Talking Tax

Congress is reconsidering the accounting guardrails it put in place more than two decades ago to ensure investors can trust the revenues and asset values listed companies publish. Republican budget proposals would abolish the US audit regulator and reassign its work to the Securities and Exchange Commission. While lawmakers negotiate over what will end up in a final version of their tax and spending bill, the proposals have prompted debate over how best to regulate auditors and the role of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. A member of the board and two former executives turned whistleblowers of once-corporate titans Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. spoke with Bloomberg Tax reporter Amanda Iacone about whether the audit regulator should remain independent or whether it would benefit from being folded into the federal government. On this episode of Talking Tax, Sherron Watkins, a former Enron finance executive, and Cynthia Cooper, a former WorldCom chief audit executive, argue that Congress shouldn't scrap an agency that oversees auditors that act as investors' last line of defense. To Christina Ho, a current PCAOB member who has objected to the board's approach, moving auditor oversight to the SEC would counter what she sees as regulatory overreach and provide new opportunities to improve audit quality. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The Republican-led Senate Finance Committee unveiled its portion of the mammoth tax-and-spending legislation that's quickly moving through Congress, and there's a lot to unpack. The Senate bill has dozens of differences from the House version. It makes several business breaks permanent, softens the excise tax on university endowments, and phases out more slowly cuts to clean energy credits, while smoothing edges on the so-called "revenge tax." But there are many similarities in the approaches the two bills take—both have tax breaks on income such as tips and overtime sought by President Donald Trump, and seek to extend much of the 2017 GOP tax law. Things are moving quickly as the Senate aims to pass its version out of its chamber before the July 4 break. In this week's episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Chris Cioffi speaks with host David Schultz on what's in the bill, what's left out, and where Congress goes from here. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Recent layoff announcements at Big Four accounting, tax, and consulting firms come as the industry faces economic uncertainty and a shrinking talent pool. The accounting profession is at a crossroads as a new class of students graduate. While recent data shows heightened interest in both undergraduate and master's degree programs, the industry faces possible disruptions like workforce reductions and emerging artificial intelligence tools. Deloitte LLP announced in April it would lay off government consulting employees as the Trump administration slashed federal contracts. The firm said in a statement the personnel actions were based on its public-sector clients' "evolving needs," among other factors. PwC LLP plans to cut roughly 1,500 jobs, many in its tax and assurance practices, the firm said last month, after two years of historically low levels of turnover. The firm plans to slow down its campus recruiting and will offer fewer internships for next year. But PwC announced this week it plans to reorganize its US advisory business, doubling the number of divisions from four to eight. The move "is being approached from a position of strength," according to a statement from PwC US advisory leader Tyson Cornell. Peter Demerjian is the director of the school of accountancy at Georgia State University. Namaan Mian is the chief operating officer at Management Consulted, a professional training and coaching organization. Demerjian and Mian spoke with Bloomberg Tax reporter Jorja Siemons about the recent layoffs, the industry's embrace of AI, and potential impacts on the industry's next generation. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The “revenge” tax provision that's in the giant tax bill working its way through Congress has a lot of people worried. Known as Section 899, the provision would impose stiff, retaliatory tax rates on companies and people from countries that the US deems to be imposing "unfair" and "discriminatory" taxes against US companies. It was included in the version of the bill House Republicans narrowly passed last month, and now gets Senate attention. The aim of Section 899 is to push those countries into changing their policies, but many observers fear the move would lead to lower foreign investment in the US, costing American jobs and cutting into economic growth. That's not the only reason for concern. Financial markets are worried about the retaliatory tax's potential impact on the value of US assets. Some observers think Section 899 would damage the US's longstanding reputation as a stable, reliable place for global companies to do business and for global investors to put their money, On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax senior reporter Michael Rapoport explains the retaliatory-tax proposal and discusses its prospects for becoming law. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Companies scored wins after the House passed a multi-trillion-dollar tax bill that largely preserved the current tax rates on foreign-earned income. Republicans' 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created a new international tax regime including a minimum tax on global intangible low-taxed income, or GILTI, a reduced tax rate on foreign-derived intangible income, or FDII, and a base erosion and anti-abuse tax, or BEAT. Each of these tax rates will go up in 2026 without congressional action, but House lawmakers made slight changes that will result in minimal tax increases. But the debate isn't over. The bill now heads to the Senate, where tax practitioners and companies expect impactful changes to the mammoth legislation, including the international provisions. On this week's episode of Talking Tax, reporter Lauren Vella talks about the House provisions, what companies want to see in the Senate version of the tax bill, and how the legislation might impact US relations with other countries. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

