Michael Cohn

The Internal Revenue Service has extended its hold on certain tax refunds for returns filed by nonresident aliens and other foreign taxpayers on Form 1040NR beyond the usual 180-day limit in order to give extra scrutiny to the refund claims, leaving many undocumented immigrant workers waiting up to 360 days to get the tax refunds they filed this year.

Rager, Lehman & Houck, P.C., a regional accounting firm with offices in Pennsylvania and Maryland, has merged in Dallavalle & Co. P.A., a firm in Frederick, Md., effective Nov. 30, 2015.

CliftonLarsonAllen has announced its fourth merger since last week, combining with Accounting Management Solutions.

The Private Company Council is calling for the removal of the effective dates of four accounting standards updates.

Litigation against accounting firms appears to have subsided for now, according to one legal expert, but is showing signs of reviving as the Securities and Exchange Commission turns its attention back to accounting and audit enforcement cases.

Congress has passed highway-funding legislation that includes two tax provisions that would allow the State Department to revoke the passports of long-term tax delinquents who owe more than $50,000 in tax debts and revive a program requiring the IRS to hire private debt collection agencies.

The Internal Revenue Service is letting former students of a now-defunct for-profit college chain, Corinthian Colleges, to avoid including their forgiven student loan debts within gross income.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employers added a robust 211,000 jobs last month, beating analyst expectations and increasing the odds of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates.

A new international survey ranks Zurich, Switzerland as the highest-paying city for accountants, with another Swiss city, Geneva, in second place.

Accounting and consulting firm Dean Dorton Allen Ford, PLLC has expanded its presence in Kentucky by merging with Barr Anderson & Roberts, PSC, a CPA and advisory firm located in Lexington, Ky.

North American employees and managers are missing out on more than $10.7 billion of unclaimed expenses every year, according to new estimates.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to make improvements in the way it assists victims of tax-related identity theft after a new government report says further improvements are needed.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a proposed accounting standards update to improve the effectiveness of the disclosure requirements for fair value measurements.

CliftonLarsonAllen has merged in its third firm so far this week, announcing that Gottlieb, Flekier & Co., P.A. in Overland Park, Kan., has joined CLA, effective Dec. 1, 2015.

The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation unit released its annual report Thursday, as the group contends with a shrinking budget and recent controversy over its use of cell phone tracking technology.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has released a report on the firm’s efforts to improve audit quality.

Two Democrats in Congress have introduced a bill in the House and Senate to protect taxpayer rights and regulate tax preparers.

Grant Thornton has agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle charges that the firm and two of its partners disregarded red flags and fraud risks during audits of two publicly traded companies that ultimately faced SEC enforcement actions for improper accounting and other violations.

Private sector employers added 217,000 jobs in November, according to payroll giant ADP, as the economy continues to strengthen.

A pair of Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to require professional tax preparers to undergo examinations, take annual continuing education classes and submit to a background check.