NYSSCPA in the News

NYSSCPA Mention – COAP Program

CPA Firms Urged to Increase Diversity

Accounting Today

New Jersey Society of CPAs CEO and executive director Ralph Albert Thomas is encouraging CPA firms and other businesses to expand their diversity and inclusion efforts. During a speech Wednesday in New York at a meeting of the Accountants Club of America, Thomas stressed that CPA firms need to reflect the changing demographics in the U.S. population and within their own clients’ businesses.

 

Other Accounting and Finance News

Choosing among Transfer Pricing Risk Assessment Alternatives: What’s Ahead for CPA Firms?

Accounting Today

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, together with its Global Forum members, is intent upon providing transfer pricing tax risk assessment assistance to tax administrations. Knowledgeable CPA firms that understand this tax risk assessment regime can benefit from applying enumerated and replicating transfer pricing assessment processes for its clients.

 

Fed Leaves Door Open to Move as Soon as September

Wall Street Journal

The Federal Reserve opened the door to an interest rate increase later this year, possibly as early as September, after a policy meeting at which officials concluded the economy is on more solid footing and risks to the outlook have diminished. Fed officials have been fretting for months about a range of risks—including slow U.S. economic growth during the first quarter, a dismal reading on hiring in May, Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in June and long-running uncertainty about the outlook in China.

 

Debt collectors could face new limits on calls

USA Today

Consumers who complain about non-stop debt-collection calls could get a break as part of possible sweeping rule changes federal watchdogs plan to outline Thursday. Third-party debt collectors would be limited to up to six tries each week before a consumer is actually reached, according to proposals under consideration by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

 

Gas Taxes Keep Rising to Quell a Different Kind of Road Rage

Bloomberg

The U.S. government, and the 50 states, keep Americans moving by funding road and public transit construction. They do this in large part by taxing gasoline. And those taxes have been going up. Over the past decade, gas-tax increases have hit many parts of the country. The state of Washington is among the latest, having raised its levy by 4.9¢ per gallon to 67.8¢ per gallon on July 1. Northeastern states tend to charge higher gas taxes, while Midwestern residents enjoy lower rates.

 

Fed Suggests a Growing Chance That Rates Will Rise This Year

New York Times

The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, but it issued an upbeat assessment of economic conditions that suggested a growing chance that it would increase rates later this year. The Fed, in a statement after a two-day meeting of its policy-making committee, said that the economy had overcome wobbles this year and that job creation had increased with moderate economic growth.

 

Preparing for a Retirement-Plan Audit

Human Resource Executive

Companies that haven't conducted an operational compliance review of their defined-benefit and defined-contribution plans in the past two years will want to do so in light of a recent Willis Towers Watson survey. In a poll of more than 300 U.S. employers, nearly one-third reported having their retirement plans audited by the federal government over the past two years.

 

Wall Street Closes Mixed After Fed Stands Pat

New York Times

Stocks ended Wednesday’s trading slightly lower as shares of energy companies and consumer goods makers outweighed gains in technology companies like Apple. In its latest policy statement, the Federal Reserve made no changes to interest rates, but left the door open for increases later this year. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.58 points, less than 0.1 percent, to 18,472.17.

 

Treasury Yields’ Slide Runs Up Against Japanese Stimulus

Wall Street Journal

For months, investors have wondered what, if anything, could arrest a decline in U.S. Treasury yields. The answer, some now think, could lie in Japan. The Bank of Japan is widely expected to unveil fresh monetary stimulus Friday. In recent weeks, Treasury yields have lifted off of their recent record lows in part because a Japanese election on July 10 spurred hopes that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition would pursue an aggressive fiscal stimulus to pair with the central bank’s monetary easing.

 

In Defense of Shell Companies

Accounting Today

With the unauthorized publication of the “Panama Papers,” many clients and even some professionals question why companies with no active trade or business even exist. Aren’t companies supposed to make widgets or sell services and not exist on paper simply to own shares of stock or a bank account? Aren’t they only for money launderers and tax cheats?