House Republicans are moving quickly to get a massive tax-and-spending package across the finish line before week's end even as they negotiate with party factions over outstanding concerns. Some Republicans are demanding deeper cuts to social programs like Medicaid to curb deficits as part of the deal and to reduce the package's cost to extend the 2017 tax overhaul. And yet the bill increases the debt limit by $4 trillion and adds billions in spending. Cut out of the process, Democrats oppose the proposal, and even some Republicans have objected to its size and scope. Regardless of where lawmakers fall on the political spectrum, they all seem to agree on one data source: What the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has to say about the package and what it will do to the national deficit, which now stands at over $36 trillion. On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Chris Cioffi talks with Maya MacGuineas, longtime president of the nonprofit public policy group, and digs into why the growing debt can be problematic for future economic growth. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

With the massive wave of federal government layoffs, tens of thousands of workers from the IRS and other agencies are likely looking for new jobs, potentially in the private sector for the first time. Caroline Ciraolo, a partner at Kostelanetz and founder of the firm's office in Washington, D.C., has started an initiative that connects former federal tax professionals with law firms and other private employers. She knows what it's like to make the transition: Ciraolo was the No. 2 official in the Department of Justice Tax Division from 2015 to 2017 before returning to the private sector. In this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax Editor at Large Rebecca Baker sat down with Ciraolo to discuss shifting out of government work, and how the "love of the practice area" is a key transferable skill. "That passion for unpacking complicated transactions and complicated facts and circumstances, identifying the issues—those skills are equal on both sides," she said. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The IRS right now isn't the same agency it was at the start of this year. That's because about 20% of IRS workers have signaled they want to leave or have been fired. The ripple effects of this exodus could go far, not just for the IRS itself, but for businesses and individual taxpayers trying to file their returns. Roughly half of the 30 people at the top of the IRS organizational chart have left, many because of Trump administration decisions that stretch boundaries of the law. Those departures in particular erode an important layer of defense to the IRS's most important missions: taxpayer data security and a fair tax system, former and current agency officials said. Most recently, two executives brought on to help the IRS build up its enforcement and reporting of digital assets left and were replaced by longtime IRS official Trish Turner. The leadership departures, combined with the broader cuts across different levels of the agency, make it harder for the IRS to collect revenue for the government and provide help to taxpayers. The IRS plans to lean more heavily on technology to make up for the lost workers. In this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporters Erin Slowey and Erin Schilling discuss who's replacing executives who have left, the impacts of the high turnover, and what happens when workers who want to leave can't. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

