Tax planning

Steinway Replaces Deloitte with UHY

Racing to find political common ground on estate tax policy before the Bush administration tax cuts expire, congressional leaders are urging Republicans and Democrats to “think outside the box” when considering reforms.Among the alternatives placed on the table for discussion during recent Senate Finance Committee hearings: proposals to tax the beneficiaries of inheritances, rather than estates, as well as options under which estate taxes would be levied based on the heir’s “access to sophisticated tax advice.”

Two bills proposed in the Senate last year that take aim at tax havens and the U.S. taxpayers that operate in them have been given greater impetus by the recent European and U.S. probes into accounts in Liechtenstein that were alleged to hide assets from national taxing authorities.S. 396, introduced by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., would prevent American companies from deferring the imposition of a second layer of tax on their foreign-source income if they operate in selected low-tax nations. It would amend the Internal Revenue Code to treat certain controlled foreign corporations created or organized under the laws of a tax-haven country as domestic corporations for tax purposes. It sets forth a list of “tax-haven” countries, and grants the Treasury authority to remove or add a country from the list.

Despite a recently issued safe harbor now available for like-kind exchanges of vacation properties, the Internal Revenue Service continues to keep taxpayers guessing on the precise boundaries of the law itself.Last September, the Government Accountability Office came out with a critical report on like-kind exchanges in which it complained that the IRS needed to give taxpayers more guidance on like-kind exchanges of second homes and vacation retreats. The GAO claimed that the IRS had agreed with its findings and had promised to release more specific guidance. The latest IRS response seems to fall short of that commitment.

The Internal Revenue Service should be doing more to combat employment-related and tax-fraud identity theft, according to a new report released in conjunction with a congressional hearing.

California accounting firm Macias Gini & O'Connell has acquired Moreland & Associates, expanding its Sacramento base to Newport Beach and San Marcos.

The American Institute of CPAs submitted written testimony to Congress for a hearing by the House Small Business Committee on modernizing the Tax Code for small businesses. The House Small Business Committee issued a report containing seven recommendations for improving the Tax Code in conjunction with the hearings. The recommendations included simplifying the home office deduction, updating the equipment deduction limits and record-keeping requirements, adjusting the business automobile depreciation limits and shortening depreciation schedules.

Accounting Today's eagerly anticipated Top 100 Firms report ranks the largest U.S. Accounting firms by revenue, offering both a wealth of statistical data and insightful analysis of what makes the best firms tick, as well as their plans for the future. This annual ranking includes a breakout of the biggest tax firms, and takes an in-depth look at what strategies the Top 100 are using to recruit and retain qualified staff in the current environment.

The House Ways and Means Committee has approved a bill that would equalize the disclosure standards of tax preparers and their clients.

The Maryland Senate passed a CPA mobility bill by a unanimous 47-0 vote about an hour before midnight on the final day of the Maryland General Assembly's 2008 session.

California pet sellers, beware. The state's Board of Equalization plans to send letters to pet associations and pet-and-feed stores to tell them that sales of dogs, cats and other animals are taxable.

Less than a week to go before April 15, and it's almost time to take a well-deserved rest after a long tax season.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has introduced a bill to help struggling homeowners with a refundable tax credit, even as a bipartisan Senate bill faced a threatened veto from the Bush administration.

The Senate passed an amendment to the compromise housing bill that will allow money-losing businesses to elect to use accumulated alternative minimum tax credits and research and development credits early.

The Internal Revenue Service has been getting an average of more than 50,000 extra phone calls per day as a result of questions about the economic stimulus payment, and has received 379,000 tax returns from individuals filing solely to receive the stimulus payment.

The Internal Revenue Service said it would open many of its offices for another Saturday to help taxpayers who don't normally file tax returns receive their economic stimulus payments.

Cain to Chair Leading Edge Alliance

A Cambodian-American tax preparer and accountant from Long Beach, Calif., went on trial in a Los Angeles federal court for plotting to take over Cambodia with a group of freedom fighters.

Financial Web site myStockOptions.com has opened an online Tax Center that explains issues related to equity compensation for tax year 2007.

The Justice Department said a federal court in Seattle has permanently shut down a nationwide "warehouse bank" tax defiance scheme that helped its customers evade federal taxes.