The financial scandal no one is talking about [The Guardian]
This is a nice long read to ease you back from the holiday weekend. “The financial scandal” is, of course, the Big 4, and their dominance as auditors of the world’s largest companies, among other things:
They are the only players large enough to check the numbers for these multinational organisations, and thus enjoy effective cartel status. Not that anything as improper as price-fixing would go on – with so few major players, there’s no need. “Everyone knows what everyone else’s rates are,” one of their recent former accountants told me with a smile. There are no serious rivals to undercut them. What’s more, since audits are a legal requirement almost everywhere, this is a state-guaranteed cartel.
N.J. warns IRS against banning property taxes as charitable gift [Bloomberg]
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said that the IRS should “think twice before going down that misguided road,” that road being a ban on states allowing SALT deductions. He promised a showdown “Should the IRS and Treasury Department continue down this path.”
As Tennessee’s Adult Entertainment Tax Starts July 1, Three Lessons From a Decade of the Texas ‘Pole Tax’ [BNA]
While an adult entertainment tax would seem like an odd wrinkle to focus on, some SALT professionals in Tennessee might find themselves studying the subtler points of a similar law in Texas, including what constitutes as “nude.”
Previously, on Going Concern…
Jason Bramwell interviewed controllers about having good relationships with audit committees.
I suggested that anyone who got a crappy raise last year should get a new job.
In Open Items: Larger Mid-Size Firm with potential to blow up!
In other news:
- In ‘Founder Friendly’ Era, Star Tech Entrepreneurs Grab Power, Huge Pay
- The FBI would like you to restart your router.
- An orthodontist with over $1 million in student loans.
- I heart GDPR playlist.
- Homeless Jesus statue stops runaway truck
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