Practice Management

The Internal Revenue Service said that economic stimulus payments directly deposited to individual retirement accounts and other tax-favored accounts may be withdrawn tax- and penalty-free.The relief is designed to help taxpayers who may have been unaware that by choosing direct deposit for their entire regular tax refund, they were also choosing to have their stimulus payment directly deposited as well. The tax relief is available for amounts withdrawn from tax-favored accounts that are less than or equal to a taxpayer’s directly deposited stimulus payment.

Yes, we have a human capital dilemma. Yes, the next biggest concern for CPA firms is succession planning. As you consider these issues, which of the following statements most closely matches your beliefs about your firm’s succession?* My firm does not have enough quality players on the bench to ensure success in the future.

The number of tax evasion prosecutions fell 5.3 percent last year, continuing a steady decline for at least two decades, according to a new study.

The Internal Revenue Service won another tax shelter case, this one involving a sale-in/lease-out transaction.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a former Ernst & Young partner, an investment banker and her father with insider trading involving information about potential M&A transactions.

The Internal Revenue Service reported that its e-file program set another record this tax season, with more than 86 million individual tax returns filed so far this year, a 12 percent increase over last year at this time.

CPA firm Marcum & Kliegman is expanding from New York to New Jersey by merging with RosenfarbWinters, a specialist in forensic accounting.

The National Conference of CPA Practitioners held a quarterly meeting in Washington to meet with various senators and representatives as well as the Internal Revenue Service, and talk about tax policy.

The Internal Revenue Service's Spring 2008 Statistics of Income Bulletin is a bit of misnomer as it mainly covers income stats for 2006 and 2005, but the report does provide some interesting insights into income patterns and sources in recent years.

Under new regulations, taxpayers must consent to the disclosure or use of their tax information by return preparers. Stiff penalties can be imposed on the preparer who makes unauthorized disclosures.