Finance

A coalition of a half dozen business organizations, including the American Institute of CPAs, have banded together to express their opposition to a proposal from the Senate Finance Committee to require businesses to use the accrual method of accounting for tax purposes.

The plaintiffs who lost a recent lawsuit trying to prevent the federal government from providing tax credits to purchase health insurance on federal exchanges have filed for an expedited appeal in the case.

Keeping an eye on all of the legislative and regulatory changes that occur throughout the course of the year is no easy task.

American Citizens Abroad, a group representing U.S. expatriates, has submitted a tax proposal to the Senate Finance Committee recommending a number of international tax reforms, with the American Institute of CPAs also submitting its recommendations to the same committee on tax administration and simplification.

A federal district court judge has ruled in favor of the federal government in a lawsuit that claimed the Internal Revenue Service did not have the authority under the Affordable Care Act to write rules providing tax credits to individuals purchasing health insurance on the health insurance exchange set up by the federal government.

A task force that has been investigating the budget crisis affecting many states across the country is calling for major changes in the ways that states handle their budgeting and financial reporting.

Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., plans to introduce legislation that would provide a replacement for the Earned Income Tax Credit in the form of a “wage enhancement.”

The head of the union representing Internal Revenue Service employees is warning about persistent underfunding of the Internal Revenue Service in the omnibus spending bill unveiled yesterday by congressional negotiators.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed until July 1, 2014, the date on which the first set of municipal advisors will be required to register under final rules issued by the commission.

Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., have introduced bipartisan legislation to increase transparency around settlements reached by federal enforcement agencies, including disclosures of any tax deductions and tax credits.

The Senate has confirmed Janet Yellen as chairman of the Federal Reserve by a vote of 56 to 26, succeeding Ben Bernanke, whose term ends on Jan. 31.

Democrats in Congress plan to renew their efforts next week to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program that expired on December 28.

The airline industry and one of its prominent allies are gearing up to fight a possible push in the U.S. Congress to tax baggage fees and other air-travel charges as a way to generate additional federal revenue.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board approved a 2014 budget of $258.4 million, and a 2013-2017 strategic plan that includes a greater focus on accounting firms' burgeoning consulting practices.

Deborah Barrett, a 57-year-old accounting manager in Newport, R.I., is one of an estimated 1.3 million unemployed workers who will lose their unemployment benefits on December 28 because Congress failed to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.

A group of female House Democrats is urging Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, to allow a vote on extending federal unemployment insurance to help 1.3 million long-term unemployed workers facing the expiration of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program on December 28.

The Senate has voted to confirm John Koskinen as the next Internal Revenue Service commissioner, succeeding acting commissioner Daniel Werfel, who was brought in to help reform the beleaguered tax agency.

President Obama has nominated Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., as the next ambassador to China, potentially setting back efforts at comprehensive tax reform.

The U.S. has signed six more intergovernmental agreements with a half dozen jurisdictions, including several traditional offshore tax havens, to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA.

Although federal law prohibits agencies from contracting with businesses that have unpaid federal tax liabilities, more than 1,100 vendors doing business with the IRS owe a combined $589 million in federal tax debt.