Michael Cohn

The American Institute of CPAs is asking Congress to pass legislation that would crack down on so-called “patent trolls,” companies that buy up old patents and threaten lawsuits unless they receive high licensing fees from firms and corporations.

No doubt there are many fans of science fiction and fantasy among accountants, but what’s surprising is how many accountant characters there are in the genre.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has voted to defer the effective date of the revenue recognition standard for one year.

Senate Democrats have introduced legislation to make the Tax Code gender neutral in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling last month extending same-sex marriages to every state.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department plan to amend the required minimum distribution regulations under Section 401(a)(9) of the tax code to address the use of lump sum payments to replace annuity payments being paid by a qualified defined benefit pension plan.

The IRS’s Taxpayer Advocate Service has developed several online tools to help taxpayers and employers estimate their tax credits and payments related to the Affordable Care Act.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has sanctioned seven audit firms for violating independence requirements in connection with audits of brokers and dealers, and sanctioned engagement partners at two of the firms for causing the violations.

The Institute of Internal Auditors and the Auditing Roundtable, Inc. have signed a merger agreement after more than a year of negotiations.

Mary Schapiro, the former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission has joined the governing board of the Center for Audit Quality.

The consulting and internal audit firm Protiviti has released its annual Internal Audit around the World outlook.

A scammer who organized a scheme in which taxpayers were threatened with calls purporting to come from the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI demanding payment has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.

The Internal Revenue Service’s Whistleblower Office received more claims last fiscal year than in any prior year as the program has begun paying out larger awards to tipsters with information on tax evaders.

The American Institute of CPAs has posted new information on its Web site for auditors who are asking for further information from attorneys.

The Senate Finance Committee released a series of reports Wednesday from five bipartisan tax working groups working on various aspects of tax reform.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is increasingly relying on administrative hearings for its enforcement actions, according to a new report.

A group of lawmakers has introduced legislation to roll back guidance from the Treasury Department that prohibits employers from using stand-alone health reimbursement arrangements to reimburse employees for health care-related expenses.

The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation, the oversight body of the International Accounting Standards Board, are reassessing its structure and effectiveness.

A Bulgarian hacker has admitted to participating in a $6 million fraudulent tax return scheme in which he used tax-filing information stolen from at least four major CPA firms in the U.S.

New research indicates that many investors tend to overlook the vague misgivings that auditors might express in letters included with their audit reports, even though those warnings often turn out to be a predictor of future trouble with a company’s financial statements.

Accountants are getting ready to implement the new revenue recognition standard, even though a one-year delay on the date it takes effect seems all but certain.