Schultz and Efrusy to Leave Groupon Board; “Accounting Types” Joining [AllThingsD]
Daniel Henry, CFO of American Express, and Deloitte Vice Chairman Robert Bass will replace Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz and Accel Partners’ Kevin Efrusy respectively.
Taxes and Employment [Economix]
Since the beginning of the economic crisis, Republicans have insisted that tax cuts and only tax cuts are the appropriate medicine. They almost never explain how, exactly, this would reduce unemployment other than to say it worked for Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. If one were to take the Republican argument seriously, the linkage would have to be via the tax wedge. This is the principal means by which the government affects employment, according to the Republican economist Arthur Laffer. The tax wedge is the difference between the cost to an employer of employing a worker and the after-tax reward that the employee receives. When taxes go up, the tax wedge gets larger, costing employers more to hire workers at a given after-tax wage. Therefore, it is theoretically possible that a tax cut could increase employment by reducing the tax wedge and allowing employers to hire workers at a lower cost without reducing their after-tax wages. This is a perfectly reasonable theory. There undoubtedly have been times when the tax wedge was increasing because of bracket creep or legislated increases in payroll taxes that may have had a negative effect on hiring. Whether this is the case now, as Republicans assert, is a question for analysis.
IRS Reviews Chesapeake CEO's Perk [WSJ]
Chesapeake Energy Corp. disclosed Monday that the Internal Revenue Service was reviewing aspects of a controversial perk that allows longtime CEO Aubrey McClendon to purchase a small stake in every oil or gas well the company drills. In a regulatory filing, the Oklahoma City-based company said the IRS was "reviewing certain issues" related to the program and that the company didn't believe resolving the matter would have a material impact on the company. The Securities and Exchange Commission is also conducting an informal probe of the arrangement.
The report said Mr. Murdoch exhibited “willful blindness” toward wrongdoing at his organization and said News Corporation, his New York-based global conglomerate, had made “huge failings of corporate governance.” The consequences of the panel’s findings were not immediately clear.
As businesses reinstate some of the employee perks lost during the recession, one doesn't appear to have made a comeback: paying for continuing education. Twenty-six percent of chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed for a Robert Half Finance & Accounting survey said their companies offer staff full or partial reimbursement for the education units required to maintain professional certifications. This is down significantly from six years ago when nearly half (46 percent) of executives said they cover these costs.
Tampa man charged with filing 39 fake tax returns worth $288,000 [TBO]
Daniel White, of Tampa, faces 39 counts of making false claims with the IRS and one count of theft of government funds. U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth Jenkins said White would not be released for 48 hours to see if state authorities want to issue a warrant charging him with violating probation. White pleaded guilty last year to burglary charges and was sentenced to two years of probation. According to the indictment against White, he filed tax returns between May 11 and Oct. 20, claiming refunds ranging from $4,000 to $9,588. At least one claim involved the identity of a deceased person, the indictment states.
Accountant’s love of pizza causes him to toss some dough [WaPo]
Next time you're in Bethesda, apparently you should try Haven Pizzeria Napoletana and say hello to the proprietor, Tiger Mullen, CPA.
