
Donald Trump Jr. Admits He Probably Would Have Failed Intermediate Accting, Had He Taken It
Today in Business Insider: As sole trustee for the family business, Donald Trump Jr. routinely signs his father’s financial statements — but he still insisted during a recent sworn deposition that he has very little actual understanding of accounting, New York officials revealed Thursday. Asked about “GAAP,” the generally accepted accounting principles that must be […]

Let’s Cool It With All the ‘CPAs Should Run for Office Because Taxes’ Talk
Crazy enough to think that people will care that he can look at a 1040 and not soil himself. Should CPAs run for office? According to this gushy post at the AICPA, the answer is a resounding: YAAAAS. When you’re a CPA, you have a solid understanding of the many issues that power government: taxes, […]

Do Political Opinions Matter When Choosing an Employer?
We’re in a weird space these days. The country is remarkably polarized when it comes to politics, and it’s said personal relationships have a lower chance of succeeding if the parties aren’t on the same political page. Yikes. So how do you navigate this landscape in the workplace, especially if your views are in the […]
Survey: Millennials Most Likely to Waste Time Talking Politics
A few weeks ago, we discussed whether or not discussing politics at work was a good idea. In general, it's ill-advised because voices get raised, names get called, feelings get hurt, threats get made and you can be damn sure nothing gets resolved. These discussions also have the tendency to drag on, so what might've […]
Should Accountants Avoid Political Discussions at Work?
As you’ve probably heard, over the weekend, the New York Times obtained a few pages of Republican presidential nominee and stale cheese cracker Donald Trump’s tax return and shared them with the world. Lots of people have been pining for months for any morsel of Trump’s returns and now that we have that morsel, people […]
Here’s How the Accounting Profession’s Political Action Committees Have Been Spending Their Money
With less than two months left until Election Day, you might be wondering, “How much money have accounting firms been throwing around this election cycle?” No? Just me? Okay, then, well this should be fun. Here’s what Open Secrets, a website run by the Center of Responsive Politics, has for contributions by the accounting industry’s […]
New Bill Calls for Drug-Testing Taxpayers Claiming More Than $150k in Itemized Deductions
A big part of politics, I think, is trolling. And, just like on the internet, it works! Look no further than the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party. He's basically the Fox Nation comment section incarnate and yet, he could be the next President of the United States! From a legislative standpoint, this works too. […]
More Twists in the Race to Be The Next PCAOB Chairman
John White, a prominent lawyer with Cravath, Swaine & Moore, sits on the PCAOB's Standing Advisory Group. His wife, Mary Jo, chairs the SEC. She, along with the other commissioners, will choose the next PCAOB chair. Some people don't like how that looks: The Center for Effective Government, an advocacy group, said White should step […]
Baker Tilly CEO Admits He Wasn’t “Civically Involved” Enough for Chicago
Man, and I thought Washington was a tough town to break into: Tim Christen, chairman and CEO of accounting firm Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP, moved the company's U.S. headquarters to Chicago from Madison, Wis., five years ago, but when he set out to join one of the city's elite civic clubs, he was rejected. […]
What Is It With Big 4 Hot Shots and Their Politics?
