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| April 8, 2010 |
| Featured Sponsors |
| Forensic Accounting |
| Live Webcast on Hiring Incentives (HIRE) Act |
| AccountingWEB's Breakroom Bulletin |
| Publisher's Note |
  Our Q&A section is a great forum for posting and answering questions. It’s fun and easy to do. Give it a whirl. How about giving a friendly New Englander a bit of assistance? Brenda Thomas, an accountant with the Bureau of Public Works in Concord, New Hampshire, needs a good resource in which to obtain details on calculating overhead rate. Be a pal and help out. Thanks. Rob Nance Publisher publisher@accountingweb.com |
| Top News |
| IRS delays causing increased taxpayer penalties |
 The Internal Revenue Service should improve the way it deals with balance-due payments from delinquent taxpayers, according to a recent TIGTA report. Unnecessary delays are resulting in extra penalties and interest costs to taxpayers. |
| Reasons behind bigger tax refunds depend on who you ask |
| Just when America needs a financial boost, income tax refunds are up an average of nearly 10 percent, according to the Internal Revenue Service. |
| SEC opens broad inquiry into accounting-for-repurchase transactions |
| Chief financial officers from 24 financial institutions received a Dear CFO letter from the chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission last week asking for detailed information about their accounting-for-repurchase agreements classified as sales, and their disclosures of these arrangements. |
| IRS trust fund investigations: The best defense is a good offense |
| In today's difficult economic environment, expect more businesses to resort to using payroll tax money to stay afloat and a corresponding increase in IRS enforcement measures. |
| Forensic Accounting |
 The Knowledge Congress is a series of live webcasts produced by The Knowledge Group, LLC, which examine trends, regulatory, and technology changes across a variety of industries. Hear leading government officials, consultants, and experts objectively analyze the latest trends and issues and their impact on industries. To contact or to register to an event, please visit: www.knowledgecongress.org. |
| Featured Articles |
| From country to rhythm and blues to rap: tax trouble has no favorite genre |
 Grammy winning country singer Dwight Yoakam might have new material for a sad, sad song now that the Internal Revenue Service has filed a lien against him for nearly half a million dollars. |
| Tax collections: The basics and beyond |
| My purpose in writing this article is not to debate the constitutionality of the tax laws or the legitimacy of the Internal Revenue Code. This article will discuss the history and legal basis for tax collections and some of the practical aspects of tax delinquencies. |
| Survey: Promotions, salary increases are most popular retention tools |
| More than three-fourths of executives are willing to sweeten the pot to avoid losing their best employees when economic conditions improve, according to survey findings. |
| Live Webcast on Hiring Incentives (HIRE) Act |
 Don’t miss tax expert, Vern Hoven in this upcoming live webcast as he examines the impact of the new HIRE Act. Make sure you understand how your business clients can benefit from this collection of tax incentives and credits. Hosted by CPE Link, this “hot-off-the-press” one-hour webcast is a convenient way to get a quick update on the new tax law. |
| Firm/State/People News |
| Taking steps toward workplace wellness |
 Gregory & Appel Insurance in Indianapolis has had a wellness program for years, but always felt it was missing some of the elements needed to be the successful program company officials were envisioning. |
| SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant selects accounting fellows |
| The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of the Chief Accountant recently has selected eight professional accounting fellows for two-year terms beginning in 2010. |
| Veihmeyer named U.S. chairman, CEO of KPMG LLP |
| KPMG LLP recently announced that its CEO, John B. Veihmeyer, has been elected chairman and chief executive of the U.S. audit, tax, and advisory firm for a five-year term, beginning June 10, 2010. |
| AccountingWEB's Breakroom Bulletin |  |
| Tired of reading the same old company memos and clunky full-sized newspapers in your breakroom? Give AccountingWEB's Breakroom Bulletin a whirl! Post it in the office breakroom or kitchen! The Breakroom Bulletin is a nifty one-page PDF that you can download, print, and enjoy free of charge. You'll receive timely news items with a splash of humor designed to brighten everyone's day in the entire office. Print it and post it! | |
| Blogs! What do you have to say today? |
| Who Wants To Take Over Your 401(k) – Uncle Sam? |
| The Social Security and Medicare trust fund has over $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities. How will Washington pay for this or make up the shortfall? One option would be to take the suggestion of the Service Employees International Union, which wants to centralize all retirement plans for American workers, including private 401(k) plans, under one new retirement system. |
| Tax Credit Helps Small Employers Provide Health Insurance Coverage |
| Many small businesses and tax-exempt organizations that provide health insurance coverage to their employees now qualify for a special tax credit, according to the Internal Revenue Service. |
| IRS Will Get Report on Your Client's Merchant Account Sales |
| The inevitable has happened. Buried in the Housing Assistance Act of 2008 was a new Internal Revenue Code Section 6050W, which requires "payment settlement entities" to send out a new Form 1099-K showing monthly and annual gross sales. |
| Reducing the High Cost of Audit Confirmations |
| What does a confirmation cost? To answer this question, we need to review the confirmation process. |
| Q&A |
| What is a good resource to get details on calculating overhead rate? |
| We bill on our fees for projects and this is always a hotly debated issue. I think it is adding direct cost and indirect costs and dividing to find the amount. We need to stop the debate because we are either charging too much or not enough. Any place you can point me to find my answer? Add your input! |
| For the tax gurus: Please help |
| My friend and I have a LLC together but, because he is overseas, we decided that he does not have a percentage of the company. I did, however, prepare a 1065 and send him a K-1 with zero for his record. But my K-1 shows the ordinary income (profit). Since it appears everything flows straight to me, can I just file a 1040 form with a schedule E because the company did have income? Share your suggestions! |
| Kaplan Weekly Quiz |
 Are you prepared for the CPA exam? Test your knowledge and keep your skills sharp by taking the weekly CPA Exam Quiz, brought to you by Kaplan Schweser CPA Review and AccountingWEB Education & Careers Zone. New questions will be posted for each section weekly. Take this week's quiz. |
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