A China Fraud Dissected: Part 2 AgFeed’s Auditors [Re:The Auditors]
A good longread for your Friday morning: "Is it irrational to believe that auditors are capable of acting capriciously, in a self-interested manner and, perhaps, like any other human being, against the law? Are auditors the market eunuchs in our capitalist system, immune from the influence of financial incentives? I think we’ve seen enough auditor-blessed Chinese frauds and audit partner inside traders just in the last five years to force reconsideration of such a Pollyannaish view. It’s time to stick a fork in this anachronistic idea of our profession and say, finally, that it’s done."
Camp ramps up tax reform sale [The Hill]
Here's a novel idea from the W&M Committee Chairman: " 'Look, it's February,' Camp told Bloomberg Television. 'We're supposed to do nothing until the election? I think most people sent us here to work for two years. That's what the term is. We need to work those entire two years.' "
Analysis of Chairman Camp's Proposal For Tax Reform, Part 1: Individual Tax Reform [Forbes]
Tony Nitti gets into the…er…nitty gritty.
Analysis Of Chairman Camp's Proposal For Tax Reform, Part II: The Business Tax Proposals [Forbes]
These two posts should keep you busy for a while.
Doomed Tax Reform Frenzy Edition [Tax Update]
Joe Kristan has some opinions on some of the major proposals in Camp's plan but overall, he's feeling unsatisfied: "When I think of income tax reform, I think big. I think of massive elimination of tax deduction, with great big rate reductions as consolation for taxpayers that lose their breaks. I look for elimination of alternative ways of tracking income and deductions, with the idea that one way that everyone can understand is better than special breaks for different industries. I look to eliminate double taxation of income everywhere, including elimination of capital gain taxes and integration of the corporate and individual systems. By these standards, the tax reform plan put forth by Dave Camp, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is a disappointment."
Oscars 2014: Meet the Only 2 People in the World Who Already Know Who Won [Time]
They are Rick Rosas and Brian Cullinan. You could tie these guys down and tickle them non-stop for an hour and they still wouldn't tell you the winner for Best Sound Editing.
Oscars: How we ended up with 9 best picture noms [AP]
Derivative accounting is easier than this: "Any [film] that get over 9.1 percent of the first-place votes are automatically nominated. That ensures that no more than 10 nominees automatically make the cut. If 10 make it, then the counting is done. If there are fewer than 10, the ballot counters look for so-called surplus votes. Any film that receives votes at least 10 percent above the 9.1-percent automatic nomination threshold will have the surplus votes re-allocated according to the voter's second choice — or third choice if the second choice is already nominated. Each first-place vote for that popular film is given a lesser weight so the film barely crosses the threshold, and that ballot's second-place votes help another film, to a lesser degree."
UK needs further 80,000 accountants in 35 years [Accountancy Age]
So I guess accountants need to start mutiplying or someone starts building robots.
“Game Of Thrones”’ 14 Most Brutal Deaths, As 8-Bit GIFs [BuzzFeed]
The Red Wedding is no less brutal.
