The Internal Revenue’s focus on income from foreign bank and financial accounts could turn to investors in hedge funds with foreign domiciles.

If you thought you left bullying behind along with jump ropes and gym uniforms, think again. The Workplace Bullying Institute, yes there is such a thing, reported last year that 37 percent of the U.S workforce or 54 million employees are being bullied now or have been bullied at the workplace at some point during their careers.

Last Sunday, parishioners in churches across the country may have been wondering if their hymns would be replaced by the theme song from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," as their pastors pushed for an IRS showdown. They called it Pulpit Freedom Sunday. Backed by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, 33 pastors in 22 states deliberately violated the IRS regulation that says churches and other not-for-profits cannot substantially participate in politics by endorsing or opposing a candidate.

It is hard to imagine large numbers of Americans glued to their computers and televisions all day following events in the financial markets, but as most see the value of their homes and their retirement assets shrinking rapidly, people are focused on the problems of Wall Street -- on Lehman Brothers, AIG, and Merrill Lynch -- which threaten to overwhelm the news cycle even in an election year.

On Friday, the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit in a vote of 2-1 upheld the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). The Board was created five years ago by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), responding to a mandate in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The Court rejected the claim by Beckstead & Watts LLP, a Nevada accounting firm, and the Free Enterprise Fund in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board that the Board violates the separation of powers clause of the U.S. Constitution.

More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia have sales tax holidays that last at least a couple of days each year, some last much longer. Usually the holiday coincides with back-to-school time to give parents a break on outfitting their kids with necessities. What consumers can buy during the sales tax holidays varies by state, but generally includes clothing, shoes, classroom supplies, and computers, often with a dollar limit. Another popular item that pops up in sales tax holidays is energy efficient appliances for the home.

Small business owners are not pleased with the inaction of the federal government, according to a poll released last week by small business organization American Management Services. The poll was conducted by Suffolk University. Poll results showed that 63 percent of respondents said the federal government is "doing nothing" to help small businesses while 23 percent said it is doing "little." Over three-quarters of those polled, 78 percent, said this summer's economic stimulus checks did nothing to help their business.

The nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) has published a new, more comprehensive set of estimates of the amount of money individuals and couples will need to cover certain health care expenses in retirement.

Twenty-three states have approved laws to make it less burdensome for certified public accountants to represent clients across state lines.The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is seeking enactment of similar laws in every state so that a national uniform mobility system will become a reality for CPAs, CPA firms, and the state boards of accountancy that regulate them.