Practice and client management

Marketing professionals are fond of telling clients to look to the logo and beyond when it comes to branding. But for many CPA firms, the economic downturn had managing partners' eyes trained on only one line - and it wasn't underlining a focus-group-tested font.

The Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011, which passed Congress on April 5, 2011, eliminates two recently enacted 1099 reporting requirements that were to take effect in 2012. Still on the books, however, are a couple of new 1099 reporting requirements effective for 2011.

Many CPA and accounting firms have taken the leap into the world of Web site marketing through search engine optimization. Though the mechanics of the optimization process have been well-documented across several print and online publications, there has been little discussion about the business-development process for Web site-generated leads, which do differ from the more standard lead.

SHULMAN PROPOSES TAX TECHNOLOGY OVERHAUL

As trusted advisors, accountants and auditors guide clients regarding various financial reporting, tax and management matters. A currently contemplated tax policy change may provide an ideal opportunity for advising clients.

The Texas Society of CPAs has issued an analysis of the Obama administration’s call for eliminating special tax breaks for domestic oil and gas production and come out firmly against any repeal.

The Internal Revenue Service has selected Prometric Inc. as the vendor to administer a new competency examination and fingerprinting program for certain paid tax return preparers.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner blamed a “broken” tax system as one of the chief causes of the U.S. budget deficit.

It’s good that tax reform is high on the political agenda these days.

The Tax Code provides substantial benefits for families with children, including up to $9,000 for a single parent with two children, according to a new study.

Two Republican congressional leaders have written to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman demanding information on how the IRS is spending $1 billion in funds the agency received under the health care reform law.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., released a plan Thursday to write legislation that would end billions of dollars in tax breaks for large multinational oil and gas companies.

Corporate tax departments and high-ranking executives are doing a better job of communicating, according to a new survey BY Ernst & Young.

A Bronx tax preparer who called himself “Moses” pleaded guilty to preparing false tax returns.

President Obama has written to congressional leaders encouraging them to eliminate special tax breaks for the oil and gas industry.

The American Institute of CPAs said Wednesday that it is expanding the registration and exam options for its specialty credentials, providing CPAs with more flexibility and opportunity to pursue designations that help differentiate them in the market.

Nearly 1,200 Electronic Filing Identification Numbers were reported to the Internal Revenue Service as compromised over a five-year period, allowing an individual to electronically submit a federal income tax return using another individual’s EFIN without that person's knowledge, according to a new report.

A Florida CPA who pled guilty to a tax misdemeanor for assisting his client, a self-proclaimed priest, in hiding income from the IRS, has had his suspension from practice extended after the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility won an appeal challenging the original length and date of suspension.

taxes, irs, tax fraud, wire fraud, morgan stanley dean witter, money laundering, embezzlement

A dozen hospital and health care organizations have written to the Internal Revenue Service expressing concerns with recent revisions in the Form 990 Schedule H.