Within the last few months, H&R Block Inc., which is preparing to open H&R Block Bank in April, has been challenged in the courts on several fronts, admitted to mistakes on its own taxes, and acknowledged that it mailed out free software with the recipient’s Social Security number on the label.

The 150-hour rule, hotly debated a few years ago, is gaining new attention in Pennsylvania where a bill winding its way through the Legislature would place that state with the other 47 CPA jurisdictions that require candidates to complete 150 hours of undergraduate study to qualify for the CPA license.Advertisement

At 5 p.m. Eastern Time, on Thursday, May 4, 2006, accounting professionals in the New York metropolitan area who aspire to become chief financial officers (CFOs) or Controllers will have the opportunity to learn about advanced training courses at the Regev Institute CFO/Controller seminar. The two hour seminar, which is also open to CFOs and controllers seeking to sharpen their professional skills, will focus on critical but frequently overlooked financial executive tasks and responsibilities.

In the eight years that Lou Grumet has been executive director of the New York State Society of CPAs (NYSSCPA), he and the nation’s largest CPA society have assumed a high profile in an array of accounting profession issues, sometimes in tandem and sometimes at odds with the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). This year is no exception.With Grumet as their point person, the 33,000-member NYSSCPA has stepped to the forefront in the nation’s tax reform debate, proposing its own resolution and using its perch in the nation's media capital, New York City, to draw attention to its cause.

Officials and voters will be deciding state and local tax policies in Michigan and Ohio in coming weeks. Michigan lawmakers took the first step toward repeal of the state’s 30-year old Single Business Tax (SBT) last week when a House committee voted to repeal the tax, although it is not due to expire until 2009.

The American Institute of CPAs’ (AICPA) proposal to enhance peer review and to get all states to mandate it, is drawing mixed support from the New York State Society of CPAs (NYSSCPA), the nation’s largest society and one of the few states that does not currently mandate peer review.Advertisement

The 2005 IRS Oversight Board Taxpayer Attitude Survey, released in late February, revealed that 88 percent, or nearly nine out of ten Americans, feel that it is “not at all” acceptable to cheat on your income taxes. This is the highest level of support since the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Oversight Board began tracking attitudes towards tax cheating in 1999.

Commitment to outstanding employment practices and support for staff has earned the Fort Wayne office of Crowe Chizek and Company LLC a Best Places to Work in Northeast Indiana Award from the Fort Wayne Business Journal and the Preston Joan Group.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates that four out of five taxpayers who meet eligibility requirements don’t claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the government’s largest program for helping low-income working families, the Washington Post reports. Last year 21.1 million taxpayers claimed a total of nearly $40 billion through the EITC credit, enacted by Congress in 1975 as a way to help low-income workers.