Compliance October 28, 2005

IRS Opens Abusive Tax Scheme Settlement Process

October 28, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - In an effort to get taxpayers to voluntarily confess their involvement in abusive tax schemes, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has unveiled a new "quick, quiet, and cost-effective" settlement process.
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IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said that illegal schemes qualified for the resolution plan include those that have been offered over the past five years in the cafeteria plan and parking benefit arena that have been termed “double-dipping.”

Relief from penalties is available if voluntarily disclosed by the appropriate taxpayers.  The deadline to submit settlement papers is January 23, 2006. In making the announcement, Everson blamed the abusive transactions in part on “lawyers and accountants peddling flaky tax products” that were marketed to small businesses, large corporations, and wealthy individuals.

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Many of the abuses cited were tax shelters for individuals, S-Corporations and ESOPS, officials said.

An IRS fact sheet is  here . Additional information is  here .

Products October 27, 2005

Schwab Taps State Street for Fund Services

October 27, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - State Street Corporation has been selected by Charles Schwab Investment Management (CSIM) to provide a broad range of investment services including accounting, custody and securities lending to the Schwab Funds and Laudus funds.
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State Street is the leading provider of fund accounting in the United States, servicing more than 40% of the mutual fund industry. CSIM represents more than 67 funds in total and $140 billion in assets.

“Our goal is to move from a complex structure of several outside vendor relationships to a simpler one, consolidating to gain efficiency,” said George Pereira, chief financial officer of CSIM, in a State Street press release. “The new fund accounting and custody structure we have implemented will offer numerous benefits, including a simpler and more scalable operating structure, a more efficient shareholder reporting process and tighter risk management.”

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