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All eyes on standards as PCC holds first meeting

After decades of deliberation on the process for deciding accounting standards for private companies, the standards themselves are about to be reviewed by a new council. The new Private Company Council (PCC) created by the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) will meet for the first time Thursday in Norwalk, Conn. The

Income from partnership is self-employment income where taxpayer chose not to be a partner

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that payments a taxpayer received from a nursing home business were taxable self-employment income despite the taxpayer’s convoluted attempts to characterize them as partnership distributions (Plotkin, No. 12-10620 (11th Cir. 11/27/12), aff’g T.C. Memo. 2011-260). The taxpayer operated nursing homes through various partnerships

New ITIN procedures issued for 2013 filing season

As the IRS promised when it issued the strict new individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) procedures earlier this year, it has issued slightly easier procedures, effective Jan. 1, 2013, for the 2013 filing season (FS-2012-11). While some requirements have been eased slightly, others have been made more stringent. The IRS

IASB proposes limited classification, measurement changes to financial instruments standard

Limited changes to IFRS standards for classification and measurement of financial instruments were proposed Wednesday in an International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) exposure draft. The proposal would change IFRS 9, Financial Instruments, as part of a larger convergence project with FASB as the boards reform accounting for financial instruments, which

FASB proposes narrowing scope of offsetting disclosures

A new proposal would narrow the definition of financial instruments in FASB’s recently implemented standard on disclosures about offsetting assets and liabilities. FASB on Monday issued a Proposed Accounting Standards Update (ASU), Balance Sheet (Topic 210): Clarifying the Scope of Disclosures About Offsetting Assets and Liabilities. Comments from stakeholders are

Rev. proc. updates guidance on adequate disclosure of return positions

The IRS released its annual update identifying when a taxpayer’s disclosure of an item or position in an income tax return is adequate for purposes of reducing the understatement of tax penalty and the tax return preparer penalty for understatement due to unreasonable positions (Rev. Proc. 2012-51). Rev. Proc. 2012-51

SEC Chairman Schapiro to step down; Walter designated as replacement

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, who has led the agency’s response to the financial crisis, announced Monday that she will step down Dec. 14. President Barack Obama designated Elisse Walter, a current SEC commissioner, as chairman upon Schapiro’s departure. Walter can serve without Senate approval through December 2013 because the Senate

Online shopping sends business productivity down the Amazon

With the arrival of the holiday shopping season, the analysis of a particular work email account serves as a cautionary tale to employers. Barb Bowes, a human resources consultant and president of Legacy Bowes Group in Winnipeg, Manitoba, offered the example of a company that found an average of 35

FASB, IASB tentatively change revenue recognition constraint

The cumulative amount of revenue entities recognize under a new converged standard should not be subject to a significant revenue reversal or downward adjustment under guidance tentatively approved this week by FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The boards met Monday by videoconference to discuss elements of the

Standard mileage rates go up a penny in 2013

Optional standard mileage rates for use of a vehicle will go up by 1 cent per mile for 2013, the IRS said Wednesday (Notice 2012-72). Taxpayers can use the optional standard mileage rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile. For business use of a car, van, pickup

Effective date of tangible property regs. delayed

The IRS announced on Tuesday that it is delaying the effective date of the temporary regulations it issued in December 2011 governing whether tangible property expenses could be deducted or had to be capitalized (T.D. 9564), which were to apply to tax years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2012.

Former AICPA chairwoman named deputy president on IFAC board

Olivia Kirtley, CPA, CGMA, a member of the AICPA’s governing Council and former chairwoman of the AICPA board of directors, has been named deputy president on the board of the International Federation of Accountants, a global organization dedicated to strengthening the accounting profession. Her term begins immediately, IFAC spokeswoman Laura

IASB to add member from U.S.

U.S. representation on the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) won’t decrease with the end of Paul Pacter’s term, as another U.S. representative, Mary Tokar, has been appointed to the board. Tokar, a CPA, has served more than 10 years as the global leader for KPMG’s international financial reporting group, helping

IAASB proposes that auditors expand review of “other information”

A new International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) proposal would require auditors to read and consider information in certain documents that accompany audited financial statements. If this additional information leads the auditor to identify a material inconsistency, or a misstatement in the audited financial statements, the auditor would be

ARSC seeks comment on SSARS proposals

The AICPA Accounting and Review Services Committee (ARSC) has exposed for public comment proposed Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS) as part of its clarity project. ARSC has separated the proposals in an attempt to make the clarified standards easier to use, understand, and implement. The proposed

Hurricane Sandy victims can take hardship distributions, loans from retirement plans

The IRS on Friday announced that it will allow taxpayers who have been adversely affected by Hurricane Sandy to take hardship distributions or loans from their retirement plans (Announcement 2012-44). To qualify under the announcement, hardship distributions made on account of a hardship resulting from Hurricane Sandy must be made

FASB to draft ASU on presenting items reclassified out of accumulated OCI

FASB has directed its staff to prepare an exposure draft of an Accounting Standards Update (ASU) on presentation of items reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income (OCI), according to the board’s website. During a meeting Wednesday, the board discussed feedback from stakeholders on the exposure draft issued in August,

Hot tips: SEC fields 3,000 whistleblower complaints in 12 months

Roughly 3,000 tips on alleged wrongdoing were passed on to the SEC in the first full fiscal year of a new whistleblower program. Tips came from all 50 states and 49 countries, according to an annual report on the program for the fiscal year that ended in September. The program

Modernized e-File is improving, but IRS can’t retire legacy system yet

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) on Wednesday reported on the IRS’s progress in retiring its Legacy e-File system and moving to the Modernized e-File (MeF) system (TIGTA Rep’t No. 2012-20-121). The IRS started to phase out the legacy system in 2004 with the introduction of an internet-based

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