Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Accounting News Roundup: The Big 4 Cartel and New Jersey Puts the IRS on Notice | 05.29.18

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:

Get the Accounting News Roundup in your inbox every weekday by signing up here.

See something we missed? Have a tip, correction, comment, or complaint? Email us at [email protected].

Latest Accounting Jobs--Apply Now:

Have something to add to this story? Give us a shout by email, Twitter, or text/call the tipline at 202-505-8885. As always, all tips are anonymous.

Related articles

cat on a desk

Friday Footnotes: RTO Isn’t Going So Great; KPMG Wins Something; What Auditors? | 5.19.23

Footnotes is a collection of stories from around the accounting profession curated by actual humans and published every Friday at 5pm Eastern. While you’re here, subscribe to our newsletter to get the week’s top stories in your inbox every Tuesday and Friday. See ya. ICYMI I Love Accounting. So I Had to Leave. [GC] Benjamin […]

cat with breakfast in bed

Monday Morning Accounting News Brief: Identical Twins Head to Deloitte; TWO PwC Leaks; VA Tackles 150 | 5.15.23

Good morning and happy Monday! Here’s some stuff happening. Virginia Society of CPAs is tackling the question “is 150 too many?” For nearly the past two decades, prospective CPAs in Virginia have had to undertake 150 hours of education before becoming licensed. But a declining CPA pipeline has accountants asking: Is the 150 now a […]