Finance

The American Institute of CPAs has written a letter to members of Congress to support legislation that would block the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2010 proposal to change its definition of fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to include appraisers of employee stock ownership plans.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is looking into findings from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration that the confidential tax records of political donors or candidates have been inappropriately accessed or disclosed in several instances since 2006 and why the Justice Department has declined to prosecute the perpetrators.

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., contended that the immigration reform bill approved by the Senate last month violates the Constitution because it contains revenue provisions that are supposed to originate in the House.

House Democrats are demanding answers from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration about its report on the Internal Revenue Service’s screening of tax-exempt groups, demanding to know why some newly uncovered documents were left out of the report.

The Treasury Department said Friday that due to overwhelming interest from countries around the world, it will extend by six months the start of the withholding and account due diligence requirements of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, until July 1, 2014, to allow more time to complete agreements with foreign jurisdictions.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a formal notice that officially delays the employer shared responsibility provisions of the Affordable Care Act, also known as the employer mandate, for a year and postpones the information reporting requirements.

Unauthorized immigrants are already paying $10.6 billion a year in state and local taxes, according to a new analysis that estimates an additional $2 billion revenue increase for the 50 states and the District of Columbia if undocumented immigrants who currently in the U.S. are allowed to work legally.

China will for the first time give audit records for a Chinese company to U.S. authorities after regulators reached an agreement in May to allow each other access to companies’ documents.

The Internal Revenue Service budget would be cut by 24 percent under a House Republican proposal that would create new restrictions on the tax agency.

The House has approved a bill that prohibits the Public Company Accounting and Oversight Board from forcing public companies to automatically change or rotate their independent auditing firms.

The leaders of Congress’s two main tax-writing committees kicked off their national tax reform tour Monday with meetings at two businesses in the Twin Cities area.

The National Association of Professional Employer Organizations has grown in membership, revenue and clout since its inception in 1984 .

Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., has written a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew questioning regulations that would require U.S. banks and credit unions to collect and report information on nonresident aliens, urging him to cease enforcement of the Foreign Accounting Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, and stop negotiating intergovernmental agreements with other countries for FATCA enforcement.

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 195,000 in June, and job gains in April and May were revised upward, but the unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., have introduced legislation in the Senate and the House to block foreign governments from collecting taxes on securities transactions.

The Obama administration has decided to postpone the employer responsibility payment and insurance reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act for one year to give businesses more time to comply with the health care reform law.

The American Institute of CPAs has requested changes in a Senate bill aimed at combating the growing problem of identity theft and tax fraud to avoid increased penalties for tax preparers who improperly disclose or use taxpayer information.

The chairmen of Congress’s two main tax-writing committees in the House and Senate plan to begin a tour across the country visiting with taxpayers and businesses as they plan a major tax reform overhaul.

Tea Party groups were more likely than self-identified “progressives” to be given extra scrutiny for political involvement by the Internal Revenue Service from 2010 through 2012, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

The two leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have offered to take a “blank slate” approach as a starting point for tax reform, in which there would be virtually no tax breaks available, and called on their Senate colleagues to provide suggestions on which tax provisions need to be added back and improved in a reformed tax code.