement -- trends the investigative arm of Congress said would continue.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued for public comment draft versions of revised Form 1120-F, U.S. Income Tax Return of a Foreign Corporation, and related schedules, including Schedule M-3, new for 2007.Taxpayers with $10 million or more in total reportable assts filing Form 1120-F for tax years ending on or after Dec. 31, 2007, will be required to file Schedule M-3. Three other new schedules for Form 1120-F include: · Schedule H, Deductions Allocated to Effectively Connected Income Under Regulations Section 1.861-8; · Schedule I, Interest Expense Allocated Under Regulations Section 1.882-5; and, · Schedule P, List of Foreign Partner Interest in Partnerships. The new schedules will provide for increased disclosure of information regarding such items as allocable interest expense and home office deductions, as well as effectively and non-effectively connected income that is included in Form K-1 reported by a partnership to a foreign corporate partner and that is reportable by the partner on Form 1120-F. The new schedules also provide a consistent reporting format for all taxpayers. In addition, Schedules M-1 and M-2, previously included in Form 1120-F, are now separate forms. Schedule M-1, Reconciliation of Income (Loss) per Books with Income per Return is used by corporations with assets under $10 million. Schedule M-2, Analysis of Unappropriated Retained Earnings per Books, is used by corporations of all asset sizes. The draft form and schedules are available on www.IRS.gov, and any comments should be submitted by May 25, 2007, via e-mail to SchM3@irs.gov.