Good morning, people! Got a little news for you.
Great just what we need, religious leaders spewing political hot takes:
The IRS’s green light for churches to speak about political campaigns and candidates without losing their tax-exempt status opens the door to new legal tests of two of the strongest Constitutional protections: Free speech and religious liberty.
Churches that want to push the bounds of political speech now have more assurance that they won’t lose their tax-exempt status, which allows them to largely avoid taxes and for donors to receive tax deductions. They also may test how far they can endorse a politician without attracting IRS enforcement.
“It will be interesting to see who starts pushing the limits and how,” said Raul Gastesi, partner at Gastesi Lopez Mestre & Cobiella. “And it will get tricky when you talk about religious freedom, those are highly protected rights.”
Journal of Accountancy with some fresh good news this morning:
Legislation passed by Congress will allow the IRS to grant tax relief when a governor declares either a disaster or state emergency rather than waiting for a federal disaster declaration, which may happen weeks after the state acts.
The Senate on Thursday passed H.R. 517, the Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act, which passed the House in April. It now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature.
“The passage of this important legislation is a major win for taxpayers and tax practitioners across the country,” AICPA President and CEO Mark Koziel, CPA, CGMA, said in a statement. “When taxpayers are impacted by a disaster, the stress, anxiety, and emotional toll can be overwhelming — these people should be afforded every opportunity to meet their tax obligations without additional hardship. We applaud the actions taken by members of Congress to set aside political ideology and unanimously support taxpayers by providing disaster victims timely relief.”
Canadian Accountant on why it’s important for firms to file timely Form 3s with the PCAOB, because they’ll getcha if you don’t:
Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton LLP took too long to report that it was the under the scrutiny of a Canadian regulator, according to a statement two days ago from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in the United States. The American audit watchdog issued a discipline order stating that it had censured the firm, imposed a $30,000 civil money penalty, and would require RCGT to comply with its reporting policies and procedures.
“Failures to document required audit work or to make required disclosures on time undermine trust in the audit and prevent investors and others from accessing important information,” said PCAOB Chair Erica Y. Williams, in a press release that also singled out an American accounting firm based in Marietta, Georgia: Goldman & Company, CPA’s, P.C.
Good news everyone, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff thinks people are just being paranoid when it comes to white collar job losses due to AI:
Marc Benioff said that while artificial intelligence is drastically reshaping Salesforce, it doesn’t mean that it will wipe out white-collar workers.
“That isn’t how I see AI,” Benioff, Salesforce’s CEO, told Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson during a recent onstage interview at the 2025 AI for Good Global Summit. “Maybe they have AI, I don’t have. But in the AI I have, it’s not going to be some huge mass layoff of white-collar workers, it is a radical augmentation of the workforce.”
Benioff’s broader view of AI contrasts with how other in tech view the next decade. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who was not mentioned directly during Benioff’s appearance, has said AI may eliminate half of entry-level, white-collar jobs within the next five years.
People need to get past this type of general “fear,” Benioff said.
Relevant Gizmodo article from a few weeks ago: Salesforce CEO Claims Half of the Company’s Work Is Now Done by AI
IRS customer service agent and president of the union that represents the many, many IRS employees working out of Kansas City speaks to the local NPR affiliate about the “psychological warfare” of layoffs and explains how things are going (or not going) at her workplace lately:
Shannon Ellis works in customer service at the agency and serves as the president of National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 66, which represents IRS workers in the area.
In an interview with KCUR, Ellis said the IRS has not told her union how many workers have left — either through firings or voluntary departures.
Earlier this year, agencies offered deferred resignations to federal employees — a choice between resigning their jobs on a specific date, or potentially being subject to layoffs in the future. Ellis likened the federal government’s threats of layoffs to a game show where no one wins.
“Here behind door number one, you can do this, or you can wait to see what happens behind door number two,” she said. “It’s like a psychological war.”
Ellis said that the communication from management has been inconsistent and confusing, and that workers were depressed and afraid for their livelihoods and their careers — echoing concerns KCUR has heard from other Kansas City federal union leaders.
Some workers, Ellis said, are even suicidal, and the union is trying to help them access mental health services.
Halliburton has a new CAO and gives us her CV in the press release:
Effective July 16, 2025, Stephanie Holzhauser will assume the role of senior vice president and chief accounting officer. She replaces Charles Geer Jr. who is departing for an executive role at another company.
Holzhauser began her career at Halliburton as an intern before joining the company as an associate accountant in 2004. Throughout her tenure, she held various roles of increasing responsibility in external reporting, technical accounting along with both the Completion and Production and Drilling and Evaluation divisions and most recently was the vice president of operations finance encompassing the hemispheres, divisions and financial planning and analysis teams. She holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in accounting from Louisiana State University.
Deloitte won HR Team of the Year and Best Recruitment Strategy at the Employee Happiness Awards UAE in Dubai:
“We are honoured to have received these awards, which reflect our dedication to enhancing the employee experience at Deloitte as well as our unwavering commitment to our inclusive policies,” said Rana Ghandour Salhab, Managing Partner for People & Purpose at Deloitte in the Middle East.
And that’s all for this slow Monday news brief. My inbox is open should you have grievances, observations, or a tip: email or text. Have a good week and try to stay out of trouble OK?
