The Treasury Department and the IRS proposed
amendments to Circular 230, which governs tax professionals
practicing before the IRS (
www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=154248,00.html). The
revisions would modify the definition of practice, eligibility
for enrollment as an agent, unenrolled practice and the rules
concerning contingent fees, conflicts of interest, standards
with respect to tax returns and documents, affidavits and
other papers, sanctions, discovery, publicity and appeals.
Comments are due April 7, 2006.
An AICPA special task force of CPAs from firms
and industry and regulators released recommendations to
enhance the transparency of the Institute’s peer review
programs (
www.aicpa.org/transparency). Chief among them were
proposals to provide state boards of accountancy with adverse
or second consecutive modified reports on firms receiving
them, to require that peer review reports be written in “plain
English,” to publicly report on the peer review programs’
oversight process, to make peer review a condition of
licensure in all states, to recruit high-quality peer
reviewers and to permit all AICPA member firms to post their
review results in the Institute’s public file.
FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting
Standards no. 155, Accounting for Certain Hybrid Financial
Instruments, which amends FASB Statement nos. 133,
Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging
Activities, and 140, Accounting for Transfers and Servicing
of Financial Assets and Extinguishments of Liabilities.
The new guidance permits remeasurement at fair
value of any hybrid financial instrument containing a
derivative that otherwise would have to be accounted for
separately (
www.fasb.org/pdf/fas155.pdf). The statement (see Official
Releases, page 96) is effective for all financial instruments
acquired or issued during an entity’s first fiscal year
beginning after September 15, 2006.
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board
published proposed guidance on how an employer or defined
benefit other postemployment benefit (OPEB) plan should report
payments it receives under Medicare’s Part D prescription drug
coverage ( www.gasb.org).
Comments are due April 17, 2006.
The AICPA Professional Ethics Executive Committee
adopted a Conceptual Framework for AICPA Independence
Standards and a related revision to Interpretation
101-1 under Rule 101, Independence, of the Code of
Professional Conduct. The committee also adopted revisions to
Ethics Interpretation 501-1, “Response to Requests by Clients
and Former Clients for Records under Rule 501, Acts
Discreditable,” that provides guidance on the ethical
responsibilities of members regarding requests for client
records or other documents that are in their custody or
control (
www.aicpa.org/members/div/ethics; see also Official
Releases, page 96).
The AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality
Center issued Obtaining Quality Employee Benefit Plan
Audit Services: The Request for Proposal and Auditor
Evaluation Process, a tool to help plan sponsors and
other stakeholders hire qualified auditors (
www.aicpa.org/EBPAQC). The document explains how to
prepare a request for proposal and evaluate responses to
it.
Leaders of accounting organizations from around
the world, including AICPA President and CEO Barry C.
Melancon, gathered recently in London at the International
Federation of Accountants’ (IFAC) invitation to discuss
improving the quality of governments’ financial reporting and
financial management (
www.ifac.org). The participants agreed to encourage
governments to adopt IFAC’s International Public Sector
Accounting Standards. “We are pleased that the world
accountancy body is approaching this issue in a manner
consistent with GAO Comptroller General David Walker’s focus
in the United States,” Melancon said.
The AICPA expressed concern to the California
State Board of Accountancy that its new practice privilege
requirements for out-of-state CPAs are burdensome (
www.aicpa.org/download/news/2006/AICPA_Practice). The
Institute is working with the California Society of CPAs and
the state board to resolve related issues. Information on this
and other state licensing requirements is available at www.aicpa.org/statelicensing.
The SEC and the Public Company Accounting
Oversight Board (PCAOB) are sponsoring a roundtable on May 10,
2006, for issuers, auditors, investors and others to discuss
their second-year experiences with the reporting and auditing
requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley Act provisions on internal
control over financial reporting. The SEC and PCAOB also are
requesting written feedback by May 1, 2006, on lessons learned
in implementing those requirements (
www.sec.gov/news/press/2006-22.htm).
The Institute submitted comments to Congress
questioning a certain provision in the Tax Relief Act of 2005
(HR 4297;
http://tax.aicpa.org). The Institute opposed the bill’s
“more likely than not” standard for return positions and its
codification of the “economic substance” doctrine.
