Practice management

A bill providing $12 billion in tax breaks and a $30 billion lending fund for small businesses passed a key hurdle in the Senate on Tuesday when two Republican lawmakers voted to join Democrats to cut off debate.

The Senate was unable to produce enough votes to end debate on two amendments that would have repealed or scaled back the expanded 1099 reporting requirements for businesses in the health care reform bill.

IMGCAP(1)]Today, businesses face an increasingly daunting range of challenges, most of which are exacerbating the high cost of operation.

A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., said Senate Republicans are uniformly opposed to letting the Bush tax cuts expire for even the wealthiest taxpayers.

The former CEO of the Quellos Group investment firm and its tax attorney pleaded guilty to running an offshore tax shelter scam involving more than $9.6 billion in phony stock sales.

The question, "What happens if the Bush tax cuts sunset?" may seem a little silly at first.

I've suffered through a string of disasters over the past year: My softball team is having another winless season. The local Vinny T's shut down. My 16-year-old old son just got his learner's permit. And, of course, Shrek 4. This year's been tough.

One undeniable truth is that public relations and CPA firms make a good team. Unfortunately, PR doesn’t always get the credit it deserves and can largely go ignored by tax and accounting professionals. The general perception is that PR doesn’t benefit firms — at least in a measurable way (i.e., ROI). As such, it’s labeled as a “nice to have,â€� rather than a “need to have.â€�

The title of this article is the tagline of our firm. It's a constant reminder of the purpose behind our industry and our firm. The numbers we deal with every day are outcomes of relationships, processes and knowledge.

IRS TO CHECK MORE FOR ACCURACY-RELATED PENALTIES

The reality of the recession has affected the tax policies of nearly every state, as dwindling receipts coupled with constant or increased expenses have left most states in a budgetary crisis mode.

Although the pundits have already weighed in on theeconomic effects of the administration's latest proposals at improving jobs andinvestment, the specific legislation to enact the proposals faces hurdles,which will diminish the likelihood of an effect any time soon.

The Internal Revenue Service needs to improve itscapabilities to identify taxpayers who must repay tax credits for homes theypurchased under the First-Time Homebuyer Credit program, according to a newaudit report released by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

Investor confidence in the U.S.capital markets declined slightly, but fell even more sharply for marketsoutside the U.S., according to a new survey by the Center for Audit Quality.

The Internal Revenue Service has helmed a new video series, “Your Guide to an IRS Audit,” which follows three hypothetical small business taxpayers step-by-step through the audit process.

President Obama is proposing to expand and simplify the permanent research and experimentation tax credit, increasing the rate of the simpler form of the credit 17 percent to simplify the process for businesses.

President Obama has not yet formally unveiled his plans for stirring up the sleeping job market through business tax breaks and infrastructure spending, but his ideas are already provoking skepticism.

The Internal Revenue Service has released a draft version of the form that small businesses and tax-exempt organizations will use to calculate the small-business health care tax credit when they file tax returns next year.

The National Society of Accountants has written to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the Internal Revenue Service urging them not to agree to calls by the American Institute of CPAs to exempt non-signing preparers at CPA firms from the IRS’s new tax preparer registration requirements.

The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division is reportedly examining the books of the former Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, which lost its affiliation with the national Planned Parenthood last Friday amid questions about the group’s financial administration.