AT Think

Congress is getting closer to agreeing on how to pay for extending many soon-to-expire or already expired tax breaks, but the answer is not likely to please either hedge fund managers, venture capitalists or multinational corporations.

Ten accountingfirms with top-notch retention and advancing programs for women have been namedthe Best Accounting Firms for Women by the American Society of WomenAccountants and the American Woman’s Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Accounting-wise at least, that is.

The Texas Society of CPAs is rounding up its young people for its third annual Young CPAs and Emerging Professionals Conference. And the agenda is chock full of engaging topics to choose from.

Care to write off any Botox expenses? Intuit has come out with a set of the strangest tax deductions it’s seen this past tax season, including taxpayers who tried to write off the cost of Armani suits and a hired psychic.

Members of the New Jersey Society of CPAs now have another social networking site to maintain as the organization has launched a new place for its members to meet online.

The House Ways and Means Committee is rolling the dice and planning to convene a hearing next week on tax proposals related to legislation to legalize Internet gambling.

Students from Rutgers Preparatory School in Somerset, N.J. and Mt. St. Mary Academy in Watchung, N.J. have taken home close to $20,000 in cash awards and a trip to Washington D.C. for their knowledge about the Euro against the backdrop of the global financial and economic crisis.

The Senate Finance Committee held the third in a series of hearings Tuesday on the proposed bank tax, which has garnered more support now that the Senate has agreed to drop the $50 billion resolution fund from the financial reform bill.

Big Four PricewaterhouseCoopers has given out $500,000 in grants to four universities as part of their broader effort to promote and support the recruitment and advancement of diverse students within the accounting profession.