The IRS made it simpler for businesses to request
an extension of their tax return filing deadline (
www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=154554,00.html).
Taxpayers who previously filed extension forms 8800, 8736,
7004 and 2758 now will have to file only revised form
7004. | Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Colleen
Katz
Project Team Leader Geoffrey
L. Pickard
Managing Editor Cheryl Rosen
Senior Editors Laura Baron
Katharine W. Coveleski Peter D. Fleming
Michael Hayes James
Quaglietta Robert Tie
Senior Assistant Editor Sarah
Cobb
Assistant Editor Vince Nolan
| Contributing
Editors Anita Dennis Lesli S.
Laffie Barbara J. Shildneck Joseph T.
Wells Stanley Zarowin
Production Director Peter M.
Tuohy
Art Director Jeryl A.
Costello
Production Manager Gene
Cioffi
Senior Production
Associates Valrie Mason Ingrid
Medina
Associate Publisher Thomas R.
Greve | Advertising Team
Manager Karin DeMarco
Advertising
Representatives Larry
Hookey Joseph Torres
Advertising Coordinator John
Weinberg
Editorial
Offices 201-938-3292 e-mail:
joaed@aicpa.org
Advertising
Office 201-938-3767
Classified Ads Russell Johns
Associates, Inc.
800-237-9851 e-mail: joa@rja-ads.com
| | EDITORIAL ADVISERS
Catherine Allen, Kenneth D. Askelson, James
Bean, John C. Boma, Steven J. Brown, Jolene C. Brucks,
Thomas F. Burrage, Linda Burt, J. Gregory Bushong, R.
Patrick Cargill, Benson J. Chapman, Rosemarie T. Dunn,
Thomas Emmerling, Elizabeth Fender, Robert J. Freeman,
Kim Gibson, Alan Glazer, Randi K. Grant, Patrick T.
Hanratty, DeAnn Hill, James E. Hunton, Sandra
Johnigan, Susan S. Jones, G. William Kennedy, Frank J.
Kopczynski, Jeffrey B. Kraut, Dennis B. Kremer, Alan
Levin, John Lewison, Joseph P. Liotta, Mano Mahadeva,
Jane M. Mancino, Benjamin F. Mathews, David McIntee,
Anita Meola, Debra Mitchell, Roger H. Molvar, Brenda
Morris, Craig Murray, Glenn Newman, Lyne P. Noella,
Edward T. Odmark, Mary P. Ricciardello, Mark L.
Richardson, Marshall B. Romney, Peggy Scott, Carolyn
Sechler, Gary Shamis, Ivan J. Sotomayor, Alan Steiger,
Paul C. Sullivan, Barry S. Sziklay, Gary R. Trugman,
Robert Willens, Mark A. Yahoudy, Alan S.
Zipp | MEMBER PANELS
Accounting: John Althoff, J. Gregory
Bushong, Alan Glazer, Russell Golden, Debra Mitchell,
Daniel Noll, Edward T. Odmark, Alan Steiger; Auditing:
Catherine Allen, Susan S. Jones, Charles E. Landes,
Joseph P. Liotta, Douglas Prawitt, Thomas Ratcliffe,
Edward T. Odmark, Ivan J. Sotomayor; Business
& Industry: Kenneth D. Askelson, Stuart
R. Benton, Benson J. Chapman, Jeffrey B. Kraut, Alan
Steiger; Business Valuation/Litigation
Services: Thomas F. Burrage, Robert Gray,
Edward Mendlowitz, Robert F. Reilly, Linda
Trugman; Personal Financial Planning:
John C. Boma, R. Patrick Cargill, Thomas
Emmerling, Patrick T. Hanratty, Peggy Scott, Mark A.
Yahoudy; Practice Management: Richard
V. Kretz, Bea L. Nahon, William Pirolli, Carolyn
Sechler, Gary Shamis; Tax: Steven J.
Brown, Benson J. Chapman, DeAnn Hill, Sidney Kess,
William Stromsem, Steven
Thompson | |