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The Biden administration may allow European companies to share in billions of dollars in U.S. tax incentives for electric vehicles if the two sides can reach a trade deal in the next few weeks, a senior administration official has said. Although no such concessions will be included in a long-awaited proposed guidance that the Treasury Department will release for the incentives next week, Politico reported the official as saying that ongoing talks between the U.S. and EU could produce an agreement allowing vehicles that include European minerals to qualify for the full extent of the tax breaks. Those vehicles would still have to be made in North America. While European companies are already eligible for half of the $7,500 credit if they assemble cars in North America, the EU is fighting with the U.S. over the remaining $3,750 in incentives. That provision requires that 40% of the value of the critical minerals must be extracted or processed in the United States or in a country with which the U.S. has a free trade agreement. That level increases to 80% by 2027.

 

Politico

Residents and businesses in five New York counties affected by recent winter storms now have until May 15th 2023 to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. The IRS is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a result of storms that occurred between December 23rd and December 28th 2022. This means that individuals and households that reside or have a business in Erie, Genesee, Niagara, St. Lawrence and Suffolk counties qualify for tax relief. The May 15th deadline also applies to the quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on January 31st and April 30th 2023. 

 

CPA Practice Advisor

Taking Automated AP Services Past That First Client

In a study with CPA.com and Hinge Research, bill pay was one of the highest valued services from clients who buy accounting services, but only one-third of accountants offered it. Accounting clients have also reported that a key reason they fire or stop referring a firm is because that firm isn’t offering proactive services and going over and beyond for their clients. Take a moment to read this eBook, and learn:

• The value added to clients when AP is automated
• How to create a bill pay offering for your clients (and your firm)
• How to break the bonds of hourly billing through automation

In today’s times, for businesses that are trying to pivot quickly, every step toward real-time data and managing cash flow has the potential to make or break their success. Take a step in the right direction by downloading this eBook.

Download eBook

 

The Texas Senate has unanimously passed a bill that would lower the eligibility requirement for CPA candidates to sit for the CPA exam from 150 semester credit hours to 120. The bill, introduced by Republican Sen. Charles Perry who is a practicing CPA, now advances to the Texas House of Representatives for a vote. Illinois recently reduced its eligibility requirement for CPA candidates to sit for the CPA exam from 150 semester credit hours to 120, and the Minnesota CPA Society is pushing for legislation that would create alternative pathways, allowing candidates to replace the fifth year of education with additional work experience, or work experience and CPE. Proponents of the 120-hour proposal say it could address a shortage of entrants to the accountancy profession. However, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) recently reaffirmed its support for the 150-hour education requirement by a unanimous vote from its board of directors. NASBA President and chief executive Ken Bishop said that NASBA and AICPA "are aggressively looking at options and alternatives that have the potential to increase the number of CPA candidates applying for licensure without disrupting substantial equivalency and practice privilege mobility."

 

CPA Practice Advisor

Matt Fish has joined the New York office of Stax, an M&A strategy consulting firm, as a managing director. He brings more than 20 years of experience advising mid- and upper-mid-market private equity firms and industrial and business services companies on commercial due diligence and growth strategies. Mr Fish joins from KPMG US, where he spent the last two years as a partner and commercial due diligence practice leader. Before that, he was a partner and global leader of B2B products and services at OC&C Strategy Consultants.

 

Consulting

Recent bank failures and turbulence throughout the banking system may trigger recession during the second half of 2023, leading to a 0.3% decline in gross domestic product for the full year, Fannie Mae said Friday. “Inflation has now been joined by financial stability concerns as threats to sustained growth,” Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan said in a statement. “These particular pre-recessionary conditions are not unusual, as bank failures often follow monetary tightening — but this may well be the catalyst for the modest recession we’ve been expecting since April 2022.” A pullback in lending by small- and mid-sized banks, along with sagging confidence among businesses and consumers, will likely lead to a downturn, Fannie Mae said.

 

CFO Dive

China has told Deloitte to “learn a lesson” from a recent fine against it after the country’s regulators pledged to toughen oversight of international and local auditors. Vice minister of Zhu Zhongming told Sharon Thorne, Deloitte's global chair, that Beijing will “strictly enforce financial discipline” and step up scrutiny over accounting firms in China “including the Big Four”. Ms. Thorne told Mr Zhu that Deloitte will draft a plan to correct mistakes and improve audit quality. Deloitte is willing to keep contributing to China’s “high-quality” economic development, according to a statement from the ministry. News of the meeting comes after the news that it suspended the operations of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.’s Beijing office for three months and imposed a 212m yuan ($30.9m) fine over lapses in its auditing work of bad-debt manager China Huarong Asset Management Co.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele says he is set to send a bill to the country's Congress that would eliminate all taxes on technology innovations as well as computing and communications hardware manufacturing. The Salvadoran leader is eager to make the Central American country a cryptocurrency hub, adopting bitcoin as legal tender in 2021 and unveiling plans to create the world's first "bitcoin city."

 

US News and World Report

Bloomberg’s Parmy Olson writes that Twitter, TikTok and Facebook will struggle to keep up with a deluge of AI-generated images that are spearheading a new misinformation crisis and which puts the platforms in unprecedented territory. Last October, WhatsApp users in Brazil were flooded with misinformation about the integrity of their presidential election, leading many to riot in support of defeated ex-president Jair Bolsonaro. When Olson asked Twitter why it hadn’t properly labelled recent fake Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron images as they went viral, the company responded with a poop emoji, its new auto reply for media requests.

 

Bloomberg

Utah has become the first U.S. state to require social media companies to get parental consent for children to use their apps and verify users are at least 18. Two bills will give parents full access to their children's online accounts, including posts and private messages. Under the measures, a parent or guardian's explicit consent will be needed before children can create accounts on apps such Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. The bills, which will take effect on March 1 next year, also impose a social media curfew that blocks children's access between 22:30 and 06:30, unless adjusted by their parents. Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, said: "We're no longer willing to let social media companies continue to harm the mental health of our youth . . . As leaders, and parents, we have a responsibility to protect our young people."

 

BBC News

NBC News

NPR

New York Times