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House Republicans have successfully navigated a crucial procedural vote to advance President Donald Trump's significant tax and spending package, with a final vote expected soon. Early this morning, at around 3:30a.m. Eastern, the House voted 219-213 to proceed with Mr. Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill," which proposes tax cuts, a reduction of Biden-era clean energy incentives, and funding for immigration enforcement. “There was just a lot of patience and listening to everyone’s concerns and making sure that their concerns were addressed,” commented Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). After the vote he praised Mr. Trump for making phone calls to skeptics through the early hours of Thursday morning. "There couldn't be a more engaged and involved president," he added. A final House vote later today will send the bill to the Oval Office before Independence Day, which Mr. Trump had set as a final deadline for the package. 

 

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Receiving a letter from the IRS can be alarming, especially if it’s an LT11 or LT 1058, which indicate overdue taxes and potential asset seizure. Bill Nemeth, past president of the Georgia Society of Enrolled Agents, emphasizes, "The Letter 1058 is serious. It is your final notice of intent to levy for unpaid taxes." Taxpayers often ignore these notices, hoping the IRS will go away, but this is a mistake. Options for resolution include paying in full, setting up an installment agreement, or requesting 'currently not collectible' status due to financial hardship. Robbin Caruso from Prager Metis notes that early intervention can lead to quicker resolutions. Tax attorney David Klasing warns against evasion tactics, stating, "You can go to jail for these crimes." Understanding the IRS's processes and options is crucial for taxpayers facing debt.

 

Accounting Today

The Los Angeles City Council has approved a significant spending plan of nearly $425m from Measure ULA, aimed at enhancing affordable housing and homelessness programs for the 2025 fiscal year. This plan is the largest to date under the mansion tax, which imposes a levy on property sales exceeding $5m. While the real estate sector has criticized the measure for its impact on property sales and tax revenue, supporters argue it is essential for funding housing initiatives, especially as state and county budgets tighten. Joe Donlin, director of United to House LA, emphasized, “Don't believe the hate from big-money real estate or their lies appearing all over the media.” The plan allocates over $100m for homelessness prevention and more than $288m for affordable housing production and preservation. Since its inception in late 2022, Measure ULA has raised over $702m.

 

Los Angeles Times

New Jersey has enacted a new bill that increases mansion tax rates, shifting the responsibility from buyers to sellers. Effective July 1st, the tax, formally known as the "Assessment on Real Property Greater than $1m," will maintain a 1% fee for properties valued between $1m-$2m, while introducing higher fees for more expensive homes. For instance, properties sold for $2m-$2.5m will incur a 2% fee, escalating to 3.5% for sales exceeding $3.5m. This change is expected to generate over $550m in revenue for fiscal year 2026, benefiting various state funds.

 

New Jersey Herald

On June 26th, Vertex announced new certified integrations and enhancements aimed at improving connectivity across various systems, including enterprise resource planning and e-commerce. Uwe Sydon, senior vice president of product management at Vertex, said: “These innovations reflect our commitment to helping businesses navigate the complexities of global tax with greater confidence and agility.” The updates include integrations with SAP, Oracle, Coupa, and Shopify, as well as the introduction of Vertex Copilot, an artificial intelligence-powered assistant. Key enhancements also feature expanded tax content, streamlined certificate handling, and improved VAT ID validation across over 67 countries. These advancements are designed to simplify global compliance and enhance operational efficiency for businesses.

 

CPA Practice Advisor

Companies in the private sector lost 33,000 jobs in June, payroll processing firm ADP said Wednesday, the first decline since March 2023, after a downwardly revised increase of 29,000 in May. Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast an increase of 100,000 for the month. The majority of the losses came in professional and business services, with 56,000, followed by health and education with 52,000. Financial activity roles fell 14,000. However, payrolls for goods-producing roles rose 32,000. Large businesses – those with 500 or more employees – added 30,000 jobs in the month. Businesses with 50 to 499 employees lost 15,000 workers. Establishments with fewer than 50 employees lost 47,000 jobs. Annual pay for job-stayers decreased to 4.4% from 4.5% while annual pay for job changers fell to 6.8% from 7%.

 

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Microsoft has announced a second wave of layoffs, impacting approximately 9,000 employees, or 4% of its workforce, as part of a cost-cutting strategy while investing in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The cuts will affect various teams globally, including sales and the Xbox division. The company aims to streamline processes and reduce management levels to enhance efficiency. Despite pledging $80bn in capital spending for fiscal year 2025, rising artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure costs are affecting profit margins. Other tech giants including Meta and Google have also announced job cuts to improve efficiency. Meanwhile, Microsoft has asked managers to evaluate employees based on how much they use AI, Business Insider reports. In an email to managers, Julia Liuson, president of the Microsoft division responsible for developer tools including AI coding service GitHub Copilot, wrote: "Just like collaboration, data-driven thinking and effective communication, using AI is no longer optional - it's core to every role and every level." She told managers that AI "should be part of your holistic reflections on an individual's performance and impact."

 

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The U.S. Senate has voted down a proposed 10-year ban on states regulating artificial intelligence (AI) models.  Major AI companies, including Alphabet's Google and OpenAI, had expressed support for Congress taking AI regulation out of the hands of states to free innovation from a variety of local requirements. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the ranking Democrat on the Commerce Committee, said: "we can't just run over good state consumer protection laws. States can fight robocalls, deepfakes and provide safe autonomous vehicle laws." Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: "We will now be able to protect our kids from the harms of completely unregulated AI."

 

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The SEC has reached a preliminary deal with software company SolarWinds and its chief information security officer to end litigation tied to a Russia-linked cyber attack. The SEC, SolarWinds and Timothy Brown successfully petitioned a federal judge on Wednesday to stay court proceedings while paperwork for a settlement was finalized.  The regulator had sued SolarWinds and Brown in connection with a two-year cyber attack known as Sunburst that targeted the Austin, Texas-based firm. A judge dismissed much of the regulator's case last year. The SEC had said that the defendants defrauded investors by concealing security weaknesses, but U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, who approved the stay, opined that such claims were based on "hindsight and speculation."

 

Reuters

A judge in Brooklyn has thrown out Chinese telecommunications company Huawei Technologies' bid to dismiss most of a federal indictment accusing it of attempting to steal technology secrets from U.S. rivals, and misleading lenders about its work in Iran. In a 52-page decision, U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly said she found sufficient allegations in the 16-count indictment that Huawei engaged in racketeering to expand its brand, stole trade secrets from six companies, and committed bank fraud.

 

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The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) announced that its first global Ethics Standards on Tax Planning, effective Wednesday, aim to guide accountants in making ethical decisions in tax planning services. These standards promote a principles-driven framework rather than a purely technical approach, ensuring that tax planning considers public interest and potential consequences. Gabriela Figueiredo Dias, IESBA chair, said: "The Global Ethics Standards on Tax Planning provide a vital tool to help firms and professionals navigate the complex and often grey areas of tax planning." Several jurisdictions, including Australia and Singapore, have already adopted these standards, which are designed to enhance public confidence in tax practices.

 

Accounting Today

The San Francisco Standard reports on how Bay Area companies are hiring etiquette coaches for their Gen Z employees as return-to-office policies have brought in the demographic for the first time, and in many cases after years of working and attending school remotely. Local etiquette coach Rosalinda Randall has said enquiries have risen 50% over the last two months, and "are a variation on the same complaint: Gen Z employees are treating the office like an extension of their homes." Jim Rettew, interim CEO at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, observes of Gen Z: “They’re great at challenging authority and the status quo, but sometimes I just want someone to buckle down and follow orders.”

 

San Francisco Standard