Economy

A&A

Class-Action Suit Against H&R Block to Proceed

The Supreme Court has cleared the way for a class-action suit that accuses H&R Block, the nation's largest tax-preparation company, of charging as many as 17 million customers inflated interest on refund loans, the Houston Chronicle reported, citing news wires.The suit contends that H&R Block charged as much as 100 percent in interest on the refund loans and customers were not told that the company profited from the loans, which were advances on estimated tax refunds, the Chronicle reported.The high court this week let stand a lower court's decision that the case should go forward as a c
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Tax

Bush Appoints Panel to Overhaul Tax Code

President Bush is attempting to take a bipartisan path toward overhauling the U.S.
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Tax

The Year Ahead, Revenue Growth and Managing Costs Top List of Concerns

What keeps financial executives up at night? Making sure their businesses are in the black. In a new nationwide survey, 34 percent of chief financial officers (CFOs) said their company’s top priority for 2005 is growing revenue. Nearly half (45 percent) of respondents said they anticipate employee healthcare plans to be the biggest cost increase over the next 12 months.The survey was developed by Robert Half Management Resources was conducted by an independent research firm and includes responses from 1,400 CFOs from a stratified random sample of U.S.
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Tax

IRS Tax Tip: Taxpayer Rights a Priority for IRS

The law requires the IRS to protect taxpayer rights, and in its day-to-day operations, the IRS and its employees make taxpayer rights a top priority. This includes explaining those rights to taxpayers, keeping taxpayer information private and confidential and being professional and courteous.Besides what is expected of IRS employees, taxpayers have many other rights. They have the right to have someone represent them before the IRS and to accompany them to any meeting with IRS employees.
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Tax

LA Sues Travel Websites for Underpaying Hotel Taxes

Los Angeles leaders have accused Internet travel companies of costing the city millions of dollars a year by underpaying hotel taxes. AdvertisementAccountingWEB is pleased to bring you tools that can help systematize the accounting department of a small company, corporate business or a public accounting firm.
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Community News

Talent Management Among Top Five Priorities in 2005

Providing rewards programs that attract, motivate and help retain employees has been ranked among the top five priorities for employers in 2005, according to a new survey conducted by Deloitte Consulting LLP's Human Capital practice and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS).
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A&A

U.S. Falls out of the Index of Economic Freedom's Top 10

For the first time ever, the U.S. does not rank among the world's 10 freest economies in the Index of Economic Freedom, published annually by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. The U.S.' score in the 2005 Index did not change from 2004. But improvements in the economies of Chile, Australia and Iceland enabled all three to surpass the U. S., leaving it in a tie for 12th with Switzerland and out of the top 10 for the first time in the 11-year history of the Index.
1050

Treasury and IRS Issue New Rules for 401(k) Plans

On Tuesday, the Treasury Department and the IRS issued final regulations governing 401(k) plans. The 401(k) plan is the most common type of employer-sponsored retirement plan, providing retirement income security for millions of American workers and their families.
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Community News

Annual Salary Survey Shows it Pays to Hold CPA Designation

Over 2,800 respondents working in the accounting, finance and banking professions around the country responded to this voluntary online survey conducted by Careerbank.com.
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Tax

IRS Issues Rules on Automatic Rollovers From Retirement Plans

Earlier this week, the Treasury Department and the IRS issued guidance on the new automatic (or default) rollover rules for qualified retirement plans.
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A&A

SBA Seeks Comments on Small Business Size Standards

The U.S. Small Business Administration is seeking comments from the general public on key issues relating to its small business size standards, the rules used by the SBA and other federal agencies to determine whether a business is small.
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Fannie Mae May Sell $5B of Preferred Stock

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae said Wednesday that it may sell as much as $5 billion of preferred stock to boost capital, Reuters reported.
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CFOs Frustrated with Impact of Pensions on Companies' Financial Health

A new survey reveals that despite improved market performance, the negative impact of pension plans on profitability and the financial health of America's corporations continues to worsen. More than three-quarters (76%) of CFOs surveyed said pension plans are negatively impacting corporate finances, up 15% from a year ago. At the same time, that trend appears to be worsening, as an overwhelming majority of CFOs (86%) lack a sufficient level of control over the impact their defined benefit plan has on their company's corporate finances.
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Community News

New Fannie Mae Executive Vows to 'Put Things Right'

Investors are hoping that management changes at Fannie Mae will bolster the company's reputation with regulators and Congress.Fannie Mae's board last Tuesday replaced the two top executives and fired its auditor, KPMG, as pressure mounted to make big changes in light of the company's accounting standards violations and the Securities and Exchange Commission's order for a restatement of possibly $9 billion.Chief Executive Officer Franklin D. Raines and Chief Financial Officer Timothy Howard were temporarily replaced by, respectively, Daniel H.
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Community News

E&Y to Pay $125M to Settle Claims Over Failed Illinois Bank

Ernst & Young LLP will pay $125 million to settle claims stemming from its involvement in the failure of an Illinois savings bank, according to a consent order with the Office of Thrift Supervision.
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California Sues Edward D. Jones Over Mutual Fund Deals

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has filed suit on behalf of the state against brokerage firm Edward D.
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Tax

IRS Issues Optional Sales Tax Tables

The Internal Revenue Service has made available on its Web site Publication 600, Optional State Sales Tax Tables, which taxpayers may use for their 2004 returns. The IRS also will send Pub. 600 to all taxpayers who get a Form 1040 tax package.
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A&A

American Express Announces Card Issuing Alliance with Citibank

American Express announced late last week that it has reached an agreement for Citibank to issue credit cards in the United States that will be accepted on the American Express global merchant network.American Express anticipates that the new credit card products developed by Citibank will be available in late 2005.Citibank will be responsible for issuing the cards, managing the customer relationships, providing service, billing and credit management and designing the card product features.
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Technology

Debit Cards and Plastic Give Edge Over Paper

A survey conducted by the Federal Reserve confirms that electronic payments in the United States have exceeded check payments for the first time during 2003. Americans made over 44.5 billion electronic payment transactions in 2003, while the number of checks paid totaled 36.7 billion, according to recent surveys of U.S. depository financial institutions and electronic payments organizations. Electronic payments consist of such payment methods as credit cards, debit cards and automated clearinghouse (ACH) transactions, like direct debit.
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A&A

Grant Thornton Posts Rise in Fiscal 2004 Revenues

Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International, last week reported that revenues climbed 23 percent in the fiscal year ended July 31, 2004 to $565 million. In fiscal 2003, the firm posted revenues of $458 million, up 25 percent from the previous year, leading the global accounting firms in U.S. growth.
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Pages

Voice of the Editor

Even though any accounting auditor would tell you it seems like there are an awful lot of tax accountants out there, surely one-third of the country isn't made up of tax preparers, so it's rather startling news to learn that one-third of Americans like to do their taxes. Who knew?
Read more
Gail Perry, CPA
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AccountingWEB
editor@accountingweb.com
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