News

Tougher penalties for tax preparers who break the law are included in a sweeping bipartisan Senate bill designed to overhaul IRS operations and strengthen taxpayer service.

The move, issued as part of a wider set of recommendations to the IRS, would “promote fairness and ease administrative burden,” the CPA group said.

Following the release of the Department of Education’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) titled Reimagining and Improving Student Education, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) submitted its response acknowledging the Departments efforts to clarify the definition of “professional,” and urging the incorporation of similar language into the final rule, making the intent clear within the Code of Federal Regulations itself.

New legislation can quickly change how CPAs advise families, especially when it introduces an entirely new type of savings and investment vehicle for children. That’s what H.R. 1, P.L. 119-21, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, did with the creation of Sec. 530A “Trump” accounts.

A number of provisions in President Donald Trump’s blockbuster bill to enact his second-term agenda will go into effect throughout the year.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has endorsed legislation introduced by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) to recognize accounting as a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education program. The Accounting STEM Pursuit Act (S. 3784) establishes the accounting profession as a STEM career pathway, allowing students greater access to accounting programs.

Just over 100 business associations have urged Treasury to destroy beneficial ownership information (BOI) records that domestic companies no longer must file, saying the retention of the records no longer serves a legitimate purpose.

With tax season underway, we encourage you to help your clients Go Digital! by reminding them that they can quickly and securely access their Benefit Statement through their personal my Social Security account.

For several weeks, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has expressed opposition to a proposed Department of Education regulation that would exclude accounting programs across the country from a professional degree designation for the purposes of graduate student loan limits.

The PCAOB has a new chair and set of board members. Demetrios “Jim” Logothetis, who retired in 2019 following 40 years with EY, will replace George Botic, a current PCAOB board member who has served as acting chair since Erica Williams departed in July, the SEC announced Friday.

A notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) clarified the Department of Education’s proposed definition of professional degrees for the purposes of graduate student loan limits.

The IRS will stay fully staffed for the first five working days of a possible Saturday shutdown, a lapsed appropriations contingency plan posted late Friday shows — temporarily easing concerns that the IRS would furlough employees during tax filing season.

As the nation faces the possibility of another government shutdown, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has urged the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to release a contingency plan excepting 100 percent of IRS employees in the event of a shutdown. In a letter to the Agency, the AICPA highlighted the severe impact a failure to do so would have on the 2026 filing season.

The Internal Revenue Service today issued frequently asked questions in Fact Sheet 2026-02 PDF to help taxpayers, businesses, and other stakeholders understand the changes under Executive Order 14247: Modernizing Payment To and From America’s Bank Account.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is expressing its support for the Fiscal State of the Nation Act, introduced by Representatives Andy Barr (R-KY) and Scott Peters (D-CA). This bipartisan legislation will promote greater fiscal transparency and require the Comptroller General of the United States to make an annual presentation before a joint hearing of the House and Senate Budget Committees to help key policymakers focus on some of the most important aspects of the consolidated financial statements, including financial and sustainability measures.

Under a new U.S. Postal Service (USPS) rule effective December 24, 2025, the USPS has clarified that a machine-applied postmark indicates the date the item is first processed by USPS using an automated sorting machine, which may be later than the day it was received by the post office. That means a document received by the post office on time could end up with a postmark dated after the deadline.

We wrapped up our annual Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments last week, and it’s hard to pick a single theme or highlight from the sheer volume of information presented and professional networking packed into a few days.

Reversing a district court, the Eleventh Circuit held Tuesday that the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which mandated beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting, is constitutional and remanded the case for further proceedings.

The recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBB Act”) ushers in some of the most significant tax law changes since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. While many provisions are designed to simplify or stimulate economic activity, they also create traps for the unwary. CPAs need to remain alert to compliance challenges, client misperceptions, and liability exposures as the IRS and state taxing authorities continue to issue implementing guidance.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) today announced the availability of the 2026 GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy (GRT), the 2026 SEC Reporting Taxonomy (SRT), and the 2026 GAAP Employee Benefit Plan Taxonomy (EBPT). The FASB also announced the availability of the 2026 DQC Rules Taxonomy (DQCRT) and the 2026 GAAP Meta Model Relationships Taxonomy (MMT), which, together with the GRT, SRT, and EBPT, is collectively referred to as the “FASB Taxonomies.”