“I’ve told most of my family and friends that if and when I became chairman of the awesome and powerful Ways and Means Committee, I didn’t want to be treated any differently from any other world leader.” —House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., to the National
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Tax Patents Considered
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office since 1998 has granted patents to business methods. In recent years, these patents have come to include strategies to minimize tax, a development many observers find troubling. Tax strategy patents complicate tax advising, return preparation and compliance, since
Make Your Own Turn-Off Button—and More
If all you want is a turn-off button, that’s easy. I can give you more. Not only will I give you a turn-off switch, I’ll raise you two: I’ll show you how to create three buttons—a one-step turn off, a one-step quick restart and an emergency button to abort those
AICPA Honors CPA and Firm for Public Service Efforts
Robert F. Kevane, CPA, and Mountjoy & Bressler LLP received the AICPA’s 2006 Public Service Awards. Doyle Williams, CPA, Ph.D., chair of the Institute’s Awards Committee, dean emeritus of Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas and senior scholar in the accounting department of Kennesaw State
Disallowed Idemnity Deduction Blues
From time to time, corporate officers and shareholders agree to indemnify their corporations for certain expenses and losses. The taxpayer would prefer to claim an ordinary loss deduction instead of a capital loss or, worse, a nondeductible payment. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently denied such a claim. Isaac
Financial Reporting
“The next steps that the Commission is announcing today will keep us on course with the Roadmap announced in 2005,” SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said in a press release. Pending public comments on the proposal, “we remain on track to eliminate reconciliation by 2009.” In a staff position document, FASB
Auditing
The AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section created an online toolkit devoted to Statement on Auditing Standards no. 112, Communication of Internal Control Related Matters Identified in an Audit. SAS 112 is effective for audits of periods ending on or after Dec. 15, 2006. The toolkit includes talking points, sample client
Tip Your Hat to Tipsters
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners found occupational frauds are more likely to be detected by tips (34% of cases) than by internal audits (20%), external audits (12%), internal controls (19%) or police alerts (4%); accidental detection uncovered fraud 25% of the time. In some of the 1,134 cases studied,
Smart Stops on the Web
WEALTH MANAGEMENT SECURING A REPUTABLE BROKER www.nasd.com/brokercheck The NASD has answered the calls of investors looking for background information on potential financial service providers. The organization’s BrokerCheck Program lets users research current or formerly registered securities firms, individual brokers and regulated Investment Adviser firms. It also provides a comprehensive 10-year
Gender Gap in Financial Preparedness
The latest Retirement Fitness Survey reported about six out of 10 women felt worried (58%) and uncertain (61%) about planning financially for retirement. Married women appeared less prepared than their unmarried counterparts, with 39% vs. 27% not knowing how much they had saved for retirement (20% of married men and
Delivering Difficult Messages
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY No one relishes an uncomfortable conversation. When the best interests of a company, firm, individual or the public are threatened, it’s important to “be a leader” and take on the task. A three-stage process can be relied on to broach any uncomfortable conversation: (1)
Data Point: $48.7 Billion
Tax receipts from individuals on April 24, 2007, a one-day IRS record. Source: Reuters.
A Risk-Based Approach to Journal Entry Testing
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The top-side journal entry is most susceptible to fraud by management override. It’s possible to make adjustments in subledgers, but this requires collusion with other organizational departments, which is much harder to accomplish. The most frequent types of management fraud involve fictitious or premature
Bills Target Contractor Scofflaws; Fed Workers Delinquent
U.S. Rep. Ed Towns, D-N.Y., in April introduced the Contractor Tax Enforcement Act, HR 1870, to bar federal tax debtors from contracting with the government. Another bill, introduced by Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind., would require contractors to certify they don’t owe a federal tax debt. The proposed legislation followed by a
Simplifying Global Accounting
As chair of the London-based International Accounting Standards Board, Sir David Tweedie is championing an effort to develop a single set of global financial reporting standards that will be both understandable and enforceable. More than 100 countries now require or permit the use of International Financial Reporting
FYI
Girard Miller, CFA, and Jan I. Sylvis, CPA, were appointed to five-year terms on the GASB board starting July 1. Miller most recently served as president of Janus Funds and chief operating officer of Janus Capital Group. Sylvis is chief of accounts for Tennessee’s Department of Finance and Administration. They
International
The SEC, the United Kingdom Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the United Kingdom Financial Reporting Council (FRC) signed a protocol for implementing the work plan between the SEC and the Committee of European Securities Regulators to share information on application of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by issuers listed in
An Antidote to Excess
A recent study by Institutional Shareholder Services found CEO succession planning, which many public company boards have adopted over the past three years, to be a key practice in reducing excessive executive and golden parachute payments. The study suggests that without a succession plan in place, a board can become
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From The Tax Adviser
March 31, 2026
Current developments in taxation of individuals: Part 1
March 31, 2026
Current Developments in Taxation of Individuals: Part 1
March 6, 2026
