Senate Refuses to End Tax Breaks for Big Oil [NYT]
The Senate on Tuesday blocked a Democratic proposal to strip the five leading oil companies of tax breaks that backers of the measure said were unfairly padding industry profits while consumers were struggling with high gas prices. Despite falling eight votes short of the 60 needed to move ahead with the bill, top Democrats said they would insist that eliminating the tax breaks to generate billions of dollars in revenue must be part of any future agreement to raise the federal debt limit.
Hooray for More Restatements? [CFO Journal]
Financial restatements rose 7.6% last year, according to a new study. And that’s a good thing, says Audit Analytics about its findings. The trouble is, one could also reach the opposite conclusion from the same study. […] Its counter-intuitive to conclude that more accounting do-overs are a good thing, of course, but the research firm says it’s the latest sign that SarbOx is working by improving companies’ internal financial controls.
States Pass New Laws Governing the Accounting Profession [AT]
California accountants are grappling with a series of legislative proposals designed to address concerns sparked by a recent series of high-profile cases of fiscal malfeasance by municipal governments throughout the state. In addition to bills authorizing the state controller to audit the financial records of local governments, the legislature is considering the creation of a “multi-disciplinary fiscal ‘SWAT team’” of auditors and law enforcement personnel to investigate municipal waste and corruption.
“Next tier” outline benefits from OFT audit inquiry [Accountancy Age]
The tier of firms that could most benefit from the OFT’s inquiry into audit market competition have outlined some of their wishes from the investigation. Grant Thornton partner Steve Maslin […] said there were a number of measures that could be taken that would open the market to reduce FTSE 350 audit concentration away from the Big Four.
Kroger CFO: Supermarkets Acting Rationally In Price Hikes [Dow Jones]
Retailers are acting rationally in passing along higher prices to consumers, Kroger Co. (KR) Chief Financial Officer Mike Schlotman said Tuesday, with supermarkets unwilling to keep prices low in the face of inflation. “We’re seeing everybody being fairly rational and realistic about the need to pass that inflation along,” Schlotman said at a BMO Capital Markets conference.
Schwarzenegger’s love child raises child support, marital money & tax questions [DMWT]
How did Arnie hide all that diaper money?