Accounting and Financial News Stories
Treasury Proposes to End Strategy for Estate and Gift Taxes
Accounting Today
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued proposed regulations that would eliminate a tax-planning strategy for minimizing estate and gift taxes. The proposed regulations concern the valuation of interests in corporations and partnerships for estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax purposes.
Management accountants expect 6% pay rise in 2016
CGMA Magazine
Pay increases could be coming to 94% of management accountants over the coming year, according to the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants’ (CIMA) annual salary survey. The average increase expected by the members polled was 6%. In addition to their basic salary, 70% of members around the world expect to receive a bonus in 2016.
An Accounting Giant on Keeping Millennial Employees Happy
Bloomberg
The following is a condensed and edited interview with Mark Weinberger, CEO, EY. Many CEOs say one of the most important jobs they have is managing the company’s talent. What’s your thought on that? I’m passionate about this. We have almost a quarter of a million people, and we’re in 150 countries. Seventy-five percent of our people are millennials, and the median age of an employee at EY—believe it or not—is 29 years old.
ADP Finds Private Sector Added 179,000 Jobs in July
Accounting Today
Private sector employers added 179,000 more jobs to their payrolls in July, according to payroll giant ADP, in another sign of a steadily strengthening economy despite recent indications of tepid growth. ADP found that small businesses with 49 employees or less added 61,000 jobs in July, down from 86,000 in June. July’s total included 22,000 jobs in businesses with between one and 19 employees, and 39,000 in businesses with between 20 and 49 employees.
Fifth Amendment Protects Liechtenstein Tax Haven Documents From IRS
Forbes
Steven Greenfield who has been pleading the fifth amendment in relation to accounts in Liechtenstein will not be having to turn over documents from 2001 that he may or may not have thanks to a decision of the Second Circuit. The court noted that tax evasion from using off-shore accounts is a very bad thing. A remarkable amount of American wealth is held offshore, often in an effort to evade taxation. One recent study estimated that $1.2 trillion—some four percent of this nation’s wealth—is held offshore and that this results in an annual loss in tax revenue of $35 billion.
IRS Reminds Plan Sponsors What to Do With Compliance Statements
PLANSPONSOR
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has updated its page explaining what retirement plan sponsors should do once they receive a compliance statement. When a plan sponsor and the IRS agree with the proposed correction of plan failures disclosed in a Voluntary Correction Program (VCP) submission, the IRS issues a compliance statement listing the failures and the applicant’s proposed corrections.
The ‘death tax’ will soon be tougher to dodge
The Washington Post
The Treasury Department on Tuesday proposed a crackdown on wealthy families attempting to avoid the estate tax. The tax, dubbed the “death tax” by critics, is levied on estates worth more than $5.45 million per person, or $10.86 million per couple. Anything above that level is supposed to be taxed at up to 40 percent.
One More Reason for Investors to Worry About ‘Earnings Before Bad Stuff’
Wall Street Journal
Regulators and investors are increasingly wary when companies overemphasize their own customized earnings metrics. New research shows they may have a point. Companies that report significantly stronger earnings by using tailored figures like “adjusted net income” or “adjusted operating income” are more likely to encounter some kinds of accounting problems than those that stick to standard measures, according to research by consulting firm Audit Analytics.
How Technology Is Changing The Accounting And Bookkeeping Industry
Forbes
In recent years, technology has become a vital component of the accounting and bookkeeping industry. The days of consistent on-site consulting have morphed into brief off-site meetings, with a plethora of additional software now serving as accompaniment for visibility and accountability of business tasks. Today’s technological advances have surpassed the thought of outdated financials, lack of real-time data, remote control sessions, and even basic desktop-based software.
Treasury To Close Estate Tax Valuation Discounts Loophole, Family Businesses Cry Foul
Forbes
Estate lawyer Carlyn McCaffrey got her first call from a frantic business owner this morning about the bomb the Treasury Department dropped yesterday, curbing valuation discounts for operating businesses–as well as family limited partnerships holding securities. “No one thought they would go as far as they did. It’s attempting to overturn some 25 years of settled law,” she says. “It can lead to unemployment, a parade of horrible you can imagine. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Trump tweeting about it.”
Goldman Pays $36.3 Million to Settle Fed-Leak Allegations
Wall Street Journal
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has agreed to pay $36.3 million to settle allegations it misused confidential regulatory materials leaked from the Federal Reserve, the latest twist in a lengthy investigation. The Fed unveiled the civil settlement Wednesday and brought new allegations that an executive at the bank had run a long campaign to obtain regulatory secrets and make use of them inside the bank from 2012 to September 2014, well before the leak that sparked the investigation occurred.
A $500 Billion Stampede in Money Markets Even Before New Rules Hit
Wall Street Journal
The last big post-Lehman regulatory change is reverberating across the financial system, potentially squeezing short-term lending for businesses and local governments. The rules haven’t taken effect yet but are already upending the $2.7 trillion money-market industry, causing nearly $500 billion to move into, out of and among these funds, which are used by investors to stash their cash and by borrowers for short-term liquidity.