NYSSCPA Members in the News

Jamie Block (Rochester)
Long-term disability insurance
WROC Rochester First
CPA Jamie Block discussed the benefits of having long-term care disability insurance Monday on News 8 at Sunrise. Block said while other forms of insurance are required by law, such as car and homeowners insurance, long-term disability insurance is voluntary.

Other Accounting and Finance News

Millions Of Taxpayers Will Have A Longer Wait For Tax Refunds Next Year
Forbes
It’s no secret that tax refund fraud is big business for scammers. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates it paid $3.1 billion in identity theft fraudulent refunds in filing season 2014. During that same time, the IRS stopped attempts to collect an additional $22.5 billion in fraudulent refunds.

The IRS’s Donor Lists
Wall Street Journal
Democratic Attorneys General in California and New York have been trying to get their hands on donor information in the tax returns of nonprofit groups. Their disclosure demands were recently shot down in a California federal court, but the better question may be why the IRS is even collecting the info.

Quit Bullying and Fight Corruption in the U.S., Tax Havens Say
Accounting Today
The global fight against corruption should focus on major jurisdictions rather than bullying small territories, the heads of government of two tax havens told world leaders. Addressing an anti-corruption summit in London on Thursday, Allan Bell, chief minister of the Isle of Man, and Cayman Islands Premier Alden McLaughlin called on the U.S. and other big countries to lead the way in legislating to open up company registers to the public.

401(k) Fees, Already Low, Are Heading Lower
Wall Street Journal
Companies are stepping up efforts to offer lower-cost 401(k) retirement plans, a trend that has already sharply driven down average fees and is likely to continue. An explosion of information about plan fees has helped increase bargaining power for companies in negotiations with fund providers.

US Companies Slow To Implement New Leasing Standard
Tax-News
A survey by LeaseAccelerator has found a low level of market readiness for the implementation of the new US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) lease accounting standard announced earlier this year by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). In line with the new Accounting Standard – IFRS 16 Leases – announced by the International Accounting Standards Board, the new leasing provisions under US GAAP will require lessees to report all their current lease commitments on their balance sheets.

KPMG Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Expands
Accounting Today
The gender discrimination class-action lawsuit against KPMG has grown, with five new named plaintiffs accusing the Big Four firm of denying promotions to women and penalizing them for taking maternity leave. The law firm representing the female employees, Sanford Heisler Kimpel LLP, filed an amended complaint Friday against KPMG with the five new named plaintiffs.

Will IPOs Pick Up? June Will Tell
Wall Street Journal
IPOs are in a funk, and June could determine whether it lasts. In January, no companies listed in the U.S. Since then, deal activity has been roughly a third of what it was in the same period last year, according to Dealogic.