Practice Management

A partner in the Washington office of law firm Venable LLP since 2003, Sam Olchyk provides general tax advice for businesses and individuals, as well as tackling federal tax issues that require representation before Congress, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service.Prior to joining the firm, Olchyk spent eight years as a tax attorney for Congress -- first as tax counsel with the Senate Finance Committee, and then as legislation counsel with the Joint Committee on Taxation, where his main responsibility was helping with the development of tax legislation affecting domestic business activity. During his time on Capitol Hill, Olchyk, who is also a CPA, worked on numerous proposals that were enacted into law, including pieces of the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002, the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000. In 2001, he worked on a joint committee study regarding the simplification of the federal tax laws.

Home mortgage giant Fannie Mae announced that it will reduce its earnings by $6.3 billion to correct accounting problems dating back to 2001.

Philadelphia’s H.R. Margolis Co. and Washington-area Becker & Co. PC announced that they will merge to form MargolisBecker.

Mayer Hoffman McCann had expanded its presence again in Maryland, with the acquisition of the 14-employee Riggleman Smyth Accounting Services LLC.Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, though Riggleman Smyth’s partners were admitted as shareholders in Mayer Hoffman.

Responding to criticism from Congress and taxpayer advocates, the Internal Revenue Service announced that for the upcoming tax-filing season, private sector partners in its Free File program will remove ancillary offerings -- such as refund anticipation loans -- made to taxpayers in the course of participating in the program.“We heard many legitimate concerns about the marketing of ancillary products during the last filing season,” said IRS Commissioner Mark Everson, in a statement. “This is a constructive step.”

The California Franchise Tax Board has voted unanimously to permanently offer a program allowing some low-income residents to file government-prepared tax returns, despite opposition from tax preparation software companies.

Accounting firm Cannon Wright Blount PLLC has purchased the Poulin Group PC, its second acquisition in less than four months.

The Internal Revenue Service has allocated nearly $1 billion of tax credits to nine planned clean coal projects.The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized the tax credits, and, working within a number of set parameters, the IRS consulted with the Department of Energy to allocate the credit to specific projects.

The Internal Revenue Service announced new guidelines for taxpayers to follow in order to substantiate donations to charities that were made via payroll deduction.

In a grab for its share of the exploding Web-based banking market, QuickBooks parent Intuit Inc. agreed to acquire online banking services provider Digital Insight Inc. for $1.35 billion via a combination of cash and debt.Under the terms of the deal, which is expected to close during the first quarter of 2007, Intuit will tender $39 in cash for each share of Calabasas, Calif.-based Digital Insight -- roughly 18 percent over the company’s closing share price of $33 prior to the announcement. Intuit will also assume about $1 billion in debt financing.