Audit & Accounting

Both the Government Accountability Office and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration have some advice for the Internal Revenue Service.On the heels of an IRS decision to focus on S corporations in order to zero in on the compliance problems of small businesses, the TIGTA issued a report calling on the IRS to improve its efforts against employment tax noncompliance. The GAO also weighed in in the same week with its report, "Tax Compliance: Better Compliance Data and Long-term Goals Would Support a More Strategic IRS Approach to Reducing the Tax Gap."

RIA, a part of the Thomson Corp. providing information and software to tax professionals, has computed the changes to next year's tax brackets, standard deductions, personal exemptions and other important tax breaks.

Insurance company Equitable Life dropped a $3.7 billion lawsuit against accounting firm Ernst & Young, ending what had been the country's largest claim ever brought against an auditor.

William J. McDonough, chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, announced that he will resign on Nov. 30 or when his successor is put in place, whichever occurs sooner.

It was a smooth first meeting for Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, with the panel voting unanimously to extend the deadline for when small companies will have to have their internal controls documented under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley law.

The former chairman of Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc. will plead guilty to obstructing a Securities and Exchange Commision investigation into accounting irregularities at the company.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will host a forum in Boston to bring information to the small business community.

It's been several days now since Louisiana's treasurer called for the state to hire a Big Four firm to oversee the distribution of billions of dollars in Hurricane Katrina aid.

Louisiana's treasurer said the state should hire one of the Big Four firms to handle the accounting and auditing of the federal funds flowing into the state for the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort.

Three months after restating its 2004 earnings, stun gun manufacturer Taser International Inc. said it had fired its accounting firm.