Alright, we need to sage this joint out a little bit. I'm posting the following reader question not to start another monkey dung-throwing match in the comment section but to spark a real discussion about this matter. I have some theories but let's get to the question first: I've been working for one of the […]
GOP Senator: Lois Lerner’s Retirement Is Only the Beginning of Us Dragging This Thing Out
Last week, Lois Lerner was "technically still employed," but Bloomberg's Richard Rubin reports that the former director of exempt organizations is out of there effective today. HOWEVAH! If you thought this was the end of political gamesmanship, then you would be sorely mistaken: “Just because Lois Lerner is retiring from the IRS does not mean […]
Oddly, Dem and GOP Leaders Don’t Agree on Next Act in IRS Investigation Circus
Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD) shared some new info yesterday about some of the employees in the IRS's Cincinnati office — including a self-described "conservative Republican" — who were all, "Yeah, we kinda sorta used terms like 'Tea Party' to try to determine who was engaging in too much political activity to qualify as a 501(c)(4)": According […]
The IRS Scandal Has Made the Long Odds of Passing Tax Reform Even Longer
Until last Friday, tax reform seemed to be working a steady pace towards…something. I mean, Max & Dave have both a Twitter account and a website dedicated to the cause so you know they were getting serious about the thing. This kind of effort is enough to get the ghost of Ronald Reagan wandering around DC […]
Here Are Some of Things People Are Saying About the IRS Scandal
As you've probably heard by now, the head of the IRS's tax-exempt organizations divison, Lois Lerner, apologized on Friday that the agency targeted 501(c)4 organizations with "Tea Party" and "patriot" in their names. Lerner said this was not done out of political bias, because, as we all know, those words don't hold any political overtones. […]
Why Yes, Tax Reform Can Get More Complicated
Juggling all the aspects of income tax reform is quite a task. Here's a mind dump of a few of the elements involved: Credits Deductions Tax-exempt income The treatment of pass-throughs How much marginal rates should be cut If more revenue should be raised How carried interest is treated The capital gains rate Transfer pricing […]
Tax Nerds Feeling Vindicated After Their Long-held Viewpoints Are Paid Lip Service
Tax Policy Center co-director Eric Toder is feeling good today. Why? Some people known for not doing much of anything productive are saying things that sound remarkably like some people who plan to do something productive! The House Ways and Means Committee, in a letter signed by all its Republican members to Budget Committee Chairman […]
John Boehner Is the Most Reasonable, Responsible Person in Washington, Says John Boehner
The other day, Speaker of the Hizzous John Boehner got a lot of people got lot of people hot and bothered when he said that Republicans were "willing to accept new revenue, under the right conditions.” For some odd reason, these people – including Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) – thought that meant […]
Chuck Schumer Is Willing to Give John Boehner a Few Days to Warm Up to Higher Taxes
“You can’t expect the Speaker to turn on a dime in 24 hours and embrace everything, higher taxes, higher taxes on the wealthy, but I think privately that he’s seen the handwriting on the wall and it makes me very hopeful that we can do something big in the next month and a half. It’s […]
A Famous Psephologist Hated Working at KPMG, Just Like Us!
In this election cycle, Nate Silver may be the most talked about person that isn't running for political office. He runs FiveThirtyEight, a blog that uses data to determine the probability of a particular outcome in an election, most notably the presidential election. In 2008 he predicted 49 out of 50 states correct, so he […]
NJ Committeewoman Accused Of Lying About Her “Inactive” CPA License
I have seen many, many CPA exam candidates add "CPA" to their email signatures and social media profiles immediately after passing their 4th part over the years, and most of us know why this is not a smart idea. Sure, you're really excited to have passed and figure you're just a few years' of experience […]
Grover Norquist: No Matter What, Taxes Aren’t Going Up
GOP drum major Grover Norquist was interviewed by the Washington Post's Suzy Khimm and you'll be absolutely FLOORED to learn that they discussed taxes. Mostly, the discussion focused was on what would happen to various taxes after the election – what happens if Romney is elected, what happens if Obama is re-elected, what happens in […]
Ways and Means Committee Isn’t Even Trying Anymore
As you know, the so-called* fiscal cliff is looming* over us all. The prospect of tax increases and spending cuts has everyone freaked. Our elected officials are in full campaign mode, yet still manage to o attend committee meetings to discuss and debate policy of the utmost importance in order to reach a compromise for […]
