Deloitte’s COVID ‘bonanza’: this is how much the British public has paid so far [openDemocracy] The Department of Health handed £38.8 million to accountancy firm Deloitte in July this year, for unspecified “services” relating to Test and Trace, new figures reveal. This is the first time we’ve known how much Deloitte is being paid for its work on the “failing” Test and Trace system. The payments are separate from the £22 million of Deloitte COVID contracts published by the government so far – which involve other, unrelated COVID work such as sourcing ventilators and Personal Protective Equipment. Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth said Test and Trace was resulting in a “bonanza for discredited outsourcing firms and consultants.” He told openDemocracy: “No one knows what this money has been actually spent on but we do know Test and Trace has failed to keep the virus under control and the consequence is Boris Johnson’s hard lockdown.”
Watchdog Holds Hearing Against KPMG for U.K. Insolvency Scandal [Bloomberg Tax] KPMG LLP could face another hefty penalty as U.K.’s accounting watchdog launched a tribunal hearing Monday over the firm’s handling of insolvency procedures for a second London-listed company.
Grant Thornton hit with lawsuit over collapse of Patisserie Valerie [Financial News] Accountancy firm Grant Thornton has been hit with a lawsuit over its role as auditor to cake chain Patisserie Valerie which collapsed in 2019 after it discovered a £40m hole in its accounts.
Aggrieved ex-Nssa boss to sue BDO [Zimbabwe Independent] Former National Social Security Authority (Nssa) chairperson Robin Vela is to institute legal action and report international auditing firm BDO to the Financial Reporting Council in the UK and the Belgian Accounting Standards Board over its conduct in Africa.
PwC spins-off its fintech arm eBAM as LikeZero [Consultancy.uk] PwC has sold its in-house data capture software to its management team, as changes to auditor independent rules mean the firm cannot effectively grow the business. The deal for eBAM was backed by private equity houses Souter Investments and Manfield Partners.
AICPA Says Current IRS Penalty Relief Measures Are Not Enough [CPA Practice Advisor] “Over the last week, Commissioner Rettig has reiterated several times the IRS’ position on providing ‘blanket’ relief – they will not do it. However, the AICPA has urged the IRS to provide an expedited process of targeted penalty relief for late filings resulting from delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Texas A&M’s Accounting Program Has Most Underrepresented Ph.D. Graduates, Faculty In U.S. [Texas A&M] An article in a forthcoming issue of the American Accounting Association Journal, Issues in Accounting Education, summarizes the results of a survey that found that the James Benjamin Department of Accounting at Mays Business School has the most underrepresented Ph.D. graduates and the most underrepresented accounting faculty of any top business school in the country.
Coca-Cola Improperly Shifted Profits Abroad, Tax Court Rules [Wall Street Journal] Coca-Cola Co. placed too much of its profit in its foreign operations instead of its higher-taxed domestic parent company, a U.S. Tax Court judge ruled Wednesday.
I await the PCAOB’s investigating E&Y over the $3.3 billion tax court judgment against Coke. What did E&Y look at in its 2007-2009 Coke audits?