The Department of Labor is moving to electronic filing of all Form 5500s starting January 1, 2010. Electronic filing is mandatory. They will not accept paper filings for plan years beginning after January 1, 2009.
In a move geared to increase transparency, the IRS has announced that corporate and other business taxpayers now subject to FIN 48 and similar financial reporting rules will be soon required to report uncertain tax positions on their annual Form 1120, U.S. Corporate Income Tax Return, or other applicable tax return.
The IRS is currently developing a separate schedule for purposes of this disclosure, and IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman has indicated that the agency intends to move quickly with the new reporting requirement once all comments have been received.
The IRS Oversight Board has released its annual Taxpayer Attitude Survey. According to the survey, the percent of taxpayers who find it acceptable to cheat on their income taxes increased from 9 percent in 2008 to 13 percent in 2009. The 2009 survey was based on interviews of 500 men and 500 women during August 2009.
As 2010 unfolds, small businesses are confronted with tax challenges and opportunities on many fronts. Lackluster consumer spending, combined with tight credit, has many small businesses in a holding pattern.
Congress may respond with a new tax credit to encourage hiring. Small businesses are also faced with uncertainty over many temporary provisions in the federal Tax Code. Many of these incentives have expired. At the same time, small businesses are uncertain how health care reform, the fate of the federal estate tax and proposed retirement savings initiatives may impact them.
Our IT Security Specialist Chris Griesemer’s recent presentation at the Lunch’Learn – Technical Audits, Security and Best Practices in Finance and Banking seminar covered important points for financial institutions.
As if the economic downturn wasn’t bad enough, state taxing authorities are on the warpath — and your business may very well be in their crosshairs. With budget woes approaching crisis point across the country (witness California’s well-publicized meltdown), state treasuries are stretched painfully thin.
In response to their empty coffers, state taxing authorities are actively targeting both in-state and out-of-state companies for income and sales tax compliance.
We have been doing IT exams for more than ten years and one overriding area of concern we see constantly is customer privacy. This has become one of the hottest topics with examiners lately. The examiners have a tendency to tell you to do something without giving any guidance. You will not receive an explanation on how to achieve their goals and sometimes they don’t even explain why.
Customer information is one example. Why does it need to be so secure? This question has a lot of answers, but this article will focus on the internal risks.
IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman has announced that the IRS will no longer attempt to draft rules on the taxation of employer-provided cell phones. Instead, Shulman reported that the agency will wait for Congress to take action. The commissioner made this announcement during a January 8 television interview. “We’re quite hopeful Congress is going to act on this,” Shulman stated, “In the meantime, we’re not doing anything special or moving forward with any initiatives.”
Yes, but only for a limited time. In late December 2009, Congress passed the 2010 Defense Appropriations Act (2010 Defense Act). The new law temporarily extends the eligibility period for COBRA premium assistance through February 28, 2010 and the duration of the subsidy for an additional six months (up to 15 months).
January brought two surprises to Capitol Hill. Health care reform, which appeared to be on a fast track to enactment, was significantly slowed by the Democrats’ loss of their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. Congress also did not pass a retroactive extension of the federal estate tax for 2010, leaving intact, at least for the immediate future, a new carryover basis regime. The new make-up of the Senate is expected to shift Congress’ focus to more job creation measures, possibly with some targeted business tax cuts.