House Republicans are pushing a plan to dismantle the US audit board and send its watchdog duties to the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a federal budget-cutting process. It's not the first GOP attempt to rein in the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, but this time it comes against the backdrop of the Trump administration's sweeping drive to cut regulations and downsize government. Congress set up the board in the early 2000s to restore investor trust following high-profile corporate accounting scandals at Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. The move to eliminate PCAOB threatens to derail independent oversight of auditors charged with vetting the financial reports of public companies worth trillions in stock value, according to Bloomberg Tax senior reporter Amanda Iacone. On this episode of Talking Tax, Iacone speaks with Benjamin Freed, Bloomberg Tax team lead for state tax and financial accounting, about why the PCAOB is being targeted now, previous attempts to curb its influence, and what a potential disbanding could mean for audit firms. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Before leaving for a two-week break, House Republican lawmakers adopted a Senate budget outline to expedite legislation to push through trillions of dollars in tax cuts, raise the debt ceiling, and slash billions in spending. Now comes the hard part where policy committees need to fill in the fine details. The Senate framework called for $1.5 trillion in new tax cuts, to enact policies like some proposed by President Donald Trump on the campaign trail. The Senate's use of a so-called current policy baseline wipes away, on paper, trillions of dollars expected to add to the deficit from extending the expiring parts of the GOP's 2017 tax law. The House is seen as taking the lead, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) publicly aiming for a Memorial Day deadline to get a bill on Trump's desk. In this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax federal editor Kim Dixon talks to congressional reporters Chris Cioffi and Zach Cohen about what to expect in the next work period. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Deep cuts to the IRS workforce mean the agency might have to rely more heavily on technology to keep up taxpayer services and enforcement. The IRS is set to lose 20,000 workers after the Trump administration's second deferred resignation offer. That's in addition to thousands who have already left or are on administrative leave. Barry Johnson, former IRS chief data and analytics officer, oversaw the rollout of artificial intelligence at the agency before his retirement in January. When he left, he said the IRS was piloting an AI tool to help employees search the Internal Revenue Code. The agency also used AI to improve taxpayer services, such as with chatbots, and to make enforcement more efficient. But the workforce cuts could hinder that progress, Johnson said. "I'm especially concerned with proposed cuts in what we call the field staff, the folks who process tax returns and conduct audits," he said. "Because to the extent that we lose that subject matter expertise, our ability to train and validate AI applications will be diminished." In this episode of Talking Tax, Johnson talks to Bloomberg Tax reporter Erin Schilling about the challenges of relying on technology with a shrunken staff, how the research division uses taxpayer data while upholding confidentiality, and what it means for the agency when top executives leave. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The Trump administration's massive new tariff pronouncements, on top of its pullback from the OECD's global tax deal, have cast doubt on the future of global tax policy efforts.   The two-pillar OECD-led agreement seeks to create a 15% global minimum tax for large multinational corporations and change the way the companies allocate their profits among countries. While the US is still taking part in some negotiations, it has rejected key elements of the deal that it says infringe on US tax sovereignty. The administration has especially taken issue with the deal's undertaxed profits rule, which countries can use to tax companies from other jurisdictions if they aren't paying the minimum tax there. And it has raised objections to countries' imposition of digital services taxes. On Wednesday, President Trump announced a 90-day pause on higher reciprocal tariffs that hit many US trade partners earlier in the day, and raised duties on China to 125%.   The conflict could spark a reaction away from global tax policy negotiations and toward more bilateral, one-on-one dealings between countries as nations look to retaliate or cut a deal with the US. On this episode of Talking Tax, reporter Caleb Harshberger talks with PwC global tax policy leader Will Morris and Michael Plowgian, a partner at KPMG and former deputy assistant secretary for international affairs at the Treasury Department. They discuss the current state of negotiations, the complexity of numerous moving parts, and prospects for the US's ongoing role vis à vis the European Union and other nations. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The hard-charging effort led by billionaire Elon Musk to reshape the federal workforce at the IRS and other agencies might lead to lasting changes. But what it means for taxpayers still isn't fully realized. Some efforts to buy out or fire employees have been postponed until after the filing season ends in April, and are facing legal action. Ending taxpayer assistance center leases and reducing the number of taxpayer assistance staff who can answer phones will mean backsliding in improved service levels, former National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson warns. On this episode of Talking Tax, Olson talks to Bloomberg Tax reporter Chris Cioffi about the potential for brain drain at the agency amid a wave of resignations and whether major upheaval might lead to an erosion in taxpayer trust. They also tackle the danger of taxpayer data privacy violations as Musk's Treasury Department team gains access to the department's payment systems. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Millions of US companies are off the hook when it comes to disclosing their beneficial owners' identities to the federal government, after the Trump administration announced it wouldn't enforce penalties for domestic entities under the Corporate Transparency Act. The Treasury Department's previous regulations had required about 30 million businesses operating in the US to disclose who directly or indirectly controlled them in reports to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. But in a pivot from the previous administration, the Treasury now says all US entities are exempt from reporting requirements. The move was the latest twist in a wave of litigation against the law, which some companies argue oversteps Congress's authority to regulate interstate commerce. Following a nationwide injunction blocking the CTA's enforcement in December 2024, businesses across the country faced whiplash as the law and the previous version of its implementing regulations were successively enjoined past the original January 2025 compliance deadline. But now, facing a narrower scope of which companies are obliged to comply under new rules, appeals courts must now grapple with whether newly exempt domestic companies retain their standing to sue. On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax audio producer David Schultz talks with Bloomberg Law reporter John Woolley about the year-long legal drama around the Corporate Transparency Act, how the Trump administration disrupted that litigation, and how the Treasury's policy changes could impact the fight against international financial crime. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

