The IRS said a marriage that resulted in a large, combined new family was an “unforeseen circumstance” provided for in IRC § 121(c)(2)(B) that allowed a taxpayer to benefit from the capital gain exclusion on the sale of his principal residence. Letter Ruling 200725018 said the taxpayer could take advantage
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It’s Not Brain Surgery
Sharp-eyed auditors for a health insurance provider noticed something that had them scratching their noggins. According to reimbursement records, Stanley Cannella, his wife and their two sons had undergone nine brain surgeries in three years at a cost in excess of $142,000, with Cannella receiving reimbursement three separate times for
You Say Omit, I Say Understate
The Tax Court recently held that an understatement of gain by a partnership due to overstating its basis on a section 754 election did not result in an omission of gross income. Thus a proposed gain adjustment by the IRS was not timely, since it occurred after the expiration of
Run Wordperfect And Lotus 1-2-3 On XP
RUN WORDPERFECT AND LOTUS 1-2-3 ON XP Q: I know I’ve been a little slow to upgrade, but I’ve finally decided to move to Windows XP from Windows 98, which works well with Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect. I’d liked to stay with those old-reliable applications. What are my chances of success
AICPA Urges Congress to Reconsider Preparer Standards
When Congress passed the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act of 2007, it contained one major tax policy change not reflected in the title. The law, which was enacted May 25, included a provision that raises the standards applicable to tax return
CPAs as Corporate Directors
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Section 407 of SOX requires public company disclosure of “financial expert” participation on an audit committee but stops short of requiring one. Reasons for not including one must be disclosed. CPAs have become prime candidates to serve in this capacity because they generally meet the
Successful Students Tap Career Centers
The most effective job-search resources are not the most popular among students, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. NACE’s Graduating Student Survey found that students who tended to use college career center resources—including career fairs and affiliated Web sites—were more likely to secure full-time jobs than those
Managing Time-Sensitive Engagements
Have you ever accepted a time-sensitive business valuation project then spent many late nights finishing the engagement? These suggestions may help your effectiveness: Assess the risks. Time-sensitive engagements tend to elevate risks. Make sure the project is worth the risks that will be assumed to complete it
Senators Propose Tax Nexus Bill
A bipartisan proposal introduced by two members of the Senate Finance Committee would establish a so-called bright-line standard for state business activity tax nexus. Sens. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, introduced the proposal in the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act of 2007 on June 28. The law
Best Practice: Continuation Plans
What would happen if you were unable to work for an extended period of time? Practice continuation plans are essential for CPAs. They ensure clients are taken care of and preserve the value of a practice, especially for small to medium-size firms, if an owner or sole practitioner falls ill.
Banking
For news from the AICPA and state societies, visit www.cpa2biz.com, which also offers online CPE, AICPA professional literature, practice management aids and links to state society Web sites. The statement describes prudent safety, soundness and consumer protection standards that lending institutions should follow to ensure borrowers obtain loans they can
Ship Out
High-quality employees were listed as the top contributor to company growth by more than two-thirds of CEOs of North America’s fastest growing companies. But where do they find them? More than half said they are currently tapping overseas markets for talent, and 55% say they plan to go offshore in
Adjust The Axis Scale on An Excel Chart
The easy way to make the adjustment to a completed chart is to right-click on the target axis, and that displays a screen with Format Axis (see screenshot). Right-click on those words, and a full menu of size adjustments for the axis appears (see screenshot below). Once you’ve finished adjusting
Data Point: 13,000
Number of individual tax returns for 2006 that will be randomly selected for review in the IRS National Research Program reporting compliance study. Source: IRS, www.irs.gov .
Make Macros Available in All Excel Files
» Key to Instructions To help readers follow the instructions in this article, we used two different typefaces: Boldface type is used to identify the names of icons, agendas and URLs. Sans serif type shows the names of files and the names of commands and instructions that users should type into
Foreign Tax Credit Form Revised
The IRS is requesting comments to proposed changes to Form 1118, Foreign Tax Credit—Corporations . U.S. corporate taxpayers use the form to compute the foreign tax credit for certain taxes paid or accrued to foreign countries or U.S. possessions. As noted in IRS Announcement 2007-62; 2007-29 IRB 1, the changes
E-File for Excise Taxes
The IRS is implementing electronic filing for excise taxes with Form 2290, Heavy Highway Vehicle Use Tax Return , beginning with the filing period July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2008. The IRS received more than 575,000 paper Forms 2290 last year. The Service will continue to accept the return
Eight Habits of Highly Effective Audit Committees
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY To ensure that your committee is up to its mission, you must first define the mission by drafting a strong charter that identifies audit committee functions, authority and responsibilities, along with the skills and experience its members must possess. Success is not automatic. Specify critical
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How to protect nonprofits from hidden fraud risks
CPAs can help not-for-profits spot the red flags of common schemes, so they can take steps to tighten controls and reduce exposure.
From The Tax Adviser
March 31, 2026
Current developments in taxation of individuals: Part 1
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Current Developments in Taxation of Individuals: Part 1
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