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IRS Releases Contingency Plan for Government Shutdown
Calls will go unanswered and mail will get no response under the IRS contingency plan for the first five days of a federal government shutdown. The plan, released Thursday, calls for furloughs of two-thirds of IRS staff if the government shuts down, resulting in "significant harmful impacts" on millions of taxpayers, Treasury said. The fiscal 2024 Lapsed Appropriations Contingency Plan will go into effect when the IRS is notified that government appropriations have lapsed and that a shutdown is to be initiated. All furloughed IRS employees will be able to return to work, and the Service will resume normal operations, when funds are appropriated. To avoid a shutdown, Congress must approve a budget for fiscal 2024 or a continuing resolution that keeps the government operating temporarily by Saturday, Sept. 30. If a government shutdown lasts for more than five business days, the IRS human capital officer will coordinate a Service-wide reassessment of the excepted activities. With the Oct. 16 deadline looming for some 10.5 million individual tax returns on extension, here is a look at IRS operations that would stop and those that would continue under the plan.
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Top 99 Metro Areas for Accountants (Little Rock metro area ranks #4 out of top 99)
Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Conway metro area ranked #4 out of 99 top metro areas for accountants in 2023.
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IRS orders immediate stop to new Employee Retention Credit processing amid surge of questionable claims
To protect taxpayers from scams, IRS orders immediate stop to new Employee Retention Credit processing amid surge of questionable claims; concerns from tax pros, aggressive marketing to ineligible applicants highlights unacceptable risk to businesses and the tax system. Moratorium on processing of new claims through year’s end will allow IRS to add more safeguards to prevent future abuse, protect businesses from predatory tactics; IRS working with Justice Department to pursue fraud fueled by aggressive marketin
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Federal Trade Commission Rule Takes Effect on June 9, 2023, Requiring WISP
An updated Federal Trade Commission rule takes effect on June 9, 2023, and it affects many members, including tax practitioners. A Written Information Security Plan (WISP) is required by the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Safeguards Rule of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) whereby financial institutions, including tax preparers, must develop, implement and maintain a comprehensive security plan to protect customer and client information.
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IRS: Arkansas storm victims qualify for tax relief; April 18 deadline, other dates extended to July 31
Arkansas storm victims now have until July 31, 2023, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. The Internal Revenue Service announced this news on April 3, 2023. The IRS is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a result of tornadoes and severe storms that occurred on March 31. This means that individuals and households that reside or have a business in Cross, Lonoke and Pulaski counties qualify for tax relief. Other areas added later to the disaster area will also qualify for the same relief. The current list of eligible localities is always available on the disaster relief page on IRS.gov. The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on March 31, 2023. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until July 31, 2023, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period.
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Legal Notice - DFA Adopt Rule 2022-6 Elective Pass Through Entity Tax
In compliance with Act 434 of 1967, The Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, as Amended, notice is hereby given the Department of Finance and Administration intends to Adopt Rule 2022-6, titled, Arkansas Elective Pass-Through Entity Tax.
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AICPA Releases New Quality Management Standards
Four Standards Reflect a More Risk-Based, Scalable and Customized Approach to Quality The American Institute of CPAs’ Auditing Standards Board and Accounting and Review Services Committee have collectively released four new quality management standards designed to improve a CPA firm's risk assessment and audit quality. The new standards modernize quality control and reflect new realities in practice, such as an increased emphasis on risk assessment, changes in technology and the growing use of external service providers.
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IRS increases mileage rate for remainder of 2022
IR-2022-124, June 9, 2022 WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rate for the final 6 months of 2022. Taxpayers may use the optional standard mileage rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business and certain other purposes.
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Certain tax services do not violate US ban on provision of accounting services in relation to Russia sanctions
A U.S. accounting firm is not prohibited by a White House executive order regarding U.S. sanctions against Russia from providing tax advisory and preparation services to the U.S. subsidiary of a Russian company in certain scenarios, according to guidance issued Thursday by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). On May 8, the United States announced expanded sanctions against Russia in response to the war in Ukraine. Those sanctions prohibited "U.S. persons from providing accounting, trust and corporate formation, and management consulting services to any person in the Russian Federation," according to a White House statement. Practitioners had questions about the sanctions' applying to various types of services, including tax-related services, and some clarity has been provided by an update to frequently asked questions (FAQs) posted by OFAC.
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Arkansas DFA Addresses Corporate Tax Reporting Issues
A letter on March 8, 2022, from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration Corporate Tax Section regarding errors that are occurring on apportioned business income tax returns recently filed for corporations and partnerships.