Jeffery Porter, CPA, chair of the AICPA’s Tax Executive Committee, wrote to Andrew Keyso, IRS associate chief counsel, on Wednesday, raising the AICPA’s concerns about the low amount of the de minimis safe harbor threshold in the tangible property regulations (T.D. 9636) that were issued in September 2013, and about
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Global cyberattacks rose 48% in 2014
It should be no surprise amid the constant barrage of headlines about cybersecurity incidents that the number and cost of breaches is on the rise. Security incidents cost businesses an average of $2.7 million each year, according to a survey by PwC. Despite the burgeoning threat, information security is an
Ibanez ruling set precedent for right of CPAs to advertise dual credentials
This June marked the 20th anniversary of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that remains of interest to the accounting profession because the litigants included a state board of accountancy and a dually credentialed attorney advertising that she was both a CPA and an attorney. In Ibanez v. Florida Board of
Continued rise projected for accounting salaries in 2015
Starting salaries for accounting and finance professionals in the United States and Canada across a wide range of positions are expected to trend upward again in 2015, according to forecasts in salary guides published by staffing services firm Robert Half. Average starting salaries for corporate accounting positions are projected to
Regulation, inflation drove audit fees higher in 2013
Regulatory oversight and inflation have played significant roles in the rise in fees U.S. companies paid in 2013 to external auditors, according to new research by Financial Executives International. The 87 public companies participating in the survey reported an average rise in audit fees of 4.5% over the previous year,
PCAOB may consider different mechanism for naming engagement partner
The PCAOB may consider a different mechanism for disclosing the name of the engagement partner after a proposal last year raised significant objections from the accounting profession. Some investors have told the PCAOB that placing the name of the principal partner for engagements in public company audit reports would allow
Board members keenly focused on risk
Corporate board members of U.S. public companies are keenly focused on risk, but many are not comfortable with their understanding of which risks the companies are willing to take, according to new PwC survey results released Tuesday. In the interest of reducing fraud risk, an increasing percentage of board members
Final regs. allow deduction for local lodging expenses
Regulations issued on Tuesday finalize rules the IRS put into effect in 2012 allowing employees to deduct certain expenses paid or incurred for local lodging as business expenses (T.D. 9696). Normally, lodging expenses a taxpayer incurs while not traveling away from home are considered personal expenses under Sec. 262(a) and
Vision, dental, and long-term-care benefits qualify as limited excepted benefits under new IRS rules
Dental, vision, and long-term-care benefits will qualify as excepted benefits under final regulations issued by the IRS (T.D. 9697). Excepted benefits are not subject to certain health reform requirements enacted as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), P.L. 104-191, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
New nonauthoritative guidance related to management representations, EBP accounting
New Technical Questions and Answers (TPAs) have been issued and are available on the AICPA website to provide nonauthoritative guidance. TPAs 6931.18–.30 address the effect of FASB Accounting Standards Update No. 2013-07, Presentation of Financial Statements (Topic 205): Liquidation Basis of Accounting, on the accounting for primarily single-employer, defined benefit
IRS signals PPACA compliance issues for 2015
This month, the IRS made several updates to the Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) that provide insight on the notices and enforcement methods the Service will use next tax season to ensure taxpayers comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), P.L. 111-148. Most compliance efforts focus on the
AICPA identifies problems with IRS’s electronic signature rules
Jeffrey Porter, chair of the AICPA’s Tax Executive Committee, sent a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen on Wednesday raising concerns about the IRS’s recently issued guidance on electronic signatures. The letter addresses the electronic signature standards that apply when a taxpayer does not appear in person before the tax
Doctors lack standing to challenge delay of employer mandate
The Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a suit objecting to the IRS’s decision to delay imposing the Sec. 4980H employer mandate penalty until 2015 (Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Inc., No. 14-2123 (7th Cir. 9/19/14), aff’g No. 13-C-1214 (E.D. Wis. 3/18/14)). Under Sec. 4980H, an applicable large employer
Details of proposed anti-inversion rules are revealed
The IRS followed up on the Treasury Department’s Monday announcement that it is cracking down on corporate tax inversions by providing more detail on how the crackdown will work (Notice 2014-52). The new rules, which will be issued as regulations, generally apply to inversion transactions occurring on or after Sept.
Treasury moves to curb tax inversions
The Treasury Department announced late on Monday that it will take steps to curb corporate tax inversions, a growing tax minimization strategy that has been the subject of many headlines recently. In a prepared statement, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew hailed the move as the first steps in making “substantial progress
SEC expects to pay whistleblower a record $30 million
The SEC expects to pay an award of more than $30 million to a whistleblower—a total that’s more than twice the previous record payout announced in the commission’s 2-year-old whistleblower program. An informant living in a foreign country who provided important, original information that led to a successful SEC enforcement
Auditors still responsible for going-concern evaluation under PCAOB rules
Recent changes to U.S. GAAP do not change public company auditors’ responsibilities for following existing PCAOB standards when considering a company’s ability to continue as a going concern, the PCAOB said Monday. In a staff audit practice alert, the PCAOB said current auditing requirements remain in force in light of
Dispositions of property get automatic accounting method change procedures
The IRS on Thursday issued Rev. Proc. 2014-54, providing procedures for taxpayers to obtain automatic consent to accounting method changes involving dispositions of tangible depreciable property. The guidance outlines how taxpayers may obtain the IRS’s automatic consent to change to certain methods provided in recently finalized regulations (T.D. 9689, issued
Changes proposed to allocation rules for rollovers
The IRS says it has become aware that some plan providers have been treating disbursements from retirement plans that contain both pretax and after-tax contributions as a single distribution of the aggregate disbursement amount, rather than as separate distributions, as required by the regulations. In proposed regulations issued on Thursday
IRS announces proposed changes to cafeteria plan elections and lookback period
The IRS issued two notices on Thursday, proposing to change the rules for when a taxpayer can revoke health care coverage in a cafeteria plan and enroll in a plan on the Health Insurance Marketplace exchanges, and how to measure the lookback period for determining who is a full-time employee
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