The Internal Revenue Service may not reach the 80 percent e-filing goal for the 2007 fiscal year set by Congress in 1998, but it continues to advance with the help of improved technology, wider perception of its benefits, and both state and federal mandates for taxpayers and preparers.Last year, more than 73 million tax returns were filed electronically - nearly 54 percent of all tax returns - while the Free File Alliance, a partnership between the IRS and software vendors, continues to help drive taxpayers toward e-filing, serving about 4 million individuals last year. This year, the program has been expanded, with 70 percent of taxpayers - those with an adjusted gross income of $52,000 or less - now eligible.

The odds are looking better for Senate approval of legislation to increase the minimum wage, but reconciling that bill with a House version - which contains no tax breaks for businesses - figures to take some negotiating.Senate debate on the bill ended in late January with an 87-10 vote, and final Senate passage of the bill was expected in early February.

The Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board said that the agency still has a ways to go before fully reaching the vision outlined in the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. The board's "foremost concern" remains the tax gap - estimated at $290 billion, according to 2001 tax returns.In 2006, the board examined a variety of recommendations to reduce the gap, finally concluding that there was no one "silver bullet" that will solve the problem. According to the board, reducing the tax gap requires a comprehensive set of strategies balancing prevention and correction - similar to the recommendations suggested by other groups. Among the board's recommendations are a simpler tax code, more complete information reporting to more IRS audit and collection personnel, and quality customer service. The IRS must also address information technology modernization and human capital challenges as it continues to modernize itself.

The recent decision by the Financial Accounting Standards Board not to defer the effective date of FASB Interpretation No. 48, despite appeals from companies and industry groups to postpone its implementation, spotlights the radical changes in approach required of financial-statement preparers, auditors and tax advisors.FIN 48, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, is effective for fiscal years beginning after Dec. 15, 2006. It establishes a "more-likely-than-not" threshold for the reporting of uncertain tax positions on financial statements. Under the rule, an uncertain tax position may not be recognized unless it is more likely than not that it will be sustained on its technical merits, and there is a more than 50 percent likelihood that it would be sustained if it were challenged and considered by the highest court in the particular jurisdiction.

The Internal Revenue Service has released a fact sheet explaining the 2006 alternative motor vehicle credit allowed for the 44 automobiles certified as eligible.The credit, enacted under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, provides up to $3,150 for taxpayers who purchased qualified vehicles and placed them in service during 2006.

There’s an old joke that no doubt circulates through the Trial Lawyers Association, and it goes something like this:

The European Union's 2007 agenda encompasses a range of activities aimed at achieving cohesion in accounting, auditing and finance, with taxation in particular receiving as much attention as anything else, as the focus of a number of planned efforts.For instance, the European Commission's work program cited the ongoing issue of sales tax, where examples of massive fraud have been building to a head. By March, the commission is anticipating the results of two studies: one on reducing rates, and the other dealing with how to tackle fraud.

Investment research firm Morningstar Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire Standard and Poor’s mutual fund data business for $55 million in cash.

Vitale Caturano & Co. is facing a malpractice lawsuit for allegedly failing to properly investigate a number of red flags that could have tipped a prominent New England family off to the looting of some $57 million from its trust funds.The Ayer Family Trusts holds several hundred million dollars for about 100 descendents of industrialist Frederick Ayer. Those trusts are managed under the Tenens Corp. (which does business as Essex Street Associates), and had been largely overseen by the corporation’s former chief operating office, and an employee of more than 30 years, John Doorly.

For most of my life, I have been a fairly liberal, loose-swinging person. I generally went against the mainstream and was comfortable seeking my own level and being relatively nonconformist. It served me quite well career wise.

Raymond James Financial will pay $2.75 million to a brokerage firm regulator for poor supervision of its more than 1,100 branch managers who manage their own offices.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department announced that they will work on creating detailed LIFO guidance for automobile wholesalers, manufacturers and dealers.The accounting issue confronting the automobile industry -- which involves the proper treatment of the dollar-value, last-in, first out inventory method for pooling purposes of “crossover vehicles,” which have characteristics of both trucks and cars -- was selected for the Industry Issue Resolution Program, which provides guidance to help clarify complex tax issues

Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2007, a stripped-down version of the company’s Accounting Professional 2007 software, was downloaded more than one million times in its first three months as a free application.Targeting companies with 25 employees or less, Microsoft released the stripped-down version of its software last October in its latest attempt to become a player in the accounting software space -- targeting businesses that are late adopters and rely on pencil and paper, or Excel, for their bookkeeping needs.

Not even a year after pledging to stand by the side of its Japanese affiliate, PricewaterhouseCoopers announced that the doors to its Misuzu Audit Corp. firm would close, after revelations of the unit’s ties to a second scandal surfaced.

The International Accounting Standards Board has published an exposure draft of a slimmed-down handbook outlining its international financial reporting standard for small and midsized companies.

The Connecticut Society of CPAs is very, very good at disseminating specific financial planning and tax tips not only to CPAs but also to the general public. Some of those recently caught my eye as being particularly easy to understand and right to the point.The society sent out a notice on its Web site about how the public could get their money matters in order after popping champagne corks, tossing confetti, and making New Year’s resolutions.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a standard providing companies with an option to report selected financial assets and liabilities at fair value.

The Internal Revenue Service announced the selection of 16 new members for its advisory council. The appointees will join 11 returning members who are in the last year of a three-year term.The council members are scheduled to meet in Washington, D.C. several times in 2007, with a public report to be provided during a meeting open to the public on Nov. 15.

Retirement is the No. 1 personal financial planning concern, regardless of age, according to an informal survey at the American Institute of CPAs’ 2007 Personal Financial Planning Conference.The AICPA said that it was a surprised to see that retirement planning is a major concern for career builders -- classified as those between the ages of 25 and 34 -- who also have the seemingly more immediate pressures of education, home buying and debt management following close behind.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a roundtable discussion next month concerning a plan to eventually allow companies based outside the United States to file financial results in the country using international accounting standards.Slated for March 6 in Washington, senior SEC staff members from the Office of the Chief Accountant, the Division of Corporation Finance and the Office of International Affairs will all participate. The roundtable will be open to the public and will focus on the effect such a change would have on U.S. companies and investors, as well as on U.S. capital raising and the capital markets.