Finance

The American Institute of CPAs has written to the leaders of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee encouraging them to support the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013, also known as the DATA Act (S. 994), which includes a provision calling for establishment of government-wide financial data standards for federal funds.

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., a senior member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, has introduced legislation to expand the New Markets Tax Credit program to provide up to $100 million a year to help distressed communities whose military installations have been either closed or realigned.

Approximately 8,400 federal employees and contractors who were judged eligible for a security clearance from April 2006 to December 2011 owed approximately $85 million in unpaid federal taxes as of June 2012, according to a new government report.

Allen M. Abrams, co-founder of the Chicago-based accounting firm Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams, Ltd., has died after a brief illness at the age of 81, on Oct. 27, 2013, his firm announced.

A pair of lawmakers have introduced legislation to simplify the Tax Code to enable families to more easily afford the cost of higher education.

A measure that would put the brakes on the Department of Labor's proposal to establish a fiduciary standard for advisors to retirement plans was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in a largely party-line vote on Tuesday.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have released a document containing proposed guidance for foreign financial institutions as the next step in implementing the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act in an effort to combat offshore tax evasion.

The amount of money the federal government receives from corporate income taxes has been declining since 2008, mainly because of the recession, according to a new government report.

Congress, not the Internal Revenue Service, is to blame for the recently announced postponement of the beginning of next year’s tax season, according to the National Association of CPA Practitioners -- and it called on the legislative branch to take quick action to prevent further delays.

Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., the influential chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, has written a letter to the acting head of the Internal Revenue Service complaining that the IRS’s decision to delay tax season because of the government shutdown will be a financial burden to people who count on early tax refunds.

Mary Kopczynski, CEO of 8of9 Consulting, discusses how the intergovernmental agreements that the U.S. has been negotiating with other countries to facilitate FATCA compliance are affecting U.S. expatriates and citizens abroad, in an interview with AccountingToday.com editor-in-chief Michael Cohn.

After reopening operations on Oct. 17, the IRS said in an email to tax professionals Friday that its employees are reporting back to work, and the agency is assessing the impact of the 16-day shutdown on its national operations.

Mary Kopczynski, CEO of 8of9 Consulting, discusses the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, and its implications, delays and controversies, in the first of a two-part interview with AccountingToday.com editor-in-chief Michael Cohn.

The majority of the U.S. government, including the U.S. Tax Court, shut down on October 1. Late this past Wednesday, Congress voted to reopen the government through January 15 of next year. Despite the shutdown, the statutory deadline of 90 days for filing a petition in the Tax Court cannot be extended. Yet during the shutdown, the Tax Court was not accepting hand delivery and very likely was not opening its mail.

After the partisan passions and heated rhetoric, the disruptions of a government shutdown and displays of dysfunction, Congress did what it could have done weeks ago: voted to fund the government and lift the debt limit.

Congress should consolidate and simplify the types of tax-favored retirement plans now available to small business owners to minimize the cost and administrative burden imposed by the plans, the American Institute of CPAs told Congress.

U.S. Senate leaders are rushing to lock up an agreement to end the fiscal impasse, stepping in after House Republicans’ last-minute plan to avert a U.S. government default collapsed.

The Olympics are the biggest international sporting sport event, with athletes from more than 200 nations participating in what are generally considered the most important competition in the world. But are they worth it to the host city and country in terms of the budget and the eventual enormous expenditures?

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday that has appointed Daniel Murdock, a former Deloitte & Touche director, as a deputy chief accountant in the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant.

Clients are coming to accountants asking for advice about the health care reform law, especially after the shaky rollout this month of the online health care exchanges and marketplaces by various states and the federal government.