The IRS clarified certain instructions for form
1040, schedule D, which the AICPA had said imposed significant
burdens on individual taxpayers reporting capital gains and
losses (
www.irs.gov/formspubs/article/0,,id=109875,00.html; www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=153349,00.html).
Taxpayers can continue using a substitute statement to provide
this information in a format similar to lines 1 and 8 of
schedules D and D-1. They are not required to report the
details of each transaction in the official versions of those
schedules but must, nevertheless, provide such details with
the tax return—for example, as an attachment.
The IRS posted on its Web site final Roth 401(k)
regulations issued in December 2005 and answers to frequently
asked questions on Roth 401(k) contributions (
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/; www.irs.gov/retirement/article/0%2C%2Cid=152956%2C00.html)
(see News
Digest, JofA, Feb.06, page 19). The IRS also
issued temporary and proposed regulations that significantly
simplify tax-filing requirements for small employers (www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=152458,00.html).
Comments are due April 3, 2006.
The SEC proposed rules amending disclosure
requirements for executive and director compensation,
related-party transactions, director independence and other
corporate governance matters and security ownership by
officers and directors (
www.sec.gov/news/press/2006-10.htm). The proposals require
disclosure in plain English (www.sec.gov/news/extra/handbook.htm)
and modify the compensation arrangement reporting requirements
in Form 8-K. Comments are due April 10, 2006, and can be
submitted electronically at www.sec.gov/rules/proposed.shtml.
FASB issued an exposure draft (ED), The Fair
Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities,
that would permit companies to report at fair value any
financial assets and liabilities they irrevocably select on a
contract-by-contract basis (
www.fasb.org/draft/ed_fair_value_option.pdf). Any
valuation changes would be included in corporate earnings,
which the board aims to make less volatile by enabling
companies to account for fair-value fluctuations more
consistently than is possible under current rules. Comments
are due April 10, 2006. (A subsequent proposal will address
nonfinancial assets and liabilities.)
The International Federation of Accountants
issued Guidance for the Development of a Code of Corporate
Conduct, an ED designed to help accountants imbue their
organizations with pervasive and enduring ethical values and
standards (
www.ifac.org/guidance/exd-download.php?EDFID=00163).
Comments are due April 15, 2006.
The AICPA Tax Executive Committee issued proposed
Statement on Standards for Tax Services no. 9, Quality
Control, which defines the “adequate system of quality
control” that members providing public or private tax services
must establish and maintain in order to provide reasonable
assurance their personnel comply with applicable professional
standards (
www.aicpa.org/tax/ssts9exposuredraft). Comments are due
August 31, 2006.
The boards of directors of the AICPA and the
National Association of State Boards of Accountancy approved
the Uniform Accountancy Act, Fourth Edition (
www.aicpa.org/download/states/uaa_2005_fourth_edition.doc).
Among other changes, it contains revised provisions governing
peer review, substantial equivalency and confidentiality of
state board records.
The AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board issued a
proposed Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements
(SSAE), Reporting on an Entity’s Internal Control Over
Financial Reporting (
www.aicpa.org/members/div/auditstd/internal_control_financial_reporting.htm).
A revision to an ED issued in March 2003, it reflects guidance
from Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Auditing
Standard no. 2, An Audit of Internal Control Over
Financial Reporting Performed in Conjunction With an Audit
of Financial Statements, that is appropriate for
examining the internal controls of nonissuers; it is useful to
financial institutions, insurers and government entities. An
accompanying document, “A Framework for Evaluating Control
Exceptions and Deficiencies,” presents techniques helpful in
applying the SSAE. Comments are due May 19, 2006.
The International Accounting Standards Board ( www.iasb.org) published
proposed international financial reporting standard, ED 8,
Operating Segments, to give financial statement
users greater insight into an entity’s management of its
operations. The ED would replace International Accounting
Standard 14, Segment Reporting, and align IASB
guidance with FASB Statement no. 131, Disclosures about
Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information (www.fasb.org/st/summary/stsum131.shtml).
The IRS issued Publication 4492, Information
for Taxpayers Affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and
Wilma, which lists regions designated as disaster areas
or eligible for administrative relief or tax breaks under
recent legislation (
www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4492.pdf). The GAO released a
similar document, Government Auditing Standards: Temporary
Exceptions and Guidance in Response to Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita (www.gao.gov/govaud/hurricanedocument.pdf).
| 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 | |