The Senate has confirmed Douglas H. Shulman as the new commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

Sage Software has updated its Sage FAS software with a service update to reflect the economic stimulus package recently enacted by Congress.

There are a lot of very good research tools on the market. But what's available for the small practitioner who needs less than high-powered products?

The ink hadn’t dried on the new economic stimulus bill before federal tax authorities began receiving complaints about vicious new tax rebate scams targeting taxpayers and their accountants.The new flurry of fraudulent activity is directed at taxpayers expecting to receive the rebates of up to $1,200 per couple that Congress voted to send out after the close of this year’s tax filing season.

By the time this column appears, CPAs everywhere are going to be tackling stacks of paperwork for income taxes. This will be true whether they are up to their necks in client returns, or struggling in an audit to reconcile book and tax income in Schedule M.With those pains in mind, it only makes sense that accountants would prefer GAAP accounting for income taxes to be relatively simple.

The Government Accountability Office has issued a report on the Internal Revenue Service's performance so far this filing season, including a prediction that the IRS will lose hundreds of millions of dollars responding to calls about tax rebates.

There are a lot of very good research tools on the market. But what's available for the small practitioner who needs less than high-powered products?