What Are the Accounting Profession’s Darkest Secrets?
Today, i09 asked its readers to reveal secrets of their respective industries that might shock and/or horrify outsiders.
SEC Chief Accountant Suggests a Mysterious Plan D for IFRS
In remarks to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, SEC Chief Accountant Jim Schnurr floated a fourth, mysterious alternative to use of IFRS in the U.S. FEI reports: Schnurr described three possible alternative actions with respect to the use of IFRS by U.S. public companies that have been considered in that past: “Turning the […]
Is the PwC Oscar® Team Really Incorruptible?
PwC issued a press release today announcing their nearly eight-decade run tabulating the ballots for the Academy Awards. From now until the broadcast, we’ll be treated with more PwC mentions on Entertainment Tonight than anyone should bear. Personally, I’m of the opinion that the Golden Globes is a better gig due to all the drunken shenanigans, […]
IRS Not Too Forthcoming with the Success of Wealth Squad
Remember the “Wealth Squad“? They’re the jolly bunch of IRS examiners that focus their audit efforts on the richest of richies because it’s become clear that wealthy people are incapable of being honest on their tax returns (plus, poor people don’t have any money).
This elite group was formed in 2009 and based on the IRS’s count, they’ve been some busy little taxbusters:
According to the agency, audit rates among taxpayers who reported $10 million or more in income in 2010 jumped to 18% from 10% in 2009. Among taxpayers who reported $5 million to $10 million in income, nearly 12% were audited, compared with 6% in 2008.
Seems like a nice little ramp up in activity which means a boost to the Treasury’s piggy bank, right? If that’s the case, the Service isn’t exactly thumping their chests about it:
The IRS has refused to report how much money the “wealth squad” has brought in. This isn’t so difficult. Britain, which set up a similar “rich squad” around the same time, has announced that its squad netted £162 million ($ 263 million) in 2010-11, up from £82 million the year before. Those amounts are on top of the taxes already paid by the rich who are being targeted.
Conventional wisdom tells us that if the IRS were to release these numbers, it would probably make for some nice political fodder and so the Administration is telling them to keep a lid on the results. If you thought the soundbites about new 16,500 IRS agents were bad, imagine if the IRS actually reported how much more money it got rich people to fork over. On the other hand, it could be that the Service is juking the numbers and the Squad has been a complete failure. Either way, it seems that the IRS wouldn’t gain much by shouting these stats from the rooftops.