New York officials are in the final stage of the state's budget process, following March 13 passage of the Assembly and Senate individual spending and revenue proposals for fiscal 2026. It's now up to a three-way negotiation between the Legislature's two chambers and Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who has her own plans for a budget that's likely to top $252 billion—including a host of tax changes that don't completely align with what the Democratic-led lawmakers want. As in recent years, lawmakers have proposed raising taxes on the highest-income earners and corporations, which Hochul has rejected in the past. There are divergent approaches to how much to expand the state's child tax credit. And the Senate wants to tailor the governor's idea of sending New Yorkers sales tax rebates—a salve to inflation—to just seniors rather than all taxpayers. Other issues include an expansion of New York's film tax credit program to benefit more independent movies and whether the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's funding needs will disrupt the various tax proposals. On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax state editor Benjamin Freed talks with New York correspondent Danielle Muoio Dunn and Bloomberg Government Albany correspondent Zach Williams about the budget process, the political stakes for Hochul ahead of her 2026 re-election campaign, and the odds that lawmakers wrap up the budget by their April 1 deadline—or at least the first night of Passover. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Tax departments at multinational companies are scrambling to keep up with the Trump administration's tariff announcements as the updates pile in day to day and sudden shifts complicate transfer pricing calculations. Tariffs raise companies' costs, and those can't always be passed on to consumers—meaning businesses have to choose where to allocate the costs in their supply chains. While the importing entity pays the tariffs, the company can adjust the transfer price to pass that cost to other, related entities. That can present opportunities to reduce the impact of tariffs—but also may lead to risks of audits from tax and customs agencies. And with so much unknown, it's become hard for companies to find tax certainty, said Summer Austin, partner at Baker McKenzie. Austin and Baker McKenzie partner Jennifer Revis talked to Bloomberg Tax reporter Caleb Harshberger about what the tariffs mean for transfer pricing and how companies should respond. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690

President Donald Trump's early executive order to end federal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs upended at least one team in the Treasury Department. The Treasury Equity Hub, formed in 2021, evaluated how effective the department's policies and programs were at reaching all types of Americans. Removing this team could hurt further research into racial disparities in IRS enforcement, Treasury Equity Hub Director Diane Lim said. A 2023 high-profile study showed that Black taxpayers were disproportionately audited, a finding that led the IRS on a campaign to fix the problem, though the future of that work is unclear. Trump has launched a war on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts both in the federal government and the private sector, with mixed success. A federal judge blocked portions of his orders to end DEI programs because they could threaten free speech. Still, the corporate world has started rolling back diversity efforts in response to the administration's efforts. Lim and her team have been on administrative leave since the start of the new administration. She said she expects the team will receive layoff notices in the next wave of federal workforce reductions. In this episode of Talking Tax, Lim tells Bloomberg Tax reporter Erin Schilling that ending DEI programs in the IRS and Treasury might have cascading impacts on the US tax system. For this tax filing season, it might mean the IRS has more trouble conducting outreach to underserved communities. But over the long term, if people feel the tax system is unfair, there could be more instances of people choosing to not file or to cheat on their taxes. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690

The US audit board has already been forced to revise its priorities as the Trump administration begins to reshape the federal government. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board pulled an auditor disclosure rule that was set for SEC approval earlier this month. The audit board opted to delay finalizing another project that would expand how auditors consider the financial impact of their clients' law violations days after Donald Trump's November election win. But deeper changes might be coming to the Enron-era regulator, which Congress designed to be an auditor watchdog. Republicans previously targeted the PCAOB through legislation and budget proposals that would have eliminated the independent regulator. Project 2025, considered a playbook for the second Trump administration, similarly called for the SEC to take over the board's work. Any major changes in board leadership could usher in the third swing in priorities at the regulator since 2017. Ally Zimmerman is an associate professor of business administration at Florida State University and a former fellow at both the PCAOB and Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees the board's work. In this episode of Talking Tax, Zimmerman spoke with Bloomberg Tax reporter Amanda Iacone about the PCAOB's future and what auditors and the investors who depend on their work can expect in the coming months. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Republicans in Congress have been working to find consensus to cement tax code changes made in President Donald Trump's first presidency and jump-start his new administration using the budget reconciliation process. The maneuver allows Republicans with full control of Washington to avoid the Senate's filibuster, so they can effectively move legislation without Democrats' support. But the process is complicated and comes with many potential pitfalls. The process will be made all the more difficult for congressional GOP leadership, which must deal with the pressures of Trump's demands for tax cuts while guiding its fractious conference. House GOP lawmakers in particular will need near-uniform consensus because of its thin majority. Sarah Binder is a senior fellow in governance studies at Brookings and a professor of political science at George Washington University. She specializes in Congress and legislative politics as well as Congress's relationship with the Federal Reserve. On today's Talking Tax, Binder walks Bloomberg Tax reporter Chris Cioffi through the history of reconciliation since it was created in the 1970s and what lawmakers can and can't enact through the process. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690

Brazilian taxpayers and practitioners continue to clamor for more guidance on the country's new transfer pricing regime implemented last year. The country switched from a mathematical model to an arm's-length principle for transfer pricing last year, bringing it in line with global standards. That pivot left a lot of questions for the Receita Federal, the country's revenue authority, to answer through guidance, and it's been working to issue rules ever since. Most recently, Brazil issued instructions requiring extensive reporting and documentation of transactions involving commodities and how companies calculate their transfer pricing positions. Transfer pricing involves valuation of transactions between entities within a corporate group. