News

A federal district court in Alabama held that the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), P.L. 116-283, which requires the reporting of beneficial ownership information (BOI) by businesses, is unconstitutional. The district court granted the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment Friday in the case of National Small Business United v. Yellen, No. 5:22-cv-1448-LCB (N.D. Ala. 3/1/24). One plaintiff, the National Small Business Association, has over 65,000 members. While the legislation may have "sensible and praiseworthy ends," the court stated in its opinion, the government's arguments that Congress has "the power to regulate millions of entities and their stakeholders the moment they obtain a formal corporate status" from a state "are not supported by precedent." The act "exceeds the Constitution's limits on the legislative branch and lacks a sufficient nexus to any numerated power to be a necessary or proper means of achieving Congress' policy goals," the opinion said.

Calls will go unanswered and mail will get no response under the IRS contingency plan for the first five days of a federal government shutdown. The plan, released Thursday, calls for furloughs of two-thirds of IRS staff if the government shuts down, resulting in "significant harmful impacts" on millions of taxpayers, Treasury said. The fiscal 2024 Lapsed Appropriations Contingency Plan will go into effect when the IRS is notified that government appropriations have lapsed and that a shutdown is to be initiated. All furloughed IRS employees will be able to return to work, and the Service will resume normal operations, when funds are appropriated. To avoid a shutdown, Congress must approve a budget for fiscal 2024 or a continuing resolution that keeps the government operating temporarily by Saturday, Sept. 30. If a government shutdown lasts for more than five business days, the IRS human capital officer will coordinate a Service-wide reassessment of the excepted activities. With the Oct. 16 deadline looming for some 10.5 million individual tax returns on extension, here is a look at IRS operations that would stop and those that would continue under the plan.

The proposed 2024 CPA Exam, redesigned in response to the changing landscape of accountancy and focused on competencies crucial to the success of newly licensed CPAs, is available for review and comment.

Reconciliation Bill Deadline Looms in Congress – Potential Impact on Corporations As negotiations continue on the fast-approaching reconciliation bill, the AICPA remains active in its advocacy efforts, which includes pushing back on the implementation of a minimum book income tax on corporations. During negotiations, major components of the reconciliation package could change or be dropped altogether from a final package while new provisions could be added. The deadline to pass a reconciliation bill is September 30; with a long August recess scheduled, there is little time to pass a bill and sign into law.

Four Standards Reflect a More Risk-Based, Scalable and Customized Approach to Quality The American Institute of CPAs’ Auditing Standards Board and Accounting and Review Services Committee have collectively released four new quality management standards designed to improve a CPA firm's risk assessment and audit quality. The new standards modernize quality control and reflect new realities in practice, such as an increased emphasis on risk assessment, changes in technology and the growing use of external service providers.

Following calls by the Tax Professionals United for Taxpayer Relief Coalition, and members of both the Senate and the House for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide meaningful relief to taxpayers ahead of this tax filing season, the IRS announced today its intention to stop some notices to taxpayers as they increase resources to process backlogged files

The Tax Professionals United for Taxpayer Relief coalition have released a statement in response to recent actions by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to suspend “some notices to taxpayers” for the upcoming tax filing season.

Finding qualified staff is an enduring concern that continues to challenge CPA firms this year, according to the 2021 AICPA Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) CPA Firm Top Issues Survey. Hiring staff emerged as the No. 1 issue affecting firms that employ 6–10, 11–20, or 21 or more professionals.

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) said that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is in the process of removing the requirement that Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) borrowers submit a Loan Necessity Questionnaire when applying for forgiveness on loans of $2 million or more.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has stopped accepting new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) applications from most lenders almost a full month before the $292 billion program’s application deadline.