HIGHLIGHTS The SEC
enhanced the Internet-based search capability of
its EDGAR database of
company filings. Users now can search the contents
of disclosure documents with a full-text search
tool. The newly searchable information includes
registration statements, annual and quarterly
reports and other filings by companies and mutual
funds during the past four years. The SEC plans
further enhancements based on user feedback.
E-mail requests, comments and suggestions to
textsearch@sec.gov . The EDGAR full-text
search tool is available at
http://searchwww.sec.gov/EDGARFSClient/jsp/EDGAR_MainAccess.jsp
. Some employers
may need to keep closer tabs on their
reimbursements of employees
work-related expenses, the IRS said in revenue
ruling 2006-56. The guidance notes that
reimbursements that exceed actual expenses or IRS
guidelines for per diem rates are subject to
income and employment tax. Where an employers
expense reimbursement plan has no mechanism or
process in place for determining when employee
reimbursements exceed appropriate amounts, the
failure of the plan to treat the excess allowances
as wages for employment tax purposes may cause all
payments made to employees under the plan to be
subject to taxation. The AICPA
published a practice guide to FASB
Interpretation no. 48 (FIN 48). FIN
48, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income
Taxes, applies to all companies that
report in U.S. GAAP, including closely held
businesses. It requires a higher standard for
accruing a tax benefit in financial statements
than the IRS imposes on tax returns. For tax years
beginning after December 15, 2006, the tax accrual
may contain only positions meeting the more
likely than not standard, and the financial
statements must include quantitative and
qualitative disclosures related to unrecognized
tax benefits. For calendar-year corporations, the
new rules take effect with first quarter 2007
results. However, the new rules
require calendar-year corporations to have a
clean starting point for their tax accounts on
January 1, 2007. In other words, the deferred tax
asset and deferred tax liability accounts on that
date must be determined in accordance with the
standards of FIN 48. The AICPA
Auditing Standards Board (ASB) has clarified
GAAS A by issuing Statement on
Auditing Standards (SAS) no. 113, Omnibus
2006. It amplifies terminology of SAS no.
95, Generally Accepted Auditing Standards,
in accordance with SAS no. 102,
Defining Professional Requirements in Statements
on Auditing Standards. The ASB
also issued Statement on Standards for Attestation
Engagements (SSAE) no. 14, SSAE Hierarchy.
For copies of the new standards, contact the
AICPA at 888-777-7077. The IRS
applied tax liens and levies correctly
most of the time during fiscal
2004, a GAO study concluded. In 98% of the
Collection Due Process cases that were appealed,
the IRS Appeals Office determined that the
Services collection personnel followed proper
procedures, the GAO said. Roughly 60% of liens and
levies were upheld on appeal, often because
taxpayers did not qualify for a collection
alternative since they did not file all required
tax returns. For about 27% of taxpayers, the
Appeals Office negotiated a collection
alternative, thereby avoiding the lien or levy.
Another 11% of taxpayers withdrew their appeals.
When taxpayers raised the same arguments as before
they appealed, the position of the IRS collection
personnel was upheld more than 80% of the time.
The report is available at
www.gao.gov/new.items/d07112.pdf .
The
International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)
Professional Accountants in
Business Committee issued an exposure draft,
Defining and Developing an Effective Code of
Conduct, highlighting the role
professional accountants in business play in
driving and supporting organizational ethics and
conducting ethics programs. The committee revised
the guidance following significant comments
received on an ED on the same topic issued in
January 2006; it now recommends an approach based
on a values-driven code. Comments are due February
16, 2007. The ED is available at
www.ifac.org/EDs . Four CPAs will
be part of the 110th Congress,
two fewer than the last Congress, following
the re-election in the House of John Campbell
(R-Calif.), Michael Conaway (R-Texas), Collin
Peterson (D-Minn.) and Brad Sherman (D-Calif.).
Among other changes in the new Congress: Rep.
Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is expected to succeed Rep.
Mike Oxley (R-Ohio) as chairman of the House
Financial Services Committee. Frank has stated
concerns about the requirements of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act, especially with regard to
smaller companies, but he has expressed confidence
in the ability of the SEC and PCAOB to address the
requirements through the regulatory process.
Following the retirement of Sen. Paul Sarbanes
(D-Md.), Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) will be
the ranking Democrat and likely chairman of the
Senate Banking Committee.
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Publishing Director
Geoffrey L. Pickard
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
Colleen Katz
Managing Editor
Cheryl Rosen
Senior Editors
Laura Baron Paul
Bonner Katharine W. Coveleski
Peter D. Fleming
Michael Hayes Matthew Lamoreaux
James Quaglietta
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
Production Editor
D. Hillel Lofaso
Senior Production Associates
Valrie Mason,
Ingrid Medina
Associate Publisher
Thomas R. Greve |
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Karin DeMarco
Advertising Representatives
Collene Ellenberger, Joseph
Torres Advertising
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John Weinberg
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EDITORIAL ADVISORS
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, Steven E. Sacks, Peggy Scott,
Carolyn Sechler, Gary Shamis, Ivan J.
Sotomayor, Alan Steiger, Paul C. Sullivan,
Barry S. Sziklay, Gary R. Trugman, Joseph
T. Wells, 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 |
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