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Tax Software Survey: TaxSlayer Pro

Click here for a PDF of detailed survey responses for TaxSlayer Pro. Tax program name TaxSlayer Pro Vendor name TaxSlayer Pro Telephone 888-420-1040 E-mail address sales@taxslayerpro.com Web site taxslayerpro.com Price on Federal 1040 $895 Is this an increase from last year? By how much? No Renewal price $795 (Early renewal

Tax Software Survey: TaxWise Complete Tax and Accounting

Click here for a PDF of detailed survey responses for TaxWise Complete Tax and Accounting. Tax program name TaxWise Complete Tax and Accounting Vendor name CCH Small Firm Services Telephone 800-775-9473 E-mail address Eriana.Rivera-Rozo@cchsfs.com Web site taxwise.com Price on Federal 1040 $3,625 (includes e-filing, all tax modules, all states, accounting

2009 Tax Software Survey

The JofA and The Tax Adviser surveyed our readers to determine what they liked and did not like about their tax preparation software. The survey was conducted in late June and early July and received 9,776 responses. Below are results showing how many respondents used each product and overall ratings by

Tax Software Survey: Drake Software

Click here for a PDF of detailed survey responses for Drake Software. Tax program name Drake Software Vendor name Drake Software Telephone 800-890-9500 E-mail address Sales@drakesoftware.com Web site drakesoftware.com Price on Federal 1040 $1,395 (with early season discounts as low as $995) Is this an increase from last year? By

Tax Software Survey: GoSystem

Click here for a PDF of detailed survey responses for GoSystem. Tax program name GoSystem Vendor name Thomson Reuters Telephone 800-968-8900 E-mail address CS.Sales@ThomsonReuters.com Web site cs.thomsonreuters.com Price on Federal 1040 Starting at $2,900 Is this an increase from last year? By how much? No Renewal price Starting at $2,900

Tax Software Survey: ProSeries Professional

Click here for a PDF of detailed survey responses for ProSeries Professional. Tax program name ProSeries Professional Vendor name Intuit Inc. Telephone 800-934-1040 E-mail address APD_Sales@intuit.com Web site www.proseries.com Price on Federal 1040 $1,399.00 Is this an increase from last year? By how much? Yes, $100.00 difference Renewal price Same

Tax Software Survey: TurboTax

Click here for a PDF of detailed survey responses for TurboTax. Tax program name TurboTax – for Individual Consumer Use Vendor name Intuit Inc. Telephone 800-624-8384 E-mail address Submitted via TurboTax.com Web site Web site www.turbotax.com Price on Federal 1040 $74.95 Is this an increase from last year? By how

Tax Software Survey: ATX 1040 Office

Click here for a PDF of detailed survey responses for ATX 1040 Office. Tax program name ATX 1040 Office Vendor name CCH Small Firm Services Telephone 800-728-9776 E-mail address sales@atxinc.com Web site www.atxinc.com Price on Federal 1040 $635.00 Is this an increase from last year? By how much? No Renewal

Tax Software Survey: TaxSimple

Click here for a PDF of detailed survey responses for TaxSimple. Tax program name TaxSimple Vendor name TaxSimple Telephone 973-989-8955 E-mail address jvora@taxsimple.com Web site taxsimple.com Price on Federal 1040 $100 – $695 Is this an increase from last year? By how much? No Renewal price $100 – $695 State

Pre-2004 Termination Fee to “White Knight” Held Deductible

The Tax Court concluded that $65 million paid to terminate a merger contract was deductible under IRC § 162 or IRC § 165 and did not require capitalization under IRC § 263. IRC § 162 allows a deduction for the ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred during the tax

The IRS Whistleblower Program: What CPAs Should Know

Since Congress amended IRC § 7623 in 2006, the IRS’ new Whistleblower Office has seen significant interest from potential informants with tips about multimillion-dollar cases of tax noncompliance. In the first 12 months after it was established in February 2007, the Whistleblower Office received 116 reports of underpayments of more

Harvesting Tax Benefits of Green Building Incentives

In the past two years, several federal tax incentives have been extended and enhanced for designing and constructing energy-efficient buildings, both residential and commercial. Some of these measures should be equally attractive for businesses and individuals looking to remodel existing homes and workplaces to save on energy and, as a

Taxpayer Reimbursed Legal Fees Paid by Third Party

A taxpayer who successfully challenged a deficiency notice incurred legal fees eligible for reimbursement under IRC § 7430 even though the fees were paid by a co-litigant, the Ninth Circuit of Appeals said, overruling the Tax Court. IRC § 7430 permits courts to reimburse reasonable administrative and litigation costs paid

Reduced Gain Opportunity Means Higher Tax Bill

The Tax Court held that a leveraged securities agreement was not a securities lending arrangement under IRC § 1058 since its economic substance indicated the taxpayers’ opportunity for gain had been reduced. Thus the arrangement was treated as two separate sales transactions; the first resulted in no gain or loss,

Broader Interpretation of Economic Substance Blunts Deductions

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court ruling that Klamath Strategic Investment Fund’s loan transactions lacked economic substance and that no penalties applied. Furthermore, the appeals court held that the lower court erred in allowing Klamath deductions for operational expenses in connection with a sham transaction and

Blogging for a Better Tax Practice

Some CPA tax practitioners find they are able to garner new clients and better maintain ties with existing ones by blogging on tax topics. Beyond providing an electronic soapbox, they say, a blog can be a powerful way to disseminate information to existing clients while revealing to prospective ones the

Defined Contribution Plans for Nonprofit Organizations

When it comes to qualified retirement plans, the 403(b) has long been the default alternative for nonprofit organizations. The lack of nondiscrimination testing for elective deferrals and no plan audit requirement as well as the ability to avoid Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) regulations have traditionally been the biggest

Putting Economic Stimulus Provisions to Work

Many financial executives say their companies are using or are planning to take advantage of economic stimulus tax provisions, according to a Grant Thornton survey of U.S. CFOs and senior comptrollers. Here are the provisions they’re planning to use: Bonus depreciation (50%) Increased section 179 expensing (46%) Net operating loss

Taking Advantage of the RMD Holiday for IRAs

For 2009 only, the required minimum distribution (RMD) rules applicable to retirement plan withdrawals have been waived. This allows retirees to forgo a year’s distributions. The benefit of this suspension may seem obvious: The beneficiary can defer taxable income and hopefully the holdings—likely battered over the past year—can recover before

Line Items

IRS to Recommend New Tax Preparer Standards The IRS plans before the end of the year to recommend new standards for tax preparers, Commissioner Doug Shulman announced June 5. In testimony before the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee and in a news release, Shulman said he would propose to

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