Tax, accounting, auditing news - Journal of Accountancy

April 2, 2020

Social Security recipients will automatically receive stimulus payments

The IRS announced that Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefit recipients will not have to file a tax return to receive the $1,200 stimulus payment provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

April 2, 2020

Creating webinars to answer client questions

The coronavirus pandemic has unleashed a flood of tax, audit and other accounting-related questions. Webinars offer CPAs an efficient way to tackle topics affecting large numbers of clients, staff or other stakeholders.

April 2, 2020

GASB provides guidance for LIBOR transition

GASB issued a standard that is designed to assist state and local governments in the transition away from existing interbank offered rates (IBORs) to other reference rates.

April 2, 2020

Coronavirus fraud reporting resources

Have you seen potential scams or fraud related to the COVID-19 pandemic? Here’s how to report possible crimes.

April 1, 2020

FASB to discuss effective date deferral requests in response to pandemic

Deferral requests for significant accounting standards that are not yet effective will be among the topics FASB will discuss related to the coronavirus pandemic at its April 8 board meeting.

April 1, 2020

Employer tax credits form, employee retention credit guidance posted

The IRS issued a new form and instructions for employers to use to obtain advance payments of three tax credits that were created to help businesses cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

April 1, 2020

Addressing pandemic-related audit challenges

Auditors face many new challenges as they work through the coronavirus pandemic. The AICPA Center for Plain English Accounting has posted new guidance on handling those challenges.

April 1, 2020

AICPA advocates on Wayfair burden, virtual currency taxation

The AICPA voiced small businesses’ concerns with the fallout from the Wayfair decision and discussed taxation of virtual currency in separate events on March 3.

April 1, 2020

IRS waives failure-to-deposit penalties during pandemic

The IRS is permitting eligible employers who pay qualifying wages to retain an amount of the payroll taxes equal to the amount of qualifying wages that they paid, rather than deposit them with the IRS.

April 1, 2020

Enterprise risk management: More critical than ever

The fast-moving, global reach of the coronavirus has illustrated that a forward-looking approach to risk management is more important than ever.

March 31, 2020

Applications for small business Paycheck Protection Program open April 3

Small businesses and sole proprietorships hoping to secure a loan through the federal Paycheck Protection Program can begin applying Friday, April 3.

March 31, 2020

CPA Exam moves to ‘continuous testing’ model

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy announced a new model that will enhance candidates’ options for taking the CPA Exam beginning July 1.

March 31, 2020

Recovery rebate payments to be issued within 3 weeks

The IRS has issued guidance on these payments, which it calls “economic impact payments,” and says they generally will be direct-deposited to most qualifying taxpayers’ bank accounts in the next three weeks without taxpayers having to do anything.

March 27, 2020

Gift and GST returns added to postponed tax and filing deadlines

The IRS postponed the payment and return filing requirements for gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes due April 15 to July 15, matching prior postponements granted to federal income taxes and returns.

March 27, 2020

Coronavirus paid sick leave and family leave guidance issued

The IRS issues rules to implement paid sick and child care leave credits enacted in response to the pandemic.

March 27, 2020

Optional delay provided in regulatory capital transition to credit losses standard

Three federal bank regulatory agencies issued an interim final rule providing an optional extension of the regulatory capital transition for FASB’s new credit losses standard.

March 27, 2020

CPA Exam emergency testing period invoked

An emergency testing period for the CPA Exam is being invoked as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The 2020 second-quarter testing window is being extended from June 10 to June 30.

March 27, 2020

CARES Act tax provisions aim to stabilize pandemic-ravaged economy

The $2 trillion stimulus bill contains many tax provisions. Here’s a look at the tax items, which range from credits to temporary changes to retirement plan rules.

March 27, 2020

Practitioner Priority Service, other IRS help lines suspended due to coronavirus

The IRS announced that, because of staff shortages, it was closing the Practitioner Priority Service, a special phone line for tax practitioners, as well as the e-Services Help Desk line and the e-Services, FIRE, and AIR system help desks “until further notice.”

March 26, 2020

AICPA requests broader relief for taxpayers

In a letter to Treasury and the IRS, the AICPA requested that recent filing and payment relief related to the COVID-19 pandemic be expanded because the current relief does not cover all tax filings and payments affected by the pandemic.

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