These are the snacks powering CPAs during tax season [Journal of Accountancy] Wait, it’s not black tar? Huh.
KPMG UK staff to work in offices up to four days a fortnight from June [Reuters] “As part of the firm’s new hybrid way of working, from June onwards, the expectation will be that KPMG’s people spend up to four days in the office spread over a fortnight, with the rest spent at home or at client sites,” KPMG spokeswoman Zoe Sheppard said in an emailed statement.
Oh no, now Deloitte with the crypto nonsense [Financial Times] Deloitte gets roasted by FT: Now we don’t want to suggest this report has been written by a bunch of crypto bros, but has this report been written by a bunch of crypto bros? Do they consider themselves “cutting-edge”? Do they think crypto has something to do with central bank digital currencies (it really doesn’t, apart from the word “digital”)? Real-time and accurate revenue-sharing while enhancing transparency to facilitate back-office reconciliation can be furnished, they say? Um, OK.
Peace of Mind: How Accountants Can Maintain Professional and Personal Balance [FloQast] FloQast has released a guided meditation and a coloring book entitled The World’s Greatest Accounting Coloring Book.
AICPA’s Releases New Certificate on Data Analytics Core Concepts [CPA Practice Advisor] The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (Association), representing AICPA and CIMA, has released a new Data Analytics Core Concepts Certificate to assure practicing CPAs have the necessary skills as data analytics becomes a critical business tool for accounting and financial professionals.
There’s an Extremely Stupid Reason Congress Doesn’t Want a Good IRS [New York Magazine] This perverse situation is the product of a series of inscrutable rules and traditions, layered atop each other, somewhat like an ancient city built upon ruins. Perhaps you have heard of “budget reconciliation.” That’s the Senate’s main work-around to the filibuster. Reconciliation rules allow Congress to pass major new laws with a majority, not the usual 60-vote threshold.
New York City Man Charged with Nearly $4 Million COVID-19 Relief Fraud Scheme and Money Laundering [Department of Justice] According to court documents, Gregory J. Blotnick, 34, of New York City and West Palm Beach, used a variety of false representations to fraudulently obtain more than $3.8 million in federal COVID-19 PPP funds. To obtain the loan money, Blotnick submitted eight falsified loan applications to numerous lenders on behalf of five of Blotnick’s businesses, including his New York City-based hedge fund management firm, Brattle Street Capital LLC and related entities. To obtain the PPP loans, Blotnick submitted false information, including the number of his employees, federal tax returns for his businesses, and his payroll documentation, and he certified that he would use the loan money only for business-related purposes. After fraudulently obtaining the loans, Blotnick laundered and misused the loan proceeds by, among other things, transferring those proceeds to brokerage accounts and placing more than $3 million in losing stock trades.
Backlog of income tax returns is growing, delaying refunds to millions [CBS News] According to the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent arm of the IRS focused on tax filers’ rights, the agency is holding almost 31 million returns for manual processing just ahead of the May 17 tax filing deadline. That backlog has grown by 2 million returns since mid-April, National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins told CBS MoneyWatch.
