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Accounting News Roundup: 1MDB Is Down to Its Last Big 4 Firm | 05.24.18

Plus, the IRS warns states about SALT workarounds, another disturbing sexual misconduct case, dealing with allergies, and more.

I.R.S. Warns States Not to Circumvent State and Local Tax Cap [NYT]
The IRS sees what states are up to re the SALT $10k cap and they do not like it:

“Despite these state efforts to circumvent the new statutory limitation on state and local tax deductions, taxpayers should be mindful that federal law controls the proper characterization of payments for federal income tax purposes,” the I.R.S. wrote in a notice released on Wednesday.

If the IRS does take action to prevent SALT workarounds, states will almost certainly sue. States tax credits for donating to colleges or private K-12 schools have been around for years, and any disparate treatment would be “hard to maintain on its face and politically difficult to reach,” according to one tax professor.

Exec groped employee, attacked her when she recorded him: suit [NYP]
Kate Merli, a CPA and former CFO of Snow Park Capital Partners, has sued her former employer and the firm’s chief investment officer Jeffrey Pierce, alleging all kinds of disturbing behavior. It started with unwanted grabbing and attempted kissing at a holiday party, followed by an incident where “Pierce pawed at her body and begged her for sex.” That’s when things got, whoa:

The 31-year-old began recording the accused creep on her phone, but Pierce became furious and insisted she delete the recording, the suit says.

When the CPA refused, he “physically and viciously assaulted [Merli], tackling her to the ground and attempting to wrestle the phone away,” the papers read. Terrified, she deleted the recordings.

Merli quit and then says Snow Park started spreading false information about her. Snow Park calls her “a fabricator” and says she was terminated for “[an] unauthorized transfer of management company funds to a personal bank account.”

There’s only one untainted “Big Four” accounting firm left to audit Malaysia’s scandal-ridden wealth fun [Quartz]
PwC avoided the 1MBD mess as long as they could, but now they have the distinct pleasure of picking up where Deloitte left off. Deloitte quit the engagement in 2016, while KPMG was fired in 2013 and EY got dismissed in 2010. Anyone wishing to pick up some lucrative work should get themselves to Malaysia pronto. PwC probably won’t last.

Previously, on Going Concern…

I questioned KPMG’s raise-your-hand culture.

In Open Items, someone’s annoyed with AICPA President, CEO, and Royal Wedding tchotchke collector Barry Melancon.

In other news:

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