DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Bank of America CEO says capitalism needs cleaning up with new global ESG rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Bank of America Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said Wednesday that current efforts to produce a set of official global standards on ESG issues were vital to "align capitalism with what society wants from it." He said it was now important to "go to the official side" and was supporting the new International Sustainability Standards Board set up by non-profit the IFRS. This is due to comprise a set of general non-financial sustainability disclosure requirements for companies, and a set specifically on climate. Moynihan also said it was crucial that sustainability and ethical standards became official and global. "Which, at the end of the day, will align capitalism with what society wants from it and get us going faster."

Insider's experts choose the best products and services to help make smart decisions with your money (here’s how). See Personal Finance Insider's picks for the best tax software »Get the latest tips you need to manage your money — delivered to you biweekly. Do it yourself with tax software or through the IRS website. So, should you prepare taxes yourself or hire someone to help? These all impact your tax filing, and, at least the first time you document them on your taxes, you might want someone to show you how best to do it.

☆ Minority shareholders denounce Brazil's Americanas for 'multi-billion fraud'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Rodrigo Viga Gaier | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - A group representing minority shareholders on Friday filed a complaint with Brazil's securities regulator against Americanas SA (AMER3.SA) after the retailer uncovered "accounting inconsistencies" totaling 20 billion reais ($3.89 billion). The Abradin association said it was denouncing Americanas for what it called a "multi-billion fraud," while also asking regulator CVM to investigate the retailer's auditor, PwC. Shares in Americanas plummeted more than 75% on Thursday, wiping out 8.4 billion reais in market value, after the company's chief executive Sergio Rial resigned, citing the discovery of inconsistencies. It's not easy to hide 20 billion reais," said Eric Barreto, a professor at Sao Paulo's Insper. Americanas has long been controlled by three Brazilian billionaires who founded 3G Capital.

☆ Did Trump donate his presidential salary in 2020? Tax returns don’t tell full story
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

When former President Donald Trump's tax returns were issued publicly Dec. 30, some news reports suggested he didn't donate his salary in 2020 — thereby breaking a campaign pledge — because the tax returns showed $0 of charitable gifts. However, it's unclear from the available data if he did or didn't break his promise, due to how certain information is reported on tax returns, accountants said. He didn't pay federal income tax because he didn't have any taxable income. But that's not the case if you report negative income and don't pay income tax; you can't get a tax deduction if there's no income from which to deduct. However, taxpayers can "carry forward" that unused tax break to future years — effectively using past charitable donations to reduce their tax bill later.

☆ Putting the IRS on Tax Notice
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

As their first legislative act as soon as Monday evening, House Republicans were set to rescind most of the $80 billion that Democrats passed last year to add 87,000 new Internal Revenue Service employees. The bill won’t get through the Democratic Senate, but it’s an important statement that the GOP is on the side of taxpayers. The Congressional Budget Office said last year that super-sizing the IRS would mean countless new audits across the income spectrum, including those making less than $400,000 a year. (See Donald J. Trump, tax returns of.) Bills of this sort forecast an agenda for 2025 if Republicans win Congress and the White House in 2024.

Parafin, launched in 2020, works with so-called platform partners, or companies that other small businesses sell their products through. All the cofounders knew was that they wanted to build technology that would help small businesses. And they may not get their first contract payment from the government for as long as 120 days," Reed, the startup's CEO, told Insider. Helping small businesses manage their taxesComplYant's founder Shiloh Jackson wants to help people be present in their bookkeeping. HoneyBookWhile countless small businesses have been harmed by the pandemic, self-employment and entrepreneurship have found ways to blossom as Americans started new ventures.

☆ UK jobs market softens again in December - REC
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The survey, watched closely by the BoE, also showed an easing in wage pressures. "A slowdown in permanent placements is not unusual in December, but this one comes as part of a wider softening trend in the permanent market," said REC chief executive Neil Carberry. "Recruiters tell us that this was enhanced by firms pushing hiring activity back into January in the face of high inflation and economic uncertainty." Britain's economy looks set to contract in 2023, according to most economists polled by Reuters, and business surveys show cooling price pressures. The REC survey showed placements of permanent staff contracted at the fastest rate since January 2021.

Failing to report crypto activity to the IRS could result in an audit. Report any crypto income on Form 1040Aside from your crypto capital gains and losses, you may have also received additional income from your crypto holdings. In these cases, you'll need to report the crypto as income rather than a capital gain or loss. What happens if I don't report crypto on my taxes? "But if you don't file anything and the IRS discovers this — and they're aware that you didn't report it — it's tax evasion," he says.

☆ UK becoming less attractive for investment, manufacturers warn
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Andy Bruce | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Britain has become less competitive and less attractive to foreign investors as a result of soaring energy costs and recent political turmoil, manufacturers said in an industry survey released on Monday. The proportion of manufacturers who think Britain is a competitive location halved to 31% from 63% a year ago, and 43% said Britain had become less attractive to overseas investors, according to the survey by Make UK, the main trade body for British manufacturers, and accountants PwC. Make UK said the plans are likely to lead to exacerbate cuts to jobs and production that were already in the pipeline. When the survey took place in November, two thirds of manufacturers expected to reduce headcount or cut output because of high energy costs. "The year ahead is going to be very challenging for manufacturers with a potent mix of factors testing their resolve," Stephen Phipson, chief executive of Make UK.

