Society CPA members should be on the lookout for a Sept. 1 special issue of The Trusted Professional. It will come in a cellophane wrapper with balloting materials for a membership vote on proposed revisions to the NYSSCPA Code of Professional Conduct and a proposed bylaws change that would create a new associate category of Society membership.

The set of proposed amendments to the Code of Professional Conduct are intended to bring the code in line with the New York State Accountancy Reform Law of 2009. The other proposed change to the bylaws would add a new category of associate membership for non-CPAs working under the supervision of a CPA in industry, government or academia. These changes were unanimously approved by the NYSSCPA Board of Directors on July 13, after receiving approval from the Executive Committee.

A law amendment in Chapter 340 of the Laws of 2010, amended Title 15 of Article 5 of the New York State General Obligations Law, excludes from its requirements a power of attorney created on a form prescribed by a governmental agency for a governmental purpose.

As of Sept. 12, 2010 State Tax Form POA-1 will not require acknowledgment or witnessing if the appointed representative is licensed to practice in the state of New York as a certified public accountant, or public accountant, an attorney-at-law, or is a New York state resident enrolled as an agent to practice before the Internal Revenue Service. The acknowledgement requirement for the representative's signature would also no longer be required for the Department of Taxation and Finance power of attorney.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been ranked as the number two place to work in the federal government for the second year in a row.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has spent $600 million in overtime pay from January 2008 and December 2009, with 144 MTA employees doubling their annual income through overtime pay, according to an audit released Aug. 5 by the Office of the New York State Comptroller.

The President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) released its report today on tax reform options designed to achieve three goals: simplify the tax system, improve taxpayer compliance and reform the corporate tax system.

Congressmen Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) and Michael Conaway (R-TX), both CPAs, are speaking out against the IRS new requirement for all paid tax-return preparers to register for a preparer tax identification number (PTIN), saying the new rule will increase paperwork, costs and confusion over preparer qualifications.

This week, David Lifson was quoted in a New York Times article about a new requirement beginning next year that corporations provide a brief description of their uncertain tax positions and their rationale.

New York Governor David A. Paterson deceived investigators for the state ethics commission when he testified that he had intended to pay for free tickets he obtained to the 2009 World Series, according to a report released Thursday by an independent counsel investigating the matter.

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance is cracking down on bagel shops slicing bagels for their customers, counting the sliced bagel as a “prepared food” and thus subject to a food tax.

A young former day-trader from Barcelona has inadvertently accumulated $172 million in back taxes after neglecting to report his activities to the IRS, the existence of which the man had been unaware of until recently, according to the New York Daily News.