ANR: Corporate Tax Abolishment...or Not?; Accountants' Reputations Aren't Sterling But Aren't Tarnished; AICPA Asks IRS to Get Better

Should We Abolish the Corporate Income Tax? [BBW via TaxProf]
The short answer from Peter Coy: "No. Bad idea."

Why I Still Think We Should Eliminate the Corporate Income Tax [The Atlantic via TaxProf]
Megan McArdle begs to differ.

Gallup: Accountants’ Reputations Unsullied by Financial Debacles [CPAT]
Leaving lawyers and bankers in the dust (and journalists, strangely).

Freelance? An IRS audit may be in your future [Reuters]
In 2010, 23 million taxpayers filed a Schedule C — which sole proprietors (such as freelance journalists) use to report profit or loss on an unincorporated business. "If you go to the actual IRS statistics, the chances of a Schedule C being audited are twice as great as a corporation being audited," says Keith Hall, a tax adviser for the National Association for the Self-Employed, in Washington D.C. Now, adjust those figures to exclude small businesses under $25,000 in gross receipts, and here's what you'll find: Roughly 3 percent of small businesses under Schedule C get audited, compared to 1 percent of corporations.

At $500 billion, Apple is worth more than Poland [CNN]
And Sweden. And Belgium. And Saudi Arabia.

CFOs Relying More on Temporary Employees [AT]

The quarterly CFO Outlook Survey from Baruch College of New York and Financial Executives International polled more than 300 CFOs in the U.S., Italy and France on their expectations. In the fourth quarter, CFOs in the U.S. showed little change in overall optimism since the third quarter. Their confidence for the global economy rose slightly to 46.1 (from 45.50 in Q3), as did their confidence in their own businesses (67.60 from 67.30 in Q3). U.S. CFOs reported increased optimism in the U.S. economy this quarter, moving six points to 57.1 (from 51.10 in Q3). CFOs in Europe are more uncertain on plans to expand their workforce than U.S. CFOs. CFOs in both the U.S. and Europe are relying on temporary, interim or contract professionals within their organizations. Seventy-five percent of CFOs are currently using this type of employees.

Dippin' Dots Wants Bankruptcy Loan to Avoid Liquidation [WSJ]
The Ice Cream of the Future doesn't want to become a thing of the past.

AICPA Urges Improvements in IRS Examinations [AT]
The AICPA is urging the IRS to fix several problems, including the excessive amount of time it takes for the IRS to resolve cases, the difficulties that taxpayers face when trying to contact the IRS about the status of their cases, and the numerous telephone inquiries made by taxpayers or their representatives that are not returned by the IRS.