IRS help centers’ worth not tracked

Washington The Internal Revenue Service cannot tell whether its 400 help centers effectively aid taxpayers because the agency doesn’t know who seeks help or why, an independent auditor said Tuesday.

The report comes after the IRS announced plans to close 68 of those taxpayer assistance centers, or TACs, in anticipation of cuts to its customer service budget next year.

The IRS disputed the findings and said it would explore ideas for getting more input from taxpayers about the services they need at help centers.

The centers give taxpayers a place to talk face-to-face with an IRS agent and get help interpreting tax laws, preparing a tax return, resolving problems with tax accounts, making payments and finding forms and instructions.

Sterling stock to split 3-for-2

Sterling Financial Corp., the Spokane-based parent company of Sterling Savings Bank, announced its board has approved a 3-for-2 stock split to take place next month.

Shareholders of record on Aug. 17 will receive one additional Sterling share for every two shares they own. The additional stock will be issued on Aug. 31.

The stock split is expected to increase Sterling’s outstanding shares to about 34.7 million, from about 23.1 million shares on June 30.

Companies frequently split their stock in an effort to make their shares more affordable and attractive to more investors.

Sterling’s stock closed at $38.51 a share Tuesday, up 25 cents.

Ex-exec at Qwest to pay $2.1 million

Denver Federal regulators said Tuesday a former executive of Qwest Communications International Inc. has agreed to pay $2.1 million to settle civil charges that he participated in a fraud conspiracy that forced the telecommunications company to restate billions in revenue.

Gregory M. Casey also agreed to cooperate with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into accounting irregularities at the Denver-based company, which serves 14 mostly Western states. He did not admit any wrongdoing.

The agreement prohibits Casey from acting as an officer or director of a public company for five years.

“This is an important settlement and this will move our case forward,” said Mary Brady, assistant SEC regional director for enforcement. “We view him as an important witness.”

Casey’s attorney did not immediately return a telephone message.

Casey and federal regulators reached a tentative settlement in May. Details were withheld until Tuesday.

GMAC to sell loans to Bank of America

Detroit General Motors Corp.’s GMAC financial services unit said Tuesday it will sell up to $55 billion worth of U.S. auto loans to Bank of America Corp. over the next five years in a deal to raise cash and help the division finance more vehicles.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, the nation’s second-largest bank by assets, will make an initial purchase of $5 billion. In each of the agreement’s five years, Bank of America will purchase up to $10 billion of GMAC’s active U.S. auto-finance contracts.

GMAC will continue to service the contracts. Bank of America will hold the loans and sell them to investors.

Yuan value won’t rise sharply, bank says

Beijing China’s central bank warned Tuesday that it has no plans to allow sharp increases in the yuan’s value, saying a 2 percent increase last week was part of an exchange-rate reform and not a prelude to more increases.

The bank denied what it said were mistaken news reports that the move to break the currency’s link to the dollar last week could lead to a stronger yuan.

The government’s move last week abandoned the yuan’s decade-old link to the dollar and switched to a more flexible system based on a basket of foreign currencies. The government also increased the yuan’s value by about 2 percent against the U.S. currency.

The yuan’s daily movement is restricted to a 0.3 percent band against that basket. But economists say that over time, it could allow the yuan to strengthen by 10 to 15 percent against the dollar.

Auto sales strong; deals may continue

Detroit Auto sales could hit a four-year high this month thanks to popular employee-pricing discounts, leading some dealers to believe that U.S. automakers will extend the deals until Labor Day.

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG all are allowing consumers to buy vehicles at the employee rate through Monday. None of the automakers would say this week whether they plan to continue the deals.

July sales could be the highest the country has seen since October 2001, when U.S. automakers began offering zero-percent financing in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Merrill Lynch analyst John Casesa said this week in a note to investors. Even foreign automakers that don’t have the discounts are benefiting, he said. Automakers are scheduled to report July sales Aug. 2.

Bush to make CAFTA pitch to House GOP

Washington President Bush will address House Republicans today as part of the final drive to capture the votes of undecided lawmakers needed to pass the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

The president, who has actively campaigned for the free trade pact known as CAFTA, will speak during a closed meeting of GOP members.

The administration signed CAFTA a year ago with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, but it has struggled to come up with the votes in the House needed to put the agreement into effect.

The Senate approved the pact last month. Supporters in the House have faced near-united opposition from Democrats and a large contingent of opposing or undeclared Republicans.

The agreement would eliminate tariffs and other trade barriers on U.S. exports to the six nations and increase protections for investment and intellectual property.