The indexing of many features of the tax code will bring some relief to taxpayers next year, according to CCH.

Recent professional guidance, such as SAS 99, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit, and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Auditing Standard 2, has brought more attention to the auditor's responsibility to uncover the warning signs of fraud, but there is still some ambiguity about where the auditor's responsibility ends and the fraud examiner's begins.

The Internal Revenue Service has unveiled a new section of IRS.gov for people who have lost their homes due to foreclosure.

Companies with audited GAAP financial statements should take note that the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, in a case that has attracted national attention, ruled that certain sensitive "tax accrual work papers" are protected from disclosure by the work-product privilege and, accordingly, are not subject to discovery requests from the IRS. Several important lessons can be learned from Textron:Companies should take steps to make sure that all written tax analyses of troubling tax positions are prepared internally or by an attorney to be eligible for the work-product privilege.

The House of Representatives passed major reforms last week in the form of amending the Patent Reform Act. Hailed as the most significant change to the U.S. patent system in 50 years, the bill still faces an uphill climb as the Senate is working on its own version of patent legislation, and President Bush is seen as being lukewarm on the bill.Of most interest to accountants is one provision of the bill that prohibits patents on tax planning methods.

A report issued by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) indicates that the IRS receives millions of income and wage statements each year that contain mismatched names and identification numbers.

The Missouri Accountability Portal launched by Gov. Blunt by executive order on July 10, 2007 has generated great public interest. The governor's office reports that since its inception, there have been over one million visits to the site. Over 21,000 visits per day have been recorded on the website that allows taxpayers to track government expenditures by broad categories such as budget category, vendor and contract.One of the first comprehensive state expenditure databases in the country, MAP is being updated on a daily basis.

On Thursday, the House Committee on Ways and Means held a hearing on fair and equitable tax policy for America’s working families. The panel focused on the current structure of our tax code and the fairness and effectiveness of the Bush tax cuts, the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and the tax treatment of hedge funds and partners in private equity firms. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B.

The IRS has issued an announcement to employers that they should be aware of two changes to the credit for the portion of employer Social Security paid with respect to employee cash tips known as the 45B Credit. These changes are the result of recently enacted legislation.The law now requires employers to determine their credit using the minimum wage in effect on January 1, 2007, even if the minimum wage increases.