Practice and client management

I recently had the interesting task of facilitating a group discussion on the topic of mentoring programs among representatives of CPA firms throughout the U.S. The participants were members of the Human Resources Practice Group of BKR International, an association that has more than 150 independent accounting and business advisory firms worldwide.

Former Jenkens & Gilchrist lawyer Donna Guerin was sentenced to eight years in prison and ordered to pay $190 million for her role in what the U.S. called the largest criminal tax fraud in history.

The Internal Revenue Service said Monday that its systems are operational for all remaining individual and business tax returns.

Ernst & Young LLP has agreed to pay $123 million to resolve a federal tax shelter investigation while admitting wrongful conduct by certain E&Y partners and employees.

President Obama said that he hoped to work with members of both parties in Congress to stop the damaging impact of the $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that officially began on Friday.

The Internal Revenue Service today announced that interest rates will stay the same for the quarter beginning Apr. 1, 2013.

The Internal Revenue Service has postponed until Oct. 15, 2013, the deadline to make an election to deduct losses for the preceding taxable year from Hurricane Sandy.

A new study has examined how buyers and clients go about selecting a professional services firm, including accounting and financial services firms.

In the Internal Revenue Service's continuing efforts to close the tax gap by ferreting out overseas income of U.S. citizens and residents, the IRS recently rolled out further guidance on the requirements of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.

In our last issue, we explored why it's better for accounting firms not to go online at all than to do it without a serious commitment; discussed how they should integrate all of their efforts; and offered some tips on tweeting. in this follow-up, we'll look at blogging, and protecting your firm's reputation online.

Highlights from the world of tax in the previous month

A former IRS commissioner examines the prospects for change

New memberships, Decosimo Corporate Finance expands its sell-side advisory practice and more…

The number one concern of leading business tax executives for the year ahead is that in light of the current political and fiscal environment, Congress will enact revenue offsets to fund other legislative initiatives rather than make the U.S. tax system more competitive.

The budget sequester in Washington, D.C., could prompt furloughs of up to a week for Internal Revenue Service employees starting this summer if Congress is unable to reach a deal to avert the automatic spending cuts that are scheduled to begin on Friday.

A New Jersey tax preparer has pleaded guilty to willfully preparing false tax returns for his clients to secure larger tax refunds.

The Internal Revenue Service’s risk assessment process does not provide a reliable assessment of the risk of the improper payments in the IRS’s revenue funds, according to a new report.

The Internal Revenue Service said Thursday it was expanding its Voluntary Classification Settlement Program to enable more businesses to reclassify their workers as employees, as opposed to independent contractors, for future tax periods, offering them relief from their past payroll tax obligations.

The Senate has confirmed Jacob Lew as the next Secretary of the Treasury, succeeding Timothy Geithner.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to allow more of the remaining tax forms that have not been available for electronic filing yet this tax season to go through during the first week of March.