politics & government

three political questions that cloud the tax planning outlook

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 we’re accountants, not fortune-tellers.

special to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

rothstein kass, the new york cpa firm, is advising clients that “looming ahead are many potential changes” with the possible demise of the bush-era tax cuts.  in addition, several other bills are muddying the forecast.

“even the world’s best soothsayer could not predict with accuracy what will happen between now and the end of the 2012 tax year with respect to the tax law,” richard bloom, national leader of trusts and estates, and neil tendler are teling clients in a bulletin.

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cpa interstate mobility becomes a reality in all but one of the united states

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hawaii last holdout in battle dating to the last century.

by rick telberg / exclusive to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

it took 15 years, but cpas can now operate freely throughout the contiguous united states.

california gov. jerry brown has signed into law a bill allowing out-of-state-licensed cpas to work in the state without needing a california license. hawaii is now the last holdout. california’s law takes effect july 1, 2013. and the district of columbia’s law goes into effect today.

it is an historic milestone in a long political struggle fraught with frustrations and setbacks that began with fiery, divisive wars within the profession itself.

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accounting sector adds 2,000 new jobs

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even as cpa firms shrink by 1,100.

the nation’s accounting and bookkeeping sector accounted for 2,000 of the 80,000 new jobs created in october, according to new preliminary and seasonally-adjusted data from the u.s. labor department.

for the nation, the jobs gain pushed the unemployment rate down to 9.0% from 9.1%.

for the accounting and bookkeeping sector, october’s performance represents a third straight month of gains and a year-to-year gain of 60,800 jobs, bringing the industry’s payroll to 932,200 employees.

all employees, october 2011
all employees, october 2011

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politics trumps common sense at fasb

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john sharbaugh, ceo, texas society of cpas

faf rejects independent private-company rule-making panel: just “politics and turf?”

by john sharbaugh
texas society of cpas

a couple weeks ago, the financial accounting foundation issued a proposal to create a new private company standards improvement council responsible for determining whether exceptions to gaap should be allowed for private companies in appropriate situations. any recommendations from this new pcsic would have to be ratified by fasb before they would become effective.

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break up the big four?

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european regulators mull drastic action to reform audits.

while the big four have escaped public outrage in the u.s. for the global financial debacle, in europe they’re sharpening the guillotines.

beset by political pressures from failing banks and governments, eurozone regulators are airing a scheme to break up the big four into audit-only firms.

meanwhile, each of the big four has now reported its global revenues, showing a lag in audits and the developed world and a surge in consulting with rapid growth in emerging markets.

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