Federal Rules, Taxes to Shift Due to Gay-Marriage Decision [WSJ]
Tens of thousands of married gay couples stand to be treated just like their heterosexual counterparts when it comes to federal taxes, immigration, bankruptcy, student aid and other matters, a direct result of the Supreme Court ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act. The decision, however, presents a thicket of implementation challenges for the Obama administration. Federal laws and regulations use different ways of determining the validity of marriages, potentially setting the stage for the next round of legal battles. Among the toughest questions: How to treat lawfully married same-sex couples who live in states that don't recognize same-sex marriages. "Everyone is going to have 1,000 questions, especially if you don't live in a marriage-equality state," said Michael Cole-Schwartz of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights organization.
DOMA Carnival [Tax Update]
Joe Kristan has a good roundup of DOMA effects including several links to Enrolled Agent Jason Denisen who has an extensive practice serving same-sex couples in Iowa and the surrounding states.
New Standards Expected for Insurance Accounting Could Lead to Erratic Earnings [NYT]
The Financial Accounting Standards Board on Thursday will propose new rules for insurance accounting that seem likely to increase volatility in reported profits for many insurers and lower reported revenue for rapidly growing companies. Some of the largest protests might come from companies that until now have thought insurance accounting rules did not apply to them. The new rules would cover any company that issues contracts that are seen as insurance, or similar to insurance.
Accounting board seeks 'going concern' self-test for US firms [Reuters]
The proposal from the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board calls for companies to evaluate each quarter their ability to survive as a going concern, or stay afloat and pay its obligations. Currently, the company's auditors are primarily responsible for making this evaluation. A company would have to issue its own warnings to investors when it is more likely than not that it would fail to meet its obligations over the next 12 months. Auditors would still be responsible for evaluating the company's going concern assessments.
IKEA founder to return home 40 years after fleeing Swedish taxes [Reuters]
[Ingvar] Kamprad, 87, said he would return from Switzerland before year-end and settle down on a farm outside of Almhult, a southern Swedish town where he founded IKEA 70 years ago and put Swedish "flat-pack" furniture on the global map. "Moving back to Sweden gets me closer to my family and my old friends," Kamprad said in a statement. "After my dear wife Margareta died about a year and a half ago, there is less that keeps me in Switzerland."
KPMG names new managing partner for Tampa office [TBBJ]
Claude Macari takes over for David Root is taking over the San Francisco office.
IASB chair calls for behavioural change in disclosures [Accountancy Age]
A box-ticking mentality to disclosures by preparers, auditors and regulators is damaging the communicative value of financial statements, the chairman of the global accounting standard setter has said. Speaking at the IFRS Foundation conference in Amsterdam, IASB chairman Hans Hoogervorst said the risk averse culture of throwing everything into disclosures annual reports had ballooned in size and risked becoming simply compliance documents. "No CFO has ever been sacked for producing voluminous while restatements may be career-limiting. Moreover, excessive disclosures can even by handy for burying unpleasant, yet very relevant information," Hoogervorst said.
Man Charged In Romney Tax Return Scheme [AP]
That cat picture really paid off in spades, didn't it? "A Tennessee man has been charged in a scheme involving former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s income tax returns. The U.S. Justice Department said 34-year-old Michael Mancil Brown of Franklin was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Nashville and charged with six counts of wire fraud and six counts of extortion."
Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) seems to think that a month has been enough time to get a 90,000 employee agency under control.
25 bike cops catch pair having sex in park [PDN]
A pack of 25 police officers who were participating in an Upper Darby bicycle school for cops were shocked when they rode up on a man and woman having sex on a bench near the baseball diamond at Naylor's Run Park yesterday afternoon, said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood. […] Around 4 p.m. yesterday, the bicycle cops were finishing up their daily ride in Naylor's Run Park. They had passed by the kids on swings and the people on the tennis courts and then they rode up to the baseball diamond, where they were startled by a man and woman who were participating in a different kind of aerobic activity, Chitwood said. "There they are, on the first base line. There's a bench, she is bent over the bench and our friend is behind her with his pants down to his ankle," Chitwood said, "banging away."
