Audit & Accounting

The Employee Benefits Security Administration, part of the Labor Department, is seeking comment on its plans to update guidance on the independence of accountants who audit employee benefit plans.

The Canadian government has pledged $1 million over the next five years to the International Federation of Accountants' board that governs public company accounting.

The estate of Enron Corp's late founder has agreed to pay $12 million to settle claims brought by participants in the failed energy company's pension plans.

Elaborating on his company's plans to enter the banking business, H&R Block chief executive Mark Ernst said that both the rates and fees the company charges customers for its refund-anticipations loans will be dramatically reduced by the time the 2007 tax season arrives.

The fact that the Securities and Exchange Commission last week filed a 46-page legal brief supporting the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to me was not as surprising as the fact they had to do it at all.

H&R Block Inc., best known for its tax-preparation services, is expanding into banking.

A federal judge will hear evidence next month to help him decide whether KPMG should be ordered to pick up the legal fees for 16 former employees indicted in connection with the firm's sale of questionably-legal tax shelters.

Larry Swedroe is a first-rate analyst. He is the director of research and a principal of both Buckingham Asset Management and BAM Advisor Services in St. Louis. He is also a prolific writer of many, many books and articles on investment strategies and although he adds a disclaimer to everything he writes that his opinions and comments are his own and not of his two companies, his work is so well received that hardly anybody can find fault with it.

As previously announced, the Internal Revenue Service will soon begin charging user fees for the residency certification letters commonly used to avoid foreign value added taxes.

After a five-year effort, the American Society of Appraisers is taking credit for some of the provisions contained in the Pension Protection Act of 2006.