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Mobility, Tax on
Services on Spring Members Advisory Forum Agenda
Hot topics including mobility and the
Governor’s plan to levy a two percent tax on services are foremost on the
discussion list for the upcoming Members Advisory Forum. The semi-annual
forum, scheduled for Wednesday, May 9, 2007 at the Lansing Center in
Lansing, Michigan, is open to all members of the MACPA. This premiere event
features state and national speakers who will help you navigate the rapidly
changing accounting profession – in Michigan and nationwide.
Register today for this high-level event. For more information,
contact the MACPA CPE Department at 248.267.3700.
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IRS Will Address Form 990
Changes in Upcoming Phone Forums
The IRS invites tax professionals and
representatives of tax-exempt organizations to participate in a one-hour
Phone Forum on changes to Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Tax,
on March 21 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, or March 22 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern
Daylight Time. Two experts from IRS Exempt Organizations will provide
participants with an in-depth look at changes in Forms 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF,
and Schedule A. Registered participants will be able to submit questions in
advance of the program for the IRS experts to address during the program.
Space is limited and will be reserved on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Register online for the March 21 forum, or the March 22 forum. Once you
register, you will receive an e-mail with the call-in number and a PIN to
access the call. For more information and to register, visit the
IRS
web site.
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AICPA Offers Help for
Implementing SAS No. 112
SAS No. 112, Communicating Internal Control
Related Matters Identified in an Audit, will have an impact on the audits
firms perform for financial statements that ended on or after Dec. 15, 2006.
This standard has generated a fair amount of controversy and
misunderstanding among practitioners. To help practitioners, the AICPA is
making previous conference calls available to provide insight into the
implementation of SAS No. 112:
AICPA PCPS Firm Practice Center call (originally broadcast Jan. 19,
2007);
AICPA Peer Review Board call (originally aired Feb. 1, 2007) is
available through Aug. 3, 2007; and
Governmental Audit Quality Center SAS 112 call (originally aired Jan. 4,
2007).
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Phone Card Retailers
Usually Qualify for Telephone Tax Refund
Under the law, retailers and other businesses
that sell prepaid phone cards for long-distance service usually qualify for
the telephone tax refund. Last week, the IRS
reminded these businesses to check their eligibility for this special
refund before filing their 2006 federal income tax return. Normally, the
phone card retailer, not the phone company that issues the card or the
customer who uses the card, is responsible for paying the three-percent
federal excise tax. As long as the phone card was not restricted to
local-only service, the retailer is eligible to request the telephone tax
refund. Businesses can request the refund by filling out Form 8913, Credit for
Federal Telephone Excise Tax Paid, and attaching it to their regular
income-tax return. More information on the refund is available in the
“Telephone Excise Tax Refund” section on the front page of
IRS.gov. The three-percent
federal excise tax continues to apply to local-only
phone service.
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Everything You’ve
Always Wanted to Know … About the IRS
As of March 16, the
IRS 2006 Data Book is available online. The report describes activities
conducted by the IRS from October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006, and
includes information about returns filed and taxes collected, enforcement,
taxpayer assistance and the IRS budget and workforce. For example, IRS
examined nearly 1.3 million individual income tax returns in FY 2006, more
than double the number examined in FY 2000. Examinations of business tax
returns grew for the second year in a row, reaching over 52,000 in 2006.
Printed copies of the Data Book, Publication 55B, will be available by
mid-April.
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Survey: Young Taxpayers
in the Dark on Tax-Related Benefits
A new survey finds young taxpayers report
lowest use of medical FSAs, employer-sponsored retirement plans and IRAs.
They are more likely to give their employers a failing grade in helping them
become tax savvy, and they are least likely to favor President Bush’s
proposed standard tax deduction for health insurance. Meanwhile, their older
colleagues aren’t doing all that well either in taking advantage of tax
savings. The
survey of 1,290 U.S. adult taxpayers, commissioned by CCH and conducted
by Harris Interactive®, found that many taxpayers are not taking full
advantage of basic tax-saving strategies and those 18-24 years of age are
the least likely to be doing so.
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Study Says Computers
Give Big Boosts to Productivity
A new study by the Information Technology and
Innovation Foundation reveals that worker productivity is bolstered more by
investments in computing technology than other capital expenditures, citing
a three- to five-fold increase. To read this
article in its entirety and learn 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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