Tax

Effective immediately, newly credentialed New Jersey CPAs will have to attend an orientation program within six months of qualifying as a CPA.Thanks to a bill signed last week by acting New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey, the state Board of Accountancy will now get to work determining what exactly that program curriculum will include. Ralph Albert Thomas, executive director of the New Jersey Society of CPAs, which supported the bill, told a local newspaper that at minimum, the program will contain a course on New Jersey law and ethics.

The Internal Revenue Service announced that while the phase-out of the tax credit for Toyota and Lexus hybrids continues, General Motors Corp. and Nissan hybrids still qualify for the full credit.

Practitioners considering making an offer in compromise to the Internal Revenue Service on behalf of a client are faced with significant changes to the program. While negotiating an OIC has not been an option for most taxpayers, the changes in several key features mean that it will no longer be a feasible option for some.Topping those new OIC guidelines is a rule in which taxpayers filing a lump-sum offer must pay a non-refundable deposit of 20 percent of the offer amount with the application.

Efforts to rid the European Union of the massive confusion caused by having its enterprises dealing with 27 different corporate tax systems could now come into effect as early as 2010.

The Internal Revenue Service is preparing to redesign its Form 990, “Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax,” according to published reports.

In recent hearings before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, both the American Institute of CPAs and the New York State Society of CPAs called for the repeal of the oft-debated alternative minimum tax.

The New York State Society of CPAs will host the 28th Annual New York CPA Business & Technology Show & Conference on May 16 and 17 at the Hilton New York Hotel.

Lacerte users want respect from their tax software vendor. And if they don’t get it soon, they’re going to look at alternatives.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has released preliminary data for the tax-filing season on returns received and processed as of March 10.

A federal jury has found a Florida tax preparer guilty on 50 charges of preparing fraudulent individual and trust income tax returns, impeding the enforcement of tax laws, and criminal contempt.Louis Wayne Ratfield, of Lake Worth, Fla., was originally indicted on 56 counts for a tax fraud scheme that prosecutors said involved hidding income and assets in bogus trusts. According to the indictment, Ratfield’s scheme caused a tax loss to the federal government of more than $6.4 million.