If you spent your Giving Tuesday budget on Cyber Monday, at least donate some time to catch up on your reading.
The 3 False Promises Of The GOP’s Tax Plan [Forbes]
Tony Nitti picks apart three common arguments in favor of the tax plan making its way through Congress: 1) That the tax cuts will pay for themselves; 2) That the middle class stands to benefit the most from the cuts; 3) The wealthiest 1% will see no net benefit under the plan. Tony writes: “[W]hy are they in such a hurry when the matter at hand is so critically important? Could it be because they realize that the only things that could prevent them from reaching their goal are time… and the truth?”
Bonus reading: What the Tax Bill Would Look Like for 25,000 Middle-Class Families
If the Tax Overhaul Smells Fishy, It’s Probably the Samoan Tuna Plant [WSJ]
Richard Rubin reports on all the giveaways in the tax bill that are designed to entice certain members of Congress off the fence. These special carve-outs run counter “to a bill presented under the banner of tax simplification,” Rubin writes. Among the beneficiaries are the aforementioned tuna plant in American Samoa, microbreweries, bicycle commuters, orange growers, and Newman’s Own (yes, the salad dressing company). Reminder: if you can’t get enough of the bumrush to pass this tax bill, keep an eye on the WSJ’s live blog.
Stop fighting the war on talent [AT]
Dan Hood writes that too many accounting firms are fighting a war on talent, i.e., complaining about millennials and their demands. However, the upshot is that firms who ignore this shift do so at their own peril. “[W]hat the Millennials want is, first, perfectly reasonable, and second, worth spending time on because it will generate more valuable employees.” Earlier: All these war metaphors are dumb.
Initial Coin Offerings Horrify a Former S.E.C. Regulator [NYT]
There are so many fine quotes from former SEC commissioner Joseph Grundfest in this article, it’s hard to choose, but here are a few: “I.C.O.s represent the most pervasive, open and notorious violation of federal securities laws since the Code of Hammurabi,” and “It’s more than the extent of the violation. It’s the almost comedic quality of the violation,” and finally, “These are not hard cases. You don’t need teams of accountants poring over complex financing documents.”
Previously, on Going Concern…
I wrote about responding to clients’ online complaints.
In Open Items, someone wants advice on moving from tax to accounting advisory in a Big 4 firm. Another user asks, “When will the #metoo shoe drop on public accounting partners?”
In other news:
- Wells Fargo Bankers, Chasing Bonuses, Overcharged Hundreds of Clients
- The owner of Arby’s is buying Buffalo Wild Wings.
- Victoria Beckham Raises $40 Million in Private Equity Investment
- Ghost ships wash up in Japan with skeletons on board
- A flat-Earther’s plan to launch himself in a homemade rocket has been postponed — again
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