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IRS Provides Tool for Telephone Excise
Tax
The IRS has provided this
matrix to help
practitioners and taxpayers determine which option can be used to request
the Telephone Excise Tax. The IRS noted last week nearly one-third of
taxpayers are failing to request this special refund. At the same time, the
IRS cautions against fraudulent filings and has stepped up its crackdown on
abusive telephone tax requests. The agency sent out special agents with
search warrants seeking evidence from tax-preparation businesses suspected
of preparing returns on behalf of clients requesting egregious amounts.
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State Filing Deadlines Posted to MACPA
Web Site
Many states are extending the tax-filing deadline to April 17, 2007 in line
with the federal deadline. In conjunction with the Massachusetts Society of
CPAs, the MACPA offers a summary of state tax filing deadlines in the online
Tax
Center for CPAs.
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Treasury, IRS Issue Guidance Helping
Employers Transition to HSAs
On February 15, the U.S. Treasury and IRS issued guidance regarding how
employers can rollover their health Flexible Spending Arrangements (health
FSAs) and Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) to
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for their employees. The Tax Relief
and Health Care Act of 2006, enacted December 20, 2006, allowed
employers to amend their health FSAs or HRAs, with balances on September 21,
2006, for a one-time rollover to an HSA by 2012. The guidance clarifies the
requirements for making these rollovers, which must be made directly to the
custodian or trustee of the HSA. In addition, the guidance provides a
special transition rule for transfers for 2006. Under the transition rule,
the amendment, election and transfer must take place by March 15, 2007.
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FASB Standard Establishes Fair Value
Option for Financial Assets and Liabilities
On February 15, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ((FASB) issued a
standard
providing companies with an option to report selected financial assets and
liabilities at fair value. Generally accepted accounting principles have
required different measurement attributes for different assets and
liabilities that can create artificial volatility in earnings. The new
standard helps to mitigate this type of accounting-induced volatility by
enabling companies to report related assets and liabilities at fair value,
which would likely reduce the need for companies to comply with detailed
rules for hedge accounting. Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No.
159, The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities,
also establishes presentation and disclosure requirements designed to
facilitate comparisons between companies that choose different measurement
attributes for similar types of assets and liabilities.
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Webcast Explains New Attributed Tip
Income Program (ATIP)
A panel of IRS officials and tax practitioners provided details on the new
tip reporting program for small- and medium-sized food and beverage
establishments during the February 13 webcast of Tax Talk Today. The IRS
created the Attributed Tip Income Program (ATIP) because existing tip rate
reporting agreements were burdensome for smaller businesses, and because the
IRS wants to continue to encourage accurate tip reporting in an effort to
reduce the tax gap. ATIP officially began on January 1, 2007, as a pilot
program that will last for three years. At the end of the three-year pilot,
the IRS will review all feedback received from tax professionals and from
the food and beverage industry itself to determine whether the program will
continue, and to identify any changes that need to be made. Access a full,
online
transcript of the webcast, “Simplifying Tip Reporting.”
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SEC Chairman Cox Announces $700 Million
Fee Cut to Benefit Investors
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox announced that, starting this week, the agency
will sharply
cut
the fees charged to public companies and other issuers for securities
transactions and registrations. The fee cuts are designed to benefit
investors, Cox explained. The fee cuts are significant: fees to register
securities with the Commission will be reduced by 71.3 percent, and fees on
securities transactions will be reduced by 50.2 percent.
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Daylight Saving Time Happens Earlier
This Year
In 2007, the date on which we begin to observe Daylight Saving Time (DST) changes to
the second Sunday in March. In the United States, all states except Arizona
and Hawaii will begin observing Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. (local
time) on March 11. In 2007, DST ends at 2:00 a.m. (local time) on November
4, 2007. Previously, DST began on the first Sunday in April, and ended on
the last Sunday in October. The new rules for DST mean an extra four weeks
of DST each year. For more information about 2007 Daylight Saving Time
changes in the United States, see this
web site.
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Saving for Retirement Tops Consumer
Financial Concerns, According to CPA
Financial Planners
Retirement is the number one personal financial planning concern,
regardless of age, according to an
informal survey of CPAs at the AICPA 2007 Personal Financial Planning (PFP)
Conference. CPAs identified what they believed to be their clients’ top
three personal financial planning concerns for 2007. Those concerns covered
a wide range, from outliving investments to the effects of the global
economy to eldercare and long term care insurance. However, saving for
retirement topped all other concerns as cited by four out of five CPAs. Tips
and tools to help consumers of all ages manage their personal finances are
available at
www.360financialliteracy.org. Another site,
www.feedthepig.org,
is designed specifically for career builders to help them begin saving for
retirement.
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Visions of Vista: Which Version, If Any,
is Right for You?
Small businesses interested in upgrading to
Windows Vista have a number of different versions of the operating system to
choose from, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages.
To read this article in its entirety and
much more about developments in technology, access
Technology and
Productivity Weekly, the MACPA's electronic technology newsletter for
industry professionals, sponsored by Information, Inc.
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