Accounting News Roundup: IRS Criticized for Fewer Large Corporate Audits; PCAOB Has No Confidence in Auditors; New York State Looks Forward to UBS Windfall | 04.12.10
• IRS audits fewer corporate taxpayers: critic [Reuters]
According to a Syracuse University research group, Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (“TRAC”), the IRS is doing fewer audits of large corporations, using the Service’s own data to report its conclusions. TRAC looked at “number of hours spent on cases that had been closed in any given year,” saying the the IRS has cut the audit hours of companies with $250 million+ in assets by a third.
• NY state sees “deep well” of UBS client tax cases [Reuters]
The New York State Tax Department is pretty stoked about the windfall that could result from UBS clients coming out with their hands up re: their offshore bank accounts and the related income.
The state’s deficit is nearly $9 billion, so the tax department will be taking money however it can get it, using duress or otherwise. In other NYS treasure-hunting news, the state is now “expanding on analytical programs developed with [IBM] to root out tax cheats,” to assist in the deficit reduction efforts. Prior to this development, the Tax Department’s 3,000 employees had been using their ‘best gut instinct’ to locate tax evaders, which may or may not have included throwing darts at a printout of New York State residents.