Ohio Society of CPAs Foolish Enough to Think That Congress and the President Will Heed Their Call for Bipartisanship
It's not just Ohio CPAs, mind you. NosireeBOB. It's primarily Chambers of Commerce from around the country but also the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, the Snack Food Association, Turfgrass Producers International, and a host of others asking "Congress and the president to immediately enact legislation that averts America’s impending fiscal cliff." Christ […]
The Wall Street Journal, For One, Has No Problem Making Mitt Romney’s Tax Plan Mathematically Possible
Late yesterday (or for you nostalgic types, in today's print edition), the Wall Street Journal published an editorial that goes after the Brookings Institution and Tax Policy Center for their analysis of Mitt Romney's tax plan. The long-short of the analysis is that, given what has been said by Mittens re: tax reform, there is […]
Democrats Concerned That Republicans Want to Take Their Tax Reform Ball and Go Home
In case you weren't already aware, our nation's tax code is a mess. And not your run-of-the-mill mess that can be tidied up before company comes over; this is more of a dirty-dishes-on-the-floor-ring-around-the-entire-bathroom-kitchen-smells-like-the-dumpster-what-the-hell-is-that?-is-that-dog-piss? mess. Both political parties believe that reform is needed, but that's where the agreement ends. The Republicans would like to cut tax […]
Sandy Levin Will Try (and Fail) to Get Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns the Old Fashioned Way
You almost get the sense that ol' Sandy is wagging a finger at Mitt and saying, "A real Michigan man offers up twelve years of tax returns. But in your case, I'll settle for ten." Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., the ranking Democratic member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, plans to introduce legislation […]
Joe Echevarria: Washington Needs to Get Its Act Together
Deloitte CEO Joe Echevarria is confident in his firm's ability to create jobs. He told CNBC that the Green Dot will hire another 17,000 new employees next year (netting "about half of that"). The reason that other, lesser, CEOs aren't kicking ass and taking names is that they can't deal with all the uncertainty out […]
Just Admit It, Choosing the IRS to Enforce ObamaCare Was Smart
One of the many beefs that people have with ObamaCare is that the IRS will be tasked with enforcing the penalty assessed to those that choose not to purchase health insurance. Joe Kristan laments: Maybe the most depressing aspect of the [SCOTUS] decision is the way it seems to endorse using the tax law as the […]
Cranky Old Coot Alan Simpson Gives ‘Wretched’ Seniors Group a Piece of His Mind
Eighty year-old Alan Simpson, who typically saves his Grandpa Simpson outbursts for Grover Norquist, would prefer it if the California Alliance of Retired Americans quit their rambling, sat back and chewed their Jell-O slowly, and let the coherent adults handle the nation's fiscal crisis: Alan Simpson, a co-chairman of President Obama’s fiscal commission, has lashed […]
Congressional Members Seem to Have Their Orders Re: Auditor Rotation
You may remember that last Wednesday I put my grown-up clothes on and attended the PCAOB's open meeting on auditor rotation. It was a good discussion (relatively speaking) and I got chat with some pretty smart people. I can't work a room of old white men like Adrienne (few can), but Chairman James Doty seemed […]
Kids! Join the Voluntary Tax Accountant Extinction Movement!
The world doesn’t owe us a living. Of course you know that. If you thought the world did owe you a living, you wouldn’t have gotten that Accounting degree. You’d have gone for that much easier Critical Gender Studies or 19th-Century American History ticket. But even when you get that first tax accountant job, […]
Congress Isn’t Interested in Discussing the Payroll Tax Cut Right Now
House Republicans on Tuesday declined to recognize a House Democrat who was trying to speak about the need for Congress to quickly resolve its differences about how to extend the payroll tax cut. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) gaveled today's pro forma session to order at about 2 p.m. After the House prayer and Pledge of […]
Gingrich, Romney Currently Leading the Race to Be Grover Norquist’s Whipping Boy
Did I say “Grover Norquist”? Sorry, sorry. By that, I meant, “the American People.”
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Hear that, Mittens? You need to do a re-write, or the the citizens of this great land will have you by the short and curlies. Get on it.
[via The Hill]
The Big 4 and the Revolving Door
Last week the bane of Big 4 auditors existence, the PCAOB, broke their cherry on releasing Part II of an inspection report for a Big 4 firm. The honor went to Deloitte, who sufficiently blew off the Board’s recommendations for 12 months, which led to the release of Part II.
Bloomberg‘s Jonathan Weil, who usually sits back with popcorn while these things go down before chiming in, got to it today but with a twist that you probably weren’t expecting: