With lodging prices still well below the highs seen in 2008, the U.S. General Services Administration has left the standard federal per diem rate for 2012 unchanged from the lower 2011 rates. In addition, the rates for most non-standard areas will also remain consistent with 2011 rates.

Organizations sending their payees a second "B" Notice must include language informing the recipient of new procedures for certifying their Taxpayer Identification Numbers.

The second "B" Notice requires the recipient to certify their TIN with the Social Security Administration if he or she is an individual. Recipients that have an Employer ID Number must certify their TINs with the Internal Revenue Service.

Cloud computing has gained considerable popularity during the last several years. While many small and medium-sized businesses stand to benefit from implementing cloud solutions, there are also challenges to overcome.

In an article published by AccoungWeb, Michael Barber, marketing manager for Sage, spoke about the benefits and obstacles of moving to the cloud.

How would your organization react if the IRS pushed up the 1099-filing deadline by weeks or even months?

Before you start panicking, the deadline has not been changed. Organizations must still provide 1099s to their payees before Jan. 31 and to the IRS before Feb. 28 (March 31 for electronic filing). However, recent comments from IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman reveal that the IRS is considering some changes.

If your organization uses per diem rates to reimburse employees for business travel, then a recent move by the IRS may change how much can be excluded from income.

According to IRS Announcement 2011-42, the IRS plans to discontinue use of the high-low substantiation method for per diem reimbursements. The announcement does not say if this means that all cities will begin using the federal per diem rate, but that is a possibility.

Although paper invoices still significantly outnumber electronic in the United States, one government agency is bucking the trends and going 100 percent electronic.

According to an article published on Market Watch, the U.S. Department of Treasury will soon require all commercial vendors to submit their invoices electronically. The move is an attempt to reduce the Treasury’s transaction costs.

Due to a surge in gas prices during the first half of 2011, the IRS has issued a rare mid-year mileage rate update.

Beginning July 1, 2011, the standard mileage rates for the business use of a car (including vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

55.5 cents per mile for business miles driven;
23.5 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes; and
14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations.

If you have suppliers holding onto uncashed checks, let them know that waiting to retrieve those funds after they have been reported to the state as unclaimed property could be expensive.

Searching for unclaimed property on a government site, such as your state's department of revenue or the U.S. Treasury's unclaimed property site, is free. However, there are also businesses out there willing to reunite owners with their property - for a price.

Organizations expecting the IRS to increase the mileage rate in response to rising gas prices should think again. The IRS plans to leave the rate where it is.

Twice during the past six years, the IRS has raised the standard mileage rate during the summer due to spikes in the price of gas. In 2005, for example, the IRS raised the rate from 40.5 cents to 48.5 cents after Hurricane Katrina sent gas prices soaring.

Employee classification has been a contentious issue between lawmakers and businesses for years. Things may get worse between the two if a new bill working its way through Congress becomes law.

The bill, called the Payroll Fraud Prevention Act, is designed to improve compliance with existing classification rules. However, a key provision in the bill could end up hurting businesses that properly classify their workers.