Editorial Staff

More than 224,000 people who received passports in 2008 owed a total of over $5.8 billion in federal income taxes, but Congress would need to change the laws to enable the State Department to coordinate with the IRS on denying them passports, according to a new government report.

An Oregon CPA has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering with his business, misusing over $44 million of customer funds and causing 91 of his customers to lose $13.7 million.

The FP 50 is Financial Planning’s annual ranking of the 50 largest broker-dealers by revenue. Each year, the magazine sends out surveys to the nation’s broker-dealers to collect revenue and other company information used in the listing. This year’s ranking will be published in the magazine’s June issue.

Optimism among small business owners fell in March, according to a survey by SurePayroll.

The FP 50 is the magazine's annual ranking of the 50 largest broker-dealers by revenue.

The Financial Planning Coalition has called on Congress to support the Securities and Exchange Commission in establishing a fiduciary standard of care for broker-dealers.

One in six of the 145 million tax returns that the IRS expects to be filed for the 2010 tax year will include a Schedule C for self-employed filers, and many of them will no doubt be subjected to an IRS audit.

The Internal Revenue Service is aiming to provide more Fast Track Settlements to small businesses and self-employed taxpayers and retool its Offer in Compromise mediation and arbitration procedures.

From hot air balloons to bagels, 2010 proved to be yet another year in which states and municipalities passed some strange tax laws in a desperate bid to raise revenues and close their budget gaps.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said the IRS may re-open its voluntary disclosure program, offering a partial amnesty to tax evaders who have been hiding money in foreign bank accounts.

A majority of CFOs expect the congressional midterm elections to have a positive impact on their industry.

But IRS Commissioner says the investigation isn’t over and the closed cases so far have averaged more than $200,000 in tax collections per case.

CEOs of accounting institutes from around the world met at the World Congress of Accountants in Malaysia, where they discussed the need for companies to report on non-financial results in areas such as social and environmental activities.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom has filed suit against the Internal Revenue Service because it would not allow him to deduct $12,000 in fines and $127,000 for fitness training.

Nearly half of the nation's chief financial officers and senior controllers polled by global CPA and business advisory firm Grant Thornton say that the U.S. should not adopt international Financial Reporting Standards until after U.S. GAAP and IFRS have converged to the point where the differences are inconsequential - a time frame of between five to seven years.

While most clients see their accounting firm as a strategic advisor, 36 percent of business clients report they are likely to switch CPA firms in the next year, according to a new survey by CCH.

President Obama reiterated his proposals for cuts in business and individual taxes and called on Republicans and Democrats to work together after the elections.

The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, a federal advisory committee of 101 citizen volunteers across the country, has released its annual report, with recommendations that include calling for the IRS to protect against identity theft by allowing taxpayers to “lock” their accounts when no tax returns are required.

Small business economic confidence rebounded in October as more small business owners reported that economic conditions for their businesses and for the country have improved, according to a new poll that also found small business owners favoring a Republican-controlled Congress in the midterm elections.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman indicated that the IRS is continuing to refine its new requirements for tax preparer registration, testing and continuing education, and announced that the IRS would waive the requirement for continuing education in the first year of implementing the new program, as well as set up a new office at the IRS dedicated to tax return preparers.