☆ Former SPAC exec pleads guilty to defrauding people of $5 million to trade crypto and meme stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The former chief financial officer for two SPACs pleaded guilty to wire fraud, the DOJ said Wednesday. Cooper Morgenthau was charged with embezzling $5 million to trade crypto and meme stocks. Morgenthau falsified bank statements to shield his losses to accountants and auditors, the DOJ said. Cooper Morgenthau used the funds to trade cryptocurrencies and meme stocks and later falsified bank statements to hide his losses of nearly the entire sum. Wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and Morgenthau agreed to make restitution on $5,111,335.

☆ IRS Sees Crypto Companies as Potential Crime-Fighting Partners
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

In the alphabet soup of federal law-enforcement agencies, IRS-CI hasn’t attracted as much attention as its counterparts at the Federal Bureau of Investigation or Drug Enforcement Administration. Sometimes it’s hard to compete with private companies. But there are those out there that want to dedicate their life to service, that want to combat fraud, that want to do law-enforcement work. We’ve had several of our cyber agents and managers go to private companies. They’ll go out to the private sector, and they’ll come back to government and back out to the private sector.

Friday’s release of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns from his four years in the White House and two years prior is an important and long overdue public service. It also would have been a warning shot to any future presidents who may want to keep their tax returns private. ), chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, asked the agency for information related to Trump’s tax returns. Ultimately, though, it’s on House Democrats that the Trump tax documents release on Friday were so limited. So they couched their court case as looking into the effectiveness of mandatory IRS audits of tax returns of all sitting presidents.

☆ Why So Many Accountants Are Quitting
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Lindsay Ellis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

More than 300,000 U.S. accountants and auditors have left their jobs in the past two years, a 17% decline, and the dwindling number of college students coming into the field can’t fill the gap. The exodus is driven by deeper workplace shifts than baby-boomer retirements. Young professionals in the 25- to 34-year-old range and midcareer professionals between the ages of 45 and 54 also departed in high numbers starting in 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Recruiters who have been luring experienced accountants into new roles say they are often moving into jobs in finance and technology.

☆ U.S. Accounting Rule Maker Looks to Advance Projects on Tax, Crypto and Expenses in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The U.S. accounting rule maker in 2022 launched new projects following an agenda consultation with investors and other stakeholders in 2021, its first in five years. The board has at least three core projects—two on disclosure of expenses and one on disclosing income taxes—in 2023, according to Mr. Jones. PREVIEWThe FASB will likely finalize a rule in 2023 requiring public companies to start breaking out big-ticket expenses incurred by their business divisions, Mr. Jones said. Another major project Mr. Jones said might be finalized in 2023 would require companies to provide more tax details. “They have an important role in our economy.”The slowing economy will also be on the FASB’s radar, Mr. Jones said.

☆ Tunisia union threatens to 'occupy the streets,' rejects 2023 budget
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Tarek Amara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TUNIS, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Tunisia's powerful UGTT union will hold mass protests and "occupy the streets" soon to show its rejection of next year's austerity budget, the leader of the union said on Monday, in its strongest challenge to the government of President Kais Saied yet. The union, with more than a million members, has proven able to paralyse the economy with strikes. We will not accept it...we will occupy the streets to defend our choices and the interest of the people,” Noureddine Taboubi, the head of UGTT, said. Tunisia has reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF for a $1.9 billion rescue package in exchange for unpopular reforms, including cutting food and energy subsidies, and overhauling public companies. The 2023 budget showed that wage bill in the public sector will drop from 15.1% in 2022 to 14% next year, a main reform demanded by the IMF.

House Democrats are scrutinizing why the Internal Revenue Service failed to fully audit Donald Trump's tax returns when he was in the White House, despite an agency policy mandating such a review. Some insight into the lapse came in a report Tuesday from the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), a bipartisan congressional panel that examined Trump's tax returns from 2015-20. The JCT report was issued Tuesday, after the House Ways and Means Committee voted to make Trump's 2015-20 tax returns public. Trump was the first president not to make his tax returns public since the 1970s. Neal is pressing for legislation that would require the IRS to publish and audit presidential tax returns.

☆ PCAOB Proposes Tighter Requirements for Audit Firms Verifying Outside Information About Clients
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board proposed tightening the requirements around how audit firms obtain and verify outside evidence about their clients, such as from customers and lenders, a process aimed at preventing fraud. Under the current rule, audit firms must send out requests, typically electronically, asking a third party to confirm the accuracy of certain information, such as the amount of accounts receivable. Audit firms are allowed to assume that the lack of a response is a corroboration of accuracy. The PCAOB now wants audit firms to go a step further by confirming the amounts of cash and cash equivalents held by third parties—typically lenders. The PCAOB last proposed changes to its confirmation rules in 2010, but the proposal, which some audit firms at the time called overly prescriptive, didn’t advance further.

☆ Nonstop partying, lavish spending, and sexual-harassment accusations: Inside the self-destruction of Pollen, the music startup once worth $800 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Melkorka Licea | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +41 min

About 400 Pollen employees were camped out in Mendocino County, California, for five straight days of partying. Two former Pollen employees told Insider that they recalled the assistant telling them about Callum's inappropriate comments at the time. (The Pollen representative said Callum and Bedi didn't date at Pollen or at any other company connected to Pollen. Out of 360 events Pollen announced over the past 12 months, 39 were canceled, the Pollen representative said. (The Pollen representative said that "out of hundreds of thousands of customers, fewer than 100 people were moderated" online.)

☆ Top government ethics officer was late disclosing his personal finances on multiple occasions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The attorney, Office of Government Ethics General Counsel David Apol, missed deadlines to report at least 12 different bond transactions since 2015. Improperly reporting purchases and sales of bonds or stocks is a violation of the 2012 Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, or STOCK Act. Officials are only required to report transactions in broad ranges. Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia has been one of the lead proponents in Congress of reforming the STOCK Act. Congress this year discussed changes to the STOCK Act and the US House even held a hearing following the publication of "Conflicted Congress."

☆ Struggling to Find Accountants, Businesses Boost Salary Offers, Hire Temporary Workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Companies’ accounting and finance departments in particular, which are crucial for managing financial operations, internal controls and financial reporting, are suffering from the lack of personnel. It has 20 to 30 open finance and accounting positions globally, Mr. Juillard said. Companies also try to retain the finance and accounting workers they have. “Securing that talent has been the biggest problem,” Mr. Thorpe said. GEE used to elevate staff accountants to senior accountants in one to three years and to managers in three to six years, Mr. Thorpe said.

☆ For bear stock pickers, 2023 is full of rich pickings
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] Carson Block, Chief Investment Officer, Muddy Waters Capital LLC., speaks at the Sohn Investment Conference in New York City, U.S. May 4, 2016. Hedge fund Muddy Waters on Wednesday said it was shorting Vivion Investments, suspecting the real estate investment firm's portfolios were overvalued. Since the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, companies have pushed aggressive accounting to its limits, said Muddy Waters CEO Carson Block. People are milking the system," he said, adding that he expects even more aggressive accounting and fraud in 2023. Tighter monetary conditions and less readily available debt means investors will likely scrutinise company cash generation in 2023, Earl said.

☆ FASB Lays Out Disclosure Requirements for Companies’ Crypto Holdings Ahead of Potential Proposal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

There are currently no specific accounting or disclosure rules for crypto assets in the U.S. Businesses classify them as indefinite-lived intangible assets, similar to intellectual property such as trademarks. Then, in October, it said companies should use fair-value accounting to measure bitcoin and other crypto assets. For example, companies could receive payment from customers in the form of crypto assets that are prohibited from sale for three months. These companies disclose information about large crypto holdings, but potentially not the full picture.

Banks still have to mark the loan to its market value on their books and set aside funds for losses that are reported in quarterly results. The deliberations of how some of these banks are thinking about accounting for these losses have not been previously reported. Three banking industry sources said the remaining $3 billion, which is unsecured, could lead to steeper losses for the seven Twitter banks. Some market participants expect the losses from the debt to be significant unless market conditions improve. Some $35 billion to $40 billion of such loans are stuck on banks' books, according to two fixed income bankers.

☆ UK labour market loses more momentum in November: REC survey
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Britain's labour market cooled noticeably last month, with demand for staff and pay growth easing, and staff shortages became less acute, a survey showed on Thursday. Hiring of permanent staff declined for a second month running. The survey, watched closely by the Bank of England as leading indicator of the labour market ahead of its interest rate decision next week, matched other signs that the economy is slowing. "A flatter period in the labour market is inevitable in this current economic climate, but demand is being supported by some major underlying factors, including labour shortages and technological change," he added. Last month BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said Britain's "very tight" labour market was a key reason why further interest rate increases were likely.

The records, a series of state tax lien notices from the last two years, show the state of California claiming that Yeezy Apparel, a company managed and reportedly owned by Ye, owes over $600,000 in unpaid tax debt. Four tax law experts said the amount owed by Yeezy Apparel is significant and could be a sign of deeper issues at the company. “Multiple California tax liens, adding up to $600,000, that’s certainly a sign of either extreme incompetence or extreme cash problems,” said USC Gould School of Law Professor Edward McCaffery, who specializes in tax law. Yeezy Apparel has been operating in California since 2017, according to public California business records, and was recorded as being active and in “good” standing in an annual filing in January. “Tax lien indicates that the state maintains that a debt is owing to the state,” LoPucki said.

Search resuls for: "Accountants"

25 mentions found