IMGCAP(1)]Today, more than three years since it was issued, FIN48 remains the bane of many tax departments’ existence.

Among the revenue proposals detailed in the administration’s fiscal 2010 budget are some provisions that might negatively affect small businesses and tax preparers. The American Institute of CPAs has weighed in on a number of these, including the codification of the economic substance doctrine, information reporting on payments to corporations, increasing the level of the information penalties, and expanding the requirement for electronic filing by return preparers.

New Jersey ranks at the bottom of the list in a new study of the comparative business friendliness of tax systems in the 50 states, while South Dakota is counted as most business friendly.

The Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration has released a report recommending that the IRS seek mandatory electronic filing of individual tax returns by paid preparers, and legislation is being readied to write such a requirement into law.

IMGCAP(1)]Remember when the hefty three-ringed tax research guides required a whole room set aside as a library? Oh, and a librarian? Imagine justifying this expense to your partners today. You couldn’t. You wouldn’t want to because the alternative is so much better than the dark woodsy library ever was.

The State of Minnesota has decided to end its income tax reciprocity program with Wisconsin, effective Jan. 1, 2010.

New America Software has formally released its MultiTax software for download after about a year of beta testing with various tax preparation businesses.