Practice and client management

While the shape of tax policy remains uncertain in some areas - at press time, Congress was considering a wide range of tax bills, including changes to the estate tax regime, and the extension of a number of tax credits and deductions, among other things - there are a few areas of certainty.

HOUSE APPROVES 45% ESTATE TAX EXTENSION

The ongoing economic downturn offers accountants the opportunity to extend their reach and help their clients at a time when they are most needed.

Attorney General Eric Holder said a newly established government task force would crack down on the kinds of financial fraud that led to the Madoff Ponzi scheme and other losses.

BizActions has introduced a Campaign Library aimed at helping accounting firms and other professional services firms with their marketing campaigns.

The Obama administration is handing out $2.3 billion in Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits for clean energy projects to provide jobs across the U.S. after announcing a disappointing employment report for December.

On the heels of the IRS’s plan to begin regulating tax preparers, the Justice Department announced that it has filed six lawsuits this week to stop preparers charged with generating fraudulent income tax returns.

The Internal Revenue Service proposals for registration, testing and continuing education of tax preparers has won praise from most stakeholders.

JHI, a global network of independent accounting, business advisory, and financial consultancy firms, is now being managed by CMA Association Management, as of Jan. 4.

A former Internal Revenue Service employee has pleaded guilty to one count of receiving a bribe.

A San Fernando tax preparer has pleaded guilty to charges that she filed false tax returns and stole her clients’ refund checks.

A UBS banking client who pleaded guilty to concealing $6.1 million in secret Swiss bank accounts has been sentenced to five years’ probation, even as the whistleblower who helped expose the UBS tax evasion scheme is set to begin a prison term Friday.

The Internal Revenue Service said new user fees now apply to exemption applications for tax-exempt organizations, ruling requests and other matters for 2010.

Publishing software provider Quark has introduced a new Web-to-print service for small businesses, including accounting practices.

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson said the IRS needs to do better than answering only 71 percent of the calls it receives from taxpayers, and it should stop filing tax liens against people who don’t have the ability to pay.

The Kansas Department of Revenue warned that it may take up to 16 weeks to process state tax returns filed on paper as the state copes with budget cuts.

H&R Block has agreed to repay between $11.4 million and $19.4 million to settle a lawsuit brought by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo over the tax prep chain’s marketing of high-fee individual retirement accounts to customers.

Registration, testing and continuing education are at the core of the requirements proposed by the Internal Revenue Service in response to calls for greater oversight of paid tax preparers.

Jackson Hewitt has signed an amended agreement with Republic Bank & Trust to act as a partner for refund anticipation loans after the tax prep chain’s previous partner, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, was forced to stop providing RALs.

The Internal Revenue Service has expanded the time window to 120 days during which it may share a taxpayer’s tax return information with third parties, based upon a taxpayer’s written disclosure authorization.