Tax

Railing at Accounting Today for engaging in "politics" in an editorial critical of some tax and economic policies of the Obama administration (June 7-20, 2010, page 9), Harry Bose engages in some politics of his own in attempting to make his case. His response is more amusing than informative.

With California unemployment hovering at 13 percent and the national unemployment rate still above 9.5 percent, long-term unemployment is clearly one of the biggest challenges for the U.S. economy.

The Senate Finance Committee held hearings last week to consider the effects of the soon-to-expire “Bush” tax cuts, and those problems could be magnified for tax practitioners and their clients.

The Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters plans to introduce iPhone and iPad apps that will provide a front-end to the company’s Checkpoint Learning software.

Senators Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., have introduced a proposal to reform the federal estate tax, which temporarily expired this year but is slated to increase to up to 55 percent next year for estates over $1 million.

The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing Wednesday to discuss the soon-to-expire 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and how to extend any of them without increasing the budget deficit or hurting economic growth.

SurePrep has added 1120, 1120S and 1065 preparation as a part of its outsourcing service, allowing firms to leverage the company’s technology and staff to prepare more types of tax returns.

Before departing on its holiday break, the Senate left a number of important issues unresolved, including the fate of the unemployment extension and tax extenders legislation, not to mention the financial reform bill.

The Federal Tax Authority, a private company that aims to make it easy for online merchants to collect sales tax, has launched TaxCloud, a free sales tax calculation and remittance service.

IntelliConnect, the tax research system from CCH, has added many new features that enable researchers get to their answers faster and more effectively.