Finance

Barry Melancon, president and chief executive of the American Institute of CPAs, opened his annual remarks regarding the state of the profession at the Fall Meeting of Council and Members by addressing the current economic crisis and the controversy around fair value accounting.

Cindy McCain has released the summary pages of her recently filed 2007 federal tax return.

Political fundraisers for the accounting profession have been hedging their bets during this year's election campaigns, earmarking significant support for powerful House and Senate Democrats while channeling even more money to Republicans faced with tough re-election battles next month.As the 2008 congressional elections entered the homestretch, the accounting profession's seven accounting political action committee fundraising organizations had assembled a combined war chest of more than $8.8 million to support congressional candidates considered friendly - or at least important - to the profession.

The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to hold the first of two roundtable discussions on mark-to-market accounting and current market conditions on Wed., Oct. 29, at 9 am ET.

Former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt blamed recent SEC actions for contributing to the credit crisis and urged legislators to expand fair value accounting.

Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and his rival Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., have proposed differing tax and retirement plan measures to deal with the economic downturn.

The Trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation gave the International Accounting Standards Board the go-ahead to suspend due process rules in order to accelerate their response to the credit crisis.

To assist companies in dealing with the plunging markets and subsequent fallout, Protiviti, a provider of internal audit and risk advisory services, has assembled a Financial Crisis Team.

A new audit by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has found security weaknesses on each of the three computer systems it reviewed in the Office of Research, Analysis and Statistics.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., has proposed a $150 billion Emergency Stabilization Fund to help small businesses, universities, students and municipalities cope with the credit crisis, with the money coming from the $700 billion financial bailout package.

Representatives of the McCain and Obama camps sparred politely at a Presidential Tax Forum sponsored by the New York State Society of CPAs.

The financial rescue plan approved by Congress last week included many extensions of expiring tax credits and deductions that helped it win passage in the House, but it also left out some tax issues that will surely be bones of contention for the next Congress.

The passage of the financial rescue plan by Congress last week depended in part on the insertion of a provision on reevaluating the fair value accounting standards, which could come back to bite the same lobbyists who urged its inclusion.

With the credit markets tightening, a majority of the 688 CFOs and senior comptrollers surveyed by Grant Thornton see the cost of credit increasing for their companies, and the availability of credit decreasing.

With the hoopla of both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions still reverberating throughout the country and the election less than a month away, Accounting Today examines the tax plans offered by both Democratic nominee Barack Obama and GOP candidate John McCain as each vies to become the 44th occupant of the White House.The McCain plan Republican presidential candidate John McCain's plan to shake up Washington starts with some serious rattling of the current federal Tax Code, including a proposal aimed at making millions of Americans less dependent on accountants and other professional tax return preparers.

The House approved the $700 billion financial industry rescue package by a 263-171 margin on Friday, after defeating it on Monday.

After failing to clear a House vote on Monday, the $700 billion rescue plan for Wall Street passed the Senate by a comfortable margin of 74-25 and now awaits a House vote, which could come Friday.

The Senate voted to reaffirm the Securities and Exchange Commission's authority to suspend mark-to-market accounting as part of its approval of the financial rescue plan, as fair value measurement comes under fire from banking groups.

While the Treasury bailout seems to be heading toward another vote this week, the state of the alternative minimum tax patch and the various tax extenders now seems in doubt.

The Internal Revenue Service has released Notice 2008-82, which protects reservists from losing funds in their health Flexible Spending Arrangement accounts after being called to active duty.