Outsourcing should join the list of taboo topics that shouldn’t be discussed on a first date, along with money and politics. Just saying the word invokes snarls on the faces of anti-outsourcing business people and professionals across the nation, mostly due to the widespread negative perceptions associated with poorly paid, undereducated overseas support staff “stealing” jobs and potentially confidential information from Americans. Some tax software vendors, including Intuit and ATX/Kleinrock, faced harsh criticism when they chose to send tech support to other countries and have since reversed their decisions. But not everyone is against the idea. The owner of a small CPA firm in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., started outsourcing six years ago and currently utilizes people in India, Pakistan and China. Cost savings alone are incredible—he pays them $3 to $10 per hour compared to $35 to $75 that their U.S. counterparts receive. But that’s common knowledge and also part of the controversy. What’s more amazing is the quality and speed of the work they do for him. In one occasion, he estimates that a chartered accountant (not an unskilled laborer) prepared one of his most complex tax returns overnight for one of his largest 1040 clients on April 8 with 80 percent fewer errors than anticipated. (For more on his story, see “
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The impending end of support for Windows 10 has been delayed, giving accounting firms a little more time to make upgrades before it is officially obsolete.
July 7 -
The Internal Revenue Service has declared 83 pieces of old guidance in the Internal Revenue Bulletin to be obsolete in accordance with Trump executive orders.
July 7 -
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board gave reminders for auditors who audit smaller public companies in its latest staff publication.
July 7 -
The IRS's Criminal Investigation division needs to do a better job of keeping track of the billions of dollars in cryptocurrency, says TIGTA.
July 7 -
The American Institute of CPAs hopes to smooth the Trump administration's move away from paper tax refunds at the Internal Revenue Service.
July 7 -
Making use of refunds; playing defense; how to use thin air; and other highlights of recent tax cases.
July 3