Practice Management

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new tax form for employees who have been misclassified as independent contractors.

Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, and 2008 presidential hopeful, is hoping to gain the support of tax-reform advocates by promoting the Fair Tax, which abolishes the Internal Revenue Service as well as all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes, and replaces them with a single federal retail sales tax.

Spurred by revenue increases in its payroll and human resources units, payroll and benefits outsourcing provider Paychex Inc. posted an 11 percent rise in second quarter profits, to $147.1 million for the period ended Nov. 30.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued an updated version of Form 990, which charities are required to file annually to retain their tax-exempt status, and is giving small tax-exempt organizations time to adjust.

Tracy Crevar Warren has built a successful consulting business as president and CEO of the Crevar Group, which provides growth consulting, training and coaching for accounting and other professional services firms.

Due to an error, an Industry Leader Q&A this week was mistakenly attributed to Gale Crosley, a principal at Crosley & Co. The comments in that Q&A were not made by her and do not represent her views. The comments were, in fact, those of Tracy Crevar Warren, president and CEO of the Crevar Group. We regret the error.

Financial Executives International, a 15,000-member trade group headquartered here, has compiled what it considers to be the top financial challenges for 2008.

The House has again passed the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, an effort to help people whose homes have been foreclosed by canceling taxes on any mortgage debt they have been forgiven.

The House approved an amended version of a bill that delivers tax relief to members of the armed services, in addition to emergency volunteers.

The House has passed a fix for the alternative minimum tax, voting 352-64 to keep up to 23 million taxpayers from falling prey to the AMT.