IRS Gets Ready for IFRS

The Internal Revenue Service is preparing for the potential transition of U.S. publicly held companies to International Financial Reporting Standards and the impact IFRS will have on tax administration, according to a new government report.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering whether to require U.S. companies to use the international standards so financial information can be better compared with overseas companies. The IRS began developing plans for strategic and operational activities related to the adoption of the IFRS in 2009.

In the new report, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that the IRS is training employees about IFRS concepts and potential issues, working with the tax preparer community to identify and outline IFRS implementation concerns, and developing procedures to address issues related to IFRS conversion efforts.

“The IRS is appropriately laying the groundwork for its increased oversight of international taxation by gaining an understanding of the International Financial Reporting Standards,” said TIGTA Inspector General J. Russell George in a statement.

TIGTA did not make any recommendations in this audit and the IRS did not provide any comments on a draft of the report.