Practice Management

When I was child and invited to a birthday party, I almost always left with a bag of goodies, usually candy, maybe a lollipop, some chocolate bars, sour balls, and probably a piece of licorice.

The Platt Consulting Group, operated by principals Michael and Kelly Platt, founders of online news portal AccountingWeb, have acquired monthly newsletter Inside Public Accounting from Atlanta-based publisher Hudson Sawyer.Terms were not disclosed.

In consideration of the continuing impact of Hurricane Katrina, the Internal Revenue Service has further postponed filing and payment requirements for businesses until Oct. 16, 2006, which is the same deadline established earlier for certain individual income tax return filers.The postponement now applies to individual, corporation, partnership, estate, trust, S corporation, generation-skipping, employment and certain excise tax returns with original or extended due dates that fall on or after Aug. 29, 2005, but before Oct. 16, 2006.

Larry R. Levitan, a longtime partner at Andersen Consulting and the inaugural chairman of the Internal Revenue Service's Oversight Board, died at his home here after a battle with cancer. He was 65.After his graduation from college, Levitan spent the ensuing 34 years with Andersen Consulting and consulted on telecommunications and utilities issues.

The Internal Revenue Service announced that a draft of Form 8888, "Direct Deposit of Refund," a new form for taxpayers who opt to split their refunds among accounts, is now available for public comment.

By now, readers of this space are well aware of my skepticism about the efficiency of any program that is government-run. No matter how well-intentioned, they never turn out quite the way they're presented to those charged with initial approval.

The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel has sent the Internal Revenue Service recommendations for easing taxpayer burdens in five areas.

After spending most of 2006 talking to users and revamping its QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program, Intuit is looking to add another 15,000 accountants and small business consultants to the program over the course of the next year.

The trio of private debt collection agencies the Internal Revenue Service selected for a pilot program will soon be able to come knocking.

Boston-area firm Braver PC announced the acquisition of the practice of CPA Scott A. Kanter, formerly of Brown & Brown LLP.