News

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) on Monday announced the appointment of Terry K. Patton, CPA, as chair.

The IRS dipped into its supplemental funding from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, P.L. 117-169, to “deliver a successful filing season” in fiscal year 2025 because its annual appropriation was not enough, an IRS watchdog’s report said.

At an open meeting held today, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued a request for public comment(PDF) seeking input regarding the PCAOB’s strategic priorities.

Lexy Kessler admits to feelings of self-doubt when she took center stage at AICPA Council last May to be officially introduced as AICPA chair.

The IRS wants to deploy artificial intelligence, but workforce reductions that hit tech teams mean the agency has capacity gaps that could impact its ability to do so, according to a new report from Congress’ watchdog, the Government Accountability Office.

The federal tax law passed in 2025 made the paid family and medical leave credit in Sec. 45S permanent and made substantive changes to enhance the credit and expand its availability. In a letter to Treasury and the IRS, the AICPA requested guidance and offered recommendations to update the existing guidance on matters emerging from revisions to Sec. 45S.

Residents exiting Massachusetts took a net of $4.2 billion in adjusted gross income with them in 2023, one of the largest totals in the country, after a tax on millionaires took effect.

Margaret Ryan has resigned as director of the agency’s division of enforcement after about six months on the job.

The AICPA Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) issued an exposure draft proposing revisions to the definition of “attest engagement team” in the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct (the Code). The proposal is intended to align the Code’s use of “attest engagement team” with other AICPA professional standards.

During 2025, audit and assurance professionals continued to operate in an environment marked by sustained economic uncertainty, evolving regulatory expectations, ongoing workforce constraints, and rapid advances in technology. Elevated interest rates, continued inflationary pressures in certain sectors, geopolitical instability, and increased focus on supply chains and liquidity heightened risks for many entities and increased the complexity of audit engagements.

The two states are among the last and latest to officially start the process of changing laws that determine how candidates become certified public accountants.

Consistent with applicable law and longstanding practice, the Secretary of the Treasury oversees the operations of all Treasury offices and bureaus, including the Internal Revenue Service. Secretary Scott Bessent’s service as Acting Commissioner of the IRS under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act has expired, and he has not served in that capacity since that time.

The Securities and Exchange Commission initiated only 10 accounting and auditing actions last year — its lowest level in nine years.

An agreement between professional accounting bodies in North America’s three largest countries will extend cross-border practice mobility for CPAs through the end of 2028.

The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today issued proposed regulations providing guidance regarding the pilot program for Trump Accounts, which are a new type of individual retirement account for eligible children. Trump Accounts and the Trump Account Pilot Program were established under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill enacted on July 4, 2025.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is signaling its strong support for a bipartisan bill which contains 63 provisions designed to improve tax administration and reduce the burdens on taxpayers and their preparers. The Taxpayer Assistance and Service (TAS) Act, introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR), addresses important tax provisions that the AICPA has long-advocated for, including...

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.