Practice and client management

The Internal Revenue Service has released statistics indicating a drop-off in both the number of tax returns filed for 2008, and the amount of income, showing the effects of the recession.

Accounting firm Clayton & McKervey has opened a Chinese Web site to attract Chinese businesses expanding to the United States.

Freed Maxick & Battaglia has hired PR strategist and communications professional Emily Alexandria Burns as the firm’s e-marketing and communications specialist.

BizActions, a company that provides customized e-mail newsletters that CPAs can send to their clients, has introduced Dashboard 2.0, the latest version of its desktop application that displays organized, up-to-date information about clients’ newsletter readership.

The Internal Revenue Service has temporarily suspended the requirement to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts for the 2009 and earlier calendar years, for people who are not U.S. citizens, residents or domestic entities.

The Justice Department has asked a federal court to stop two Miami-based tax return preparers from improperly claiming the First-Time Home Buyer Credit.

Inmates at a county prison just outside Key West, Fla., received up to $100,000 from the IRS after filing for over $1 million in fraudulent tax refunds.

The Senate’s latest stimulus effort, a “jobs bill” named the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, passed this week with a 70 to 28 margin.

ConvergenceCoaching has brought on Jack G. Lee III as a new partner in the CPA firm leadership and marketing coaching group.

Schutte & Hilgendorf has expanded its audit practice to include governmental auditing and accounting services.

Liberty Tax Service has reported a 10.2 percent increase in the total number of tax returns filed as of Feb. 15, 2010, and a 28.1 percent increase in revenue generated, a marked contrast with rival H&R Block.

Accounting Today has announced its first annual Growth & Profitability Summit, to be held Nov. 17-18 at the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel in Las Vegas.

The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing to discuss trade and tax issues relating to small business job creation.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Judd Gregg, R-N.H., have introduced legislation to eliminate many of the exemptions, deductions, credits and other tax breaks in the Tax Code.

Lacking Congress’ ability to address problems with deficit spending, financially squeezed state legislatures across the country are considering desperate tax increases that would have been politically unthinkable just a few years ago.

H&R Block blamed the recession for a drop-off in tax filings so far this season.

The Senate approved a job creation bill Wednesday after 13 Republicans agreed to vote for the measure, which includes tax breaks for businesses that hire or retain employees.

The Senate voted to consider a $15 billion job creation bill after five Republican senators agreed to overcome a filibuster on the measure, which would provide tax breaks to companies that hire and retain employees.

IMGCAP(1)]Accountants are suddenly starting to show some interest in the phenomenon that is social media, much to the excitement of their marketing personnel. But there is still a lot of confusion about this new medium, and objections abound. Here are a few of the most common complaints and how to answer them.

One of the daughters of the pilot who crashed his plane into an IRS facility in Austin, Texas, killing an IRS employee and injuring 12 others, said she hoped his actions would send a message to the government.