Xero has named PayPal executive Peter Karpas as the company's first North American CEO. And the New Zealand-based cloud software company showed the importance of the market in the United States by naming a former Microsoft CFO as the company's new chairman.

An appellate court has upheld a lower court ruling that struck down the attempt by the Internal Revenue Service to regulate professional tax return preparers. The ruling means the attempt to impose examinations and educational requirements remains dead under the current law.

The Justice Department went after tax preparers in three states last week in efforts to shutter individuals and business it claimed abused the tax return process. The court actions included the effort to close down Salt Lake City, Utah, preparers Rulon Sandoval, Andrea R. Acosta Hernandez and Latinos Office for allegedly fabricating deductions, falsely claiming tax credits and using false preparer identification numbers.