Category: Review Comments

• The Code is 23! – Happy, happy. [Tax Update Blog]
• Accounting Firms Succeed Despite Economic Slump – “CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, surveyed 100 U.S. accounting firms and found that even in a contracted economy, none of the firms have lowered their rates.” [Web CPA]
• Microsoft Tries to Lose ‘PC Guy’ Image With Windows 7 – Hodgman. We warned you. [Bloomberg]
• Is $5,500 Golf Cart Credit Emblematic of “Tax Policy in the Age of Obama” – WSJ op-ed criticizing the President’s policy? The horror. [TaxProf Blog]
• Fraud Reported in Program to Help New Homebuyers – “Some claims were filed for children as young as 4 years old.” [NYT]

• Galleon to Begin Wind-Down of Funds – At least one person is optimistic. [DealBook]
• Tax (Return) Stories: F. Scott Fitzgerald – Apparently FSF was not so spendy. [TaxProf Blog]
• Pay Czar to Slash Compensation at Seven Firms – “Kenneth Feinberg, the Treasury Department’s special master for compensation, will lower total compensation for 175 employees by an average of 50%, these people said. As expected, the biggest cut will be to salaries, which will drop 90% on average.” Special master? [WSJ]
• The Top Five Twitter Feeds for Job Hunters in Accounting – Use it. And follow us while you’re at it. [FINS]

• UBS Accidentally Leaks Names to Post Office – One day UBS will do something right. [Web CPA]
• Patricia Cornwell’s Latest Mystery – Suing her accountants and business advisors for allegedly losing $40 mil. [TDB]
• Wall Street on edge as SEC top cop gets aggressive – Khuzami seems to be doing fine and even has a sidekick. [Reuters]
• PwC’s Lehmans fees top £154m [Accountancy Age]
• Denham Receives AICPA Medal of Honor – Highest award given by CPAs to a non-CPA. [TaxProf Blog]
• Some Internal Audit Staffs Cut in Recession — But Not All – Good news: 2009 is the peak of layoffs! Bad news: They will still continue in 2010. [Compliance Week]

• Billionaire investor Carl Icahn offers CIT Group $6B lifeline as it faces potential collapse – What the hell, go for it. [Chicago Tribune]
• Build It With Tax Incentives, and Hollywood Will Come – Lots of coverage on the Iowa film tax credit mess at Tax Update Blog. [WSJ]
• IRS Employees Took Unauthorized First-Class Flights – Can you blame them? [Web CPA]
• Colleagues Finger Billionaire – No matter how you read that, it’s not good for Raj. [WSJ]
• KPMG hires new local managing partner – You don’t say? [Washington Business Journal]

• Who knew it was National Bosses Day? ATL did. Happy day to all the chiefs out there!
• IRS rolls out 2010 tax rates [Denver Business Journal]
• “I’ll be like Martha ……. Stewart” – FBI cracks alleged Rajaratnam ring – Heads are going to roll on this one. Check out DB’s coverage as well. [FT Alphaville]
• Actor Nicolas Cage sues business manager Samuel Levin for $20M claiming ‘financial ruin’ – It’s the American way. [NYDN]
• Obama Administration Pushes Back at Bank Lobbying on Regulation – “The issue, according to administration officials, is the industry is generally on sound footing because of government help and lobbying against Obama’s regulatory plans goes against the nation’s long-term interest.” [Bloomberg]

• Is your boss honest? Hec no, say most Americans, according to Adecco Group survey – Thoughts? [NYDN]
• More Goldman Lies – Goldman Sachs: social crusader. [Naked Capitalism]
• Outgoing BofA CEO Ken Lewis to Receive No Salary, Bonus for 2009 – Our suggestion: grow the beard back Ken. [WSJ]
• Europe must stop its meddling, says FASB chief – We wish he talked that way. C’mon Accountancy Age, he’s not out of a Scooby Doo cartoon. [Accountancy Age]
And some sickos like this (click to enlarge):

• Blue Chips Breach 10000 – OHHHH BOY. We heard something about a cake and Maria Bartiromo but that could be a rumor. [WSJ]
• IRS Steps Up Offshore Money Hunt as 7,500 Disclose – Believe it when we tell you that if you’ve got an offshore account and you haven’t declared by midnight tomorrow, armed men in masks will be storming your home and you will be made an example. [Bloomberg]
• Your dog may soon be able to fetch you a nice big rebate on your federal taxes – Up to $3,500 in Washington. [NYDN]
• FASB Links GAAP with XBRL through Codification – That should help. [Compliance Week]
• Survey. Last time. Swear.

• Don’t forget to take our survey. Again, it’s harmless.
• Heller Creditors to Go After Partners and Accountants? – One more lawsuit won’t hurt, E&Y. [AM Law Daily]
• IRS: Infant Formula Not Deductible by Mother With Double Mastectomy – Oh, that’s nice. [TaxProf Blog]
• High Court To Hear Ex-Enron CEO’s Criminal Appeal – Too bad Ken Lay kicked the bucket. He’s missing the SCOTUS and possibly Broadway. [AP via NPR]
• Judge in Bear Stearns trial rejects jurors for bias – Nice way to start things. [Reuters]
• Senate Finance Panel Approves Health Bill, 14-9 – God, if only this was the end of it. [WSJ]

• Washington: First in War, Peace — and Accounting – Father of the Country apparently knew his debits and credits. He even documented his gambling losses to keep the those filthy bookies off his back. [Washington Post]
• Chicago Cubs file Ch. 11 bankruptcy – Just to move things along. [Chicago Tribune]
• National Association of Business Economists: ‘Great recession is over’ – How many times is this thing going to get called? [Denver Business Journal]
• Wesley gets ‘Sniped’ – Tax problems simply aren’t enough. Let’s throw some Ponzi related victimization. It may be time to seriously consider White Men Can’t Jump 2. [NYP]
• SEC Adds to KB Home’s Troubles – “In a quarterly filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, KB said the SEC staff has issued a ‘formal order of investigation…regarding possible accounting and disclosure issues.'” – Never good. [WSJ]

• GC October Survey – A chance for a $100 AMEX gift certificate people. Get on it.
• $100 million settlement for bankrupt Phila. lender – American Business Financial Services is bankrupt. Now the trustee wants BDO to pay $962 million. Ouch. [Philadelphia Inquirer]
• Internal Audit Staff Hit Hard by Recession [Web CPA]
• Corporate bully of the day: Hertz – Audit Integrity called out Hertz. Hertz sues Audit Integrity. That’s mature. [Felix Salmon/Reuters]
• FASB Finalizes New Revenue Recognition Rules – Yes, the wait is over. [Compliance Week]
• Tax Consequences of President Obama’s Nobel Prize [TaxProf Blog]

• LandAmerica: The final days appeared like a Ponzi scheme – Adrienne’s opus on LandAmerica’s shiesty last days. [The Mortgage Lender Implode-o-Meter]
• Ethics Committee Expands Rangel Investigation – You might have a rent-controlled apartment if it wasn’t for this guy hoarding them all. [NYT]
• Obama Has Lunch With Bezos, Business Leaders – C’mon Bam, no JT? [WSJ]
• IFRS Returns to the Front Burner – Tweedie says they’re working hard, working weekends and ordering in to get this done. [CFO]

• Democrats Block G.O.P. Move on Rangel – Rangs is still in charge of Ways & Means, thanks to him and his a couple hundred of his friends telling the Republicans to suck it. [The Caucus/NYT]
• Wells Fargo Will Raise Credit-Card Rates Ahead of Law – ” Wells Fargo & Co. plans to raise interest rates on a majority of credit-card customers by 3 percentage points before new rules limiting such increases take effect, according to a company executive.” Get pissed people. [Bloomberg]
• Feds sue Colorado tax preparer, alleging $55M in bogus refund claims – No criminal charges yet but Curtis Morris and his company, Numbers and Beyond, are looking at an injunction getting slapped on their asses. [Denver Business Journal]
• Dell to Build Android Phone for AT&T – Because Ma Bell has done so well handling the iPhone bandwidth sucking problem. [WSJ]