It’s not just tax season. ‘Tis the season for the IRS to make it’s scariest warnings. And why not? It’s when everyone’s paying attention.
Today the IRS says…
Enforcement efforts increased again in fiscal year 2007. For instance, during 2007 the IRS audited 84 percent more returns of individuals with incomes of $1 million or more than during 2006. Overall, enforcement revenue reached $59.2 billion, up from $48.7 billion in 2006 and nearly $34.1 billion in 2002.
Highlights of the enforcement and services numbers for fiscal year 2007, which ended on September 30, include:
READ MORE →
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have announced the selection of 41 new members to serve on the nationwide Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP), a federal advisory committee charged with providing direct taxpayer input to the Internal Revenue Service.
The new members will join 57 returning members to round out the volunteer panel for Fiscal Year 2008. The new members were selected from over 400 interested individuals from all over the country, who applied through an open recruitment period last spring.
READ MORE →
Click here for the punchline… READ MORE →
Are Boomers ready for retirement? Probably not.
Are YOU ready for busy season? Sound off here.
by Rick Telberg
We sure hit a hot issue with our recent survey on Baby Boomers and their plans for… or maybe we should say dreams of… retirement.
Respondents agreed—or at least 92 percent of them did—that America’s Boomers are not financially prepared for retirement. They’re saving too little. They’re imagining their retirement won’t last long (to put it nicely). And unless they start shoveling money into their IRAs and 401Ks, “retirement in the golden years†is going to look more like “working in the fading light of sunset.â€
READ MORE →
The SEC charged two former PricewaterhouseCoopers employees, Gregory Raben and William Patrick Borchard, with insider trading, accusing them of using client information to buy stock prior to corporate takeovers.
“The good news: PwC turned the two, who were friends, in to the SEC. The bad news: They didn’t go to jail,” says Art Bowman.
“The SEC just restored integrity to the capital markets. All hail the SEC,” says the Skeptical CPA.
The latest readings show that most accountants are well prepared for busy season, with about 30% ahead of schedule and 48% on schedule.
Meanwhile 54% are expecting better business and operations this year, compared to last year. And overwhelming majorities are looking forward to better financial results.
Still, nagging problems loom ahead, especially late or unprepared clients and late or erroneous K1s, 1099s and the like.
Some 10% of accountants are headed into busy season with new tax software, which can always cause unanticipated difficulties. Nevertheless, 24% of accountants are more than happy with their software.
See the details… add your comments…
READ MORE →
CPAs speak out on compensation issues. Next question: Are you ready for tax season 2008? Join the survey; see the answers.
by Rick Telberg
Here’s something rather surprising: Slightly more than half of the accountants we surveyed actually think they’re paid well enough.
I think it says much for our profession that a majority, however scant, is satisfied with its salaries. And I find it amazing that only 46 percent of respondents are dissatisfied. I wonder how many other professions can claim so many financially satisfied professionals.
Even more interesting are the reasons behind the satisfaction or its lack. And it was the lack, I should add, that drew the most comments in our survey.
READ MORE →
A new GAO report finds the market for the biggest public-company audits is essentially monopolized by the four largest CPA firms. But the GAO said it detects little dissatisfaction among clients and no sign of price inflation.
Get the full GAO report: Click here for FREE download (PDF)
Here are excerpts from the report: READ MORE →
Supreme Court rules in AICPA’s favor in Stoneridge case
NEW YORK (AICPA) – In ruling 5 to 3 today that third parties cannot be sued in corporate fraud cases, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in favor of a position held by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, which had filed an amicus brief in the case of Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC v. Scientific Atlanta Inc. and Motorola Inc.
“In this common-sense and balanced ruling, the court said that investors may only sue those who issued statements or otherwise took direct action that the investors had relied upon in buying or selling stock,’’ said Richard I. Miller, AICPA general counsel.
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the case last October. Stoneridge is an investment fund that lost money in shares of Charter Communications Inc. and accused third-parties Motorola Inc. and Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. of helping Charter inflate its revenues. Motorola and Scientific-Atlanta were not alleged to have made any misstatements to the public, but to have engaged in transactions with Charter that it mischaracterized on its financial statements.
In its amicus brief, the AICPA argued that the court should uphold established law under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and that it should not allow third parties who are essentially alleged to be aiding and abetting a security fraud to be held responsible for another person’s primary violation.
“Accountants take their responsibility to serve investors very seriously,†said Miller. “Protecting shareholders by assuring that company financials conform to accounting principles is a core value of the profession. Congress examined these issues when it adopted the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a law designed to protect investors that AICPA strongly supports.â€
CPAs see a generation with underfunded plans.
by Rick Telberg
At Large
Not since the advent of the pill have so many Baby Boomers been caught with their pants down.
So say the vast majority of CPAs (albeit in other words) who see their clients as woefully unprepared for the financial rigors of retirement.
By “vast,†I mean 92 percent. By “pants down,†I mean caught by surprise and less than ideally positioned for a post-retirement trek that 80 percent of our survey respondents predicted will last at least 21 years. Forty percent, in fact, said Boomers had better be ready to fund themselves for at least 26 years after they retire.
CPAs can expect the so-called “silver tsunami†to start hitting their shores this year. It may have already begun when, a few weeks ago, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling filed for Social Security benefits. The 62-year-old New Jersey grandmother was born Jan. 1, 1946, in Philadelphia—the first of 80 million Boomers to be born from 1946 to 1964. She’s now the first of the generation to be eligible for benefits.
READ MORE →
