Tax Break

People relax in one of the Blue Lagoon hot springs near the town of Grindavik, Iceland. February 14, 2013. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

Some important tax and accounting dates in the days ahead:

Thursday, March 14

Jefferson VanderWolk, international tax counsel, Senate Finance Committee, speaks on International Tax Institute panel on foreign tax law and its relevance in resolving U.S. tax law issues. 12:15 – 2 p.m. ET, Grand Hyatt. New York.

Friday, March 15

* U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board chairman James Doty speaks at the University of Missouri Orin Ethics Symposium. Columbia, Missouri.

* Conference on tax policy and U.S. manufacturing in a global economy. 8:50 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. ET, the Brookings Institution. Washington.

Sunday, March 17 – Wednesday, March 20

Tax Executives Institute mid-year conference features speakers including E. Ray Beeman, Tax Counsel & Special Adviser for Tax Reform to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, former U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe, and tax experts from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Internal Revenue Service. Washington.

Welcome to the top tax and accounting headlines from Reuters and other sources.

* Michigan Sen. Carl Levin will not seek reelection. Rachel Weiner and Aaron Blake – The Washington Post. As chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Carl Levin has investigated Enron, the credit card industry, the 2008 financial crisis, and offshore tax havens. Link

* IASB loan-loss proposal a test for convergence. Emily Chasan – The Wall Street Journal. International accounting rulemakers have, for now, agreed to disagree with U.S. accounting standard setters on a new model for companies to account for credit losses, adding another delay to the convergence process between the two rulemakers. Link    

* Obama continues Congressional outreach with White House lunch. Jackie Calmes – The New York Times. On Capitol Hill, there was guarded optimism that these meetings would continue to be productive. Though the vast political differences between the two parties on issues like taxes and spending were hardly far from leaders’ minds. Link

Worried about challenges to their corporate tax base, some U.S. states have started to modify their participation in the Multistate Tax Compact, with a few withdrawing altogether.

The 45-year-old compact was forged to ensure companies operating in multiple states do not pay tax on the same income in more than one state. It also benefited the states by helping them fight off then-pending federal intervention on the topic.

Now that some states are pulling out, the question arises: What impact will this have on the compact and its administrator, the Multistate Tax Commission?

Welcome to the top tax and accounting headlines from Reuters and other sources.

* Offshore tax probe picks up. Laura Saunders – The Wall Street Journal. After getting a guilty plea from Switzerland’s oldest private bank, which was ordered Monday to pay a total of $74 million for violating U.S. tax laws, federal investigators have fresh momentum thanks to leads gathered from interviews with confessed tax cheats. Link 

 * House GOP plans a budget that retains tax increases and Medicare cuts. Jonathan Weisman – The New York Times. House Republicans will preserve Medicare cuts and accept tax increases they sternly opposed just months ago in a new tax-and-spending blueprint, senior Republicans said Wednesday. Link

 * IRS amnesty for employers of household help. Arden Dale – The Wall Street Journal. Employing a nanny or other household workers can open a can of worms with the Internal Revenue Service, but the agency wants to make it easier for someone who mishandles taxes for their hired help to put things right. Link

Welcome to the top tax and accounting headlines from Reuters and other sources.

* India says Cadbury evaded taxes. Joe Palazzolo and Julie Jargon – The Wall Street Journal. India has accused Cadbury PLC of dodging about $46 million in taxes by pretending to produce candy at a factory that didn’t exist. Link

* Obama recruits Republicans for budget talks with personal calls. Jonathan Weisman – The New York Times. President Barack Obama spoke around noon Tuesday with Senator Lindsey Graham for about 10 minutes and both agreed that a major deal could be reached that raises revenues by closing tax loopholes. Link

* Ex-Kirkland partner pleads guilty to underreporting taxes. Chard Bray – The Wall Street Journal. A former Kirkland & Eillis LLP bankruptcy and restructuring partner pleaded guilty to underreporting his taxes by more than $2 million on Tuesday. Link

Welcome to the top tax and accounting headlines from Reuters and other sources. 

* A stealth tax subsidy for business faces new scrutiny. Mary Williams Walsh and Louise Story – The New York Times. This valuable tax break — the ability to finance a variety of business projects cheaply with bonds that are tax exempt — has not only endured, it has grown, in what amounts to a stealth subsidy for private enterprise. Link  

* Some bonus cash for business-tax overhaul. John McKinnon – The Wall Street Journal. This year, the Joint Committee on Taxation enormously increased its estimate of how much revenue would be generated by tightening the tax rules for U.S. multinationals’ overseas earnings. Link  

Welcome to the top tax and accounting headlines from Reuters and other sources.

 * Wegelin’s fall to tax-haven poster child. Reed Alberotti – The Wall Street Journal. In the span of just one year, Wegelin & Co. went from being one of the most prestigious banks in Switzerland to the verge of being sentenced on U.S. criminal charges and becoming essentially defunct. Link    

* Republicans cling to one thing they agree on: Spending cuts. Richard Stevenson – The New York Times. Aware that conservatives could never accept a second round of tax increases this year, Republicans judged that the better course was to take on the economic and political risks associated with the automatic spending cuts. Link     

* Wealthier households carry the spending load. Brenda Cronin – The Wall Street Journal. The consumer sector is increasingly split in two: Wealthier households are spending more. Poorer ones, hammered by higher taxes and rising gas prices, are holding back. Link 

Some important tax and accounting events in the week ahead:

 Sunday, March 3 – Wednesday, March 6

* National Association of State Boards of Accountancy annual conferences. Tucson, Arizona.

 Monday, March 4

* Tax Policy Center program on tax reform and the revenue challenges states face, including federal sequestration. Noon – 1:30 p.m. ET, 2100 M Street NW. Washington, D.C.

 Tuesday, March 5

* U.S. Senate Budget Committee hearing on reducing the deficit by eliminating individual and corporate tax breaks. 10:30 a.m. ET, 608 Dirksen Senate Office Building. Washington.

Welcome to the top tax and accounting headlines from Reuters and other sources.

 * Law on tax changes is struck down in Washington State. Kirk Johnson – The New York Times. A voter-approved referendum restricting the Legislature’s ability to raise taxes is unconstitutional, Washington State’s highest court ruled on Thursday. Link

* Britons shun companies over tax avoidance. Vanessa Houlder – The Financial Times. A third of Britons are boycotting companies that do not pay their “fair share” of tax in the UK, according to a survey by a charity that described the findings as “a wake-up call to all business”. Link  

* Maine Sen. Collins backs tax breaks for offshore wind production. The Associated Press. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is co-sponsoring a bill to boost offshore wind energy generation with tax credits. Link  

Welcome to the top tax and accounting headlines from Reuters and other sources.

 * White House counts on G.O.P. to bend on cuts’ effects are felt. Michael Shear – The New York Times. White House strategists say they believe that a constant drip of bad news will emerge in Congressional districts across the country in the weeks ahead, putting Republicans on the defensive for their refusal to raise taxes. Link 

* Dividend recaps set to dwindle in 2013: Moody’s. Maxwell Murphy – The Wall Street Journal. Moody’s Investors Service expects fewer dividend recapitalizations this year compared to 2012, when companies rushed to distribute cash to shareholders ahead of expected tax hikes. Link

 * Poll: Most don’t believe in being a tax cheat. Stephen Ohlemacher – The Washington Post. With tax season in full swing, a newly released poll says an overwhelming majority of adults don’t believe it is ever okay to cheat on their income taxes, with most citing personal integrity as a reason to be truthful. Link