Friday Footnotes: IRS Might Get Rid of Everything But English; Ex-Partner Says EY Enabled Organized Crime | 7.25.25

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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.

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IRS considers eliminating non-English language tax services [Washington Post]
Trump administration officials are considering eliminating multi-language services at the IRS, according to records obtained by The Washington Post and two people familiar with the situation, a move that would make it dramatically more difficult for non-English-speaking individuals to file their taxes. The people said the IRS is evaluating how to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring English the official language of the United States — a power that some legal scholars say the president does not have. Both people spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisal.

IRS has lost 25% of its IT workforce since Trump took office, watchdog finds [FedScoop]
A snapshot report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that more than 25,000 IRS employees either took the deferred resignation offer, retired or were separated from the agency in another way, while nearly 300 staffers were terminated via reduction-in-force actions. Combined, those departures represent 25% of the agency’s workforce, which has downsized from roughly 103,000 staffers to 77,428 as of May.

IRS advises of Tuesday deadline to maintain Business Tax Account access [The Tax Adviser]
Business Tax Account (BTA) designated officials must revalidate their accounts by Tuesday if they want to maintain access, the IRS said in a fact sheet posted Wednesday. To revalidate, designated officials must log in to their BTA. However, the above link includes an advisory that the system will be shut down Sunday from midnight to 11 a.m. ET for planned updates.

EY whistleblower alleges firm enabled organized crime-linked global gambling networks [ReadWrite]
A former senior partner at Ernst & Young has accused the firm of knowingly enabling organized crime-linked gambling businesses in a sweeping federal complaint filed in the Southern District of New York. Joe Howie, a 35-year veteran of EY and former co-leader of its Global Assurance Risk Center of Excellence, alleges the firm “knowingly permitted the Firm to provide audit and other professional services to companies, particularly in the gaming, casino, and hospitality sectors, that were controlled by or closely connected to organized crime syndicates and other criminal groups and activity.”

Deloitte under investigation by UK FRC over Glencore audits [International Accounting Bulletin]
The UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has initiated an investigation into Deloitte over its audits of mining group Glencore. In a statement, the FRC said it has “commenced an investigation in relation to the statutory audits conducted by Deloitte of the financial statements of Glencore and Glencore Energy UK for the financial years ended 31 December 2013 to 31 December 2020”. The investigation adds to the scrutiny Deloitte faces over its auditing practices.

The post: Kinda wild how all the recent layoff posts have been from US based employees, while all the on-boarding questions have been from USI.

New partners should be wary of financial implications, accounting firm warns [Accountants Daily]
Speaking on a recent Under the Hood podcast episode, Ankit Sharma, partner at Pitcher Partners, said accounting firms needed to have conversations about what a partner role entails. The crucial conversations noted by Sharma included not only the role model responsibilities but the financial implications, such as how the structure of a practice impacted remuneration, tax payments, personal super contributions and insurance. “The leap from employee to non-employee comes with a lot of opportunity and demands, but one element that is often overlooked is understanding the financial implications involved.”

Texas CPA Firm Owner Shares Data Breach Experience at AICPA Conference [Self Employed]
A Texas CPA firm owner recently shared her challenging experience with a data security breach during a session at the AICPA & CIMA ENGAGE 25 conference. The accounting professional described the incident as “one of the hardest things” she had faced throughout her professional career. Despite the severity of the breach, the firm owner reported a surprising outcome: her clients maintained a positive perception of her and her practice after the incident. This revelation came during her presentation on data security, where she offered insights to fellow accounting professionals about navigating such crises.

How to grow a business without private equity funding: an expert view. [National World]
The managing partner of one of the country’s fastest growing chain of accountants- Streets has explained how he decided to expand without using private equity. Streets was originally founded in 1907 and is now a UK top 40 accounting firm. It now has almost 500 team members and 70 partners across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and continues to grow organically and via acquisition. Streets’ growth is unique in the accountancy sector, because it has been achieved without private equity (PE) funding, or external backing.

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One thought on “Friday Footnotes: IRS Might Get Rid of Everything But English; Ex-Partner Says EY Enabled Organized Crime | 7.25.25

  1. Regarding the Deloitte snippet…

    As I gain more years of experience, now I see why so many people refuse to train people during my time in the Big4. Why would you want to lose your leverage in maintaining your employment?

    Kind of sad, but now I know to hoard knowledge.

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