Taxes

New Tax Man Tactics in United Kingdom

April 03, 2012

The United Kingdom begins another fiscal year this week with the country short on cash, meaning yet another year of the Crown stepping up collection of corporate taxes to help close the gap. This year, however, the government will employ a new tool to force companies to disclose possible tax evasion more quickly if they want to stay on the government's good side. Full details inside.
 

Preparing for W-2 Healthcare Cost Reporting

February 14, 2012

Come next tax season, companies that issue more than 250 W-2 forms will be required to report on that form how much they spent on each employee's health coverage. Despite the looming deadline, companies are still somewhat baffled by the exercise. "We hear from our clients: 'I don't really understand what the point of this is,'" says Ben Lupin, director of compliance at Corporate Synergies Group.
 

Foreign Banks, Others Struggle to Prepare FATCA Compliance

January 17, 2012

As the 2013 deadline nears for foreign banks and others to strike a deal with the Internal Revenue Service to monitor accounts held by U.S. citizens, confusion remains about exactly which companies must comply with the law. "Until companies really pull up their sleeves and take a hard look at all the necessary changes, they won't realize the impact," says Laurie Hatten-Boyd, a principal at KPMG.
 

SEC Challenging Multinationals on Plans for Foreign Earnings

November 15, 2011

The SEC warned that if companies claim they are reinvesting foreign earnings outside the United States and avoiding the taxes to repatriate them, then they must provide more information to prove it and tell a consistent story to investors. "You have to be able to support that assertion," says Bob Norton, chief income tax officer at consulting firm Vertex. Details inside.
 

IRS Teaming Up With Overseas Tax Authorities on Joint Audits

August 30, 2011

With complex, cross-border taxable transactions on the rise, the Internal Revenue Service is looking to counterparts in foreign tax jurisdictions to team up on audits. The project, still in its early phase, hopes to resolve multinational tax issues more quickly and efficiently. "Joint audits are an effort by the tax authorities to mirror what the companies are doing," says Mike Patton, a partner at the law firm DLA Piper.
 

States Ratchet Up Enforcement of Unclaimed Property Rules

July 06, 2011

Deficit-challenged states are looking at unclaimed property to help fill gaps in their budgets. They are increasingly leaning on companies to turn over abandoned assets, and some are even trying to broaden the definition of what can be considered unclaimed. "These audits are unlike anything I've seen in 30 years of doing this," says Noel Hall, a principal at tax firm Ryan.
 

SEC Squinting at Overseas Earnings

June 14, 2011

Companies that keep offshore earnings abroad to avoid U.S. taxes have some explaining to do to satisfy not just tax authorities, but the Securities and Exchange Commission. The agency is scrutinizing such disclosures carefully these days, SEC staffer Mark Shannon said at the recent Compliance Week 2011 conference, to make sure companies are explaining offshore earnings to investors properly. Details inside.
 

Getting a Grip on Uncertain Tax Positions Disclosure

March 15, 2011

Many corporate tax filers are struggling with the new "Schedule UTP," an IRS form that requires more disclosure of a company's uncertain tax positions. Tax departments have a difficult time with the notion that they're essentially expected to help the IRS do its job, says Wayne Corini, a partner with accounting firm BDO.
 

The SEC Moonlights as State Tax Enforcer

February 08, 2011

The SEC may be struggling with a crush of rulemaking for the Dodd-Frank Act, but it still took the time recently to ding a company for sloppy compliance with state tax laws, an area normally outside the SEC's interests. Details inside.
 

Executives Still Jittery Over Schedule UTP Requirements

October 26, 2010

The Internal Revenue Service may have eased up on its call for details about shaky tax positions, but senior executives are jittery about the new requirement nonetheless.In a recent poll of 1,100 business leaders by KPMG’s Tax Governance Institute, nearly half said they’re worried about a new schedule added to...
 

PwC Webcast Capsulizes Third-Quarter Reporting Concerns

July 07, 2010

Looking into the third quarter, companies should prepare to face new regulations, new accounting standards, and new tax rules that together promise to significantly transform financial reporting for public companies.Change—and the pace of change—gave PricewaterhouseCoopers plenty of ground to cover in its recent quarterly Webcast on current accounting and reporting...
 

IRS Formalizes Proposal on Uncertain Tax Positions

April 23, 2010

The Internal Revenue Service has published its proposed schedule and proposed instructions for how companies will be required to report where they have uncertain positions in their corporate tax returns.In IRS Announcement 2010-30, the IRS says any corporate taxpayer, including insurance companies, with both uncertain tax positions and assets of $10...
 

Sub-committee Cancels Health Reform Charges Hearing

April 19, 2010

The House sub-committee investigating first-quarter earnings charges in connection with healthcare reform has canceled its planned April 21 hearing.In a face-saving memo to the members of the Sub-committee on Oversight and Investigations, committee chairs Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak say they and companies alike need more time to digest the...
 

Big 4 Offer Guidance on Drug Subsidy Writedowns

April 06, 2010

Big 4 accounting firms are publishing guidance to help companies understand the tax and accounting consequences of healthcare reform for companies tied into a retiree drug subsidy.Amid political debate, companies are beginning to file their 8-Ks with the Securities and Exchange Commission announcing writedowns in their deferred tax assets as...
 

IRS Extends Timeframe for Uncertain Tax Disclosures

March 16, 2010

Following a flurry of feedback to a planned disclosure requirement regarding uncertain tax positions, the Internal Revenue Service is stepping back, further developing the proposal, and extending the comment period for it.That will give companies more time to digest and comment on the IRS plan to require disclosure of uncertain...
 

IRS Launches Detailed Audits Targeting Employment Tax

March 09, 2010

The Internal Revenue Service is launching a comprehensive study built around an exhaustive audit program to determine how fully—or not—companies are complying with employment tax reporting and payment obligations, most notably payroll taxes, fringe benefits, independent contractors, expense reimbursements, and other related payroll issues.It’s the first such undertaking in 25...
 

SEC Director Disclaims Privilege Over Audit Work Papers

December 11, 2009

It seems the Internal Revenue Service isn’t the only government agent interested in perusing corporate audit work papers. It turns out the Securities and Exchange Commission would like to have a look now and then too.In a speech to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants this week, Robert Khuzami,...
 

Tax Act Would Deputize Banks to Report Tax Evaders

December 03, 2009

To address economic woes, Congress seems bursting with legislative proposals that may or may not ever become law, but the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 is one that’s sure to gain traction, according to tax experts.The bill focuses on finding off-shore accounts that are sheltering income from U.S....
 

IRS Explains How to Carry Losses Back Five Years

November 25, 2009

The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance on how companies can claim a refund under a recent Congressional gift—an extension of net operating loss carryback provisions to enable companies to offset current losses with tax refunds from prior years.While typically companies can carry net operating losses back for up to...
 

Plan Wisely to Leverage One-Time Tax Break

November 10, 2009

Companies looking at losses in 2008 or 2009 have won an important tax break from Washington designed to improve cash flow.When President Barack Obama signed the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 into law last week, the measure did more than extend unemployment benefits for millions of Americans...
 

Tax Authorities Steer Interest Toward Indirect Taxes

October 28, 2009

Hunger for revenue is driving may tax authorities around the world to rely increasingly on indirect forms of taxation, such as a value-added tax or a goods and services tax.A recent KPMG study of global tax trends found more than 150 countries around the world now have indirect tax systems—where...
 

Public Companies Explore Export Tax Breaks

May 29, 2009

Public companies reeling over the prospect of losing international tax breaks might consider borrowing an idea from the private company play book, according to a Northeast regional accounting firm.The “interest-charge domestic international sales corporation,” or IC-DISC, is a business structure that allows U.S. exporters to defer up to $10 million...
 

Investors May Question Cash Flow and Bonus Depreciation

May 07, 2009

Investor advocates are reminding their clients not to get too heady about cash flow figures if they are bolstered in part by certain tax incentives.RiskMetrics Group analyzed bonus depreciation being claimed by public companies as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act earlier this year and the Economic...
 

Economic Stress Adds Stress to Corporate Tax Function

April 13, 2009

The economic squeeze is putting a squeeze on the corporate tax function, as tax departments brace for more audit work and scrounge for every break they can find.In a recent Webcast survey by the Tax Governance Institute of KPMG, 30 percent of 500 participants said the increased likelihood of a...
 

FEI Lobbies Congress to Fend Off Obama Tax Plans

March 31, 2009

Corporate appeals to temper President Obama’s apparent plans around tax reform are beginning to hit Capitol Hill. Financial Executives International has written to Congressional leaders to take shots at Obama’s so-far sketchy plans referenced in his 2010 budget blueprint to make major changes in U.S. business tax policy.“The tax provisions...
 

Obama Budget Proposes LIFO Repeal Starting in 2012

March 19, 2009

Tucked deep into the tables of President Barack Obama’s proposed 2010 federal budget lies a line item sure to become a focal point of corporate tax policy debate—“repeal LIFO.”LIFO is the tax-friendly “last in, first out” method of accounting for inventory that has become increasingly touchy in recent years. It...
 

Transfer Pricing Commands Careful Risk Strategy

October 29, 2008

Transfer pricing is getting a great deal more attention globally, as governments around the world have become increasingly savvy to multinational corporate transactions and the ways they’ve been worked to avoid paying taxes.KPMG has published a veritable bible on the global transfer pricing landscape, titled “A Meeting of Minds,” offering...
 

FASB Plans Another FIN 48 Deferral for Private Companies

October 15, 2008

Private companies may win another one-year deferral from the Financial Accounting Standards Board on a requirement to disclose more information about uncertain tax positions.In its weekly meeting today, FASB voted reluctantly to propose a one-year deferral on the effective date of Financial Interpretation No. 48 Accounting for Uncertainty in Income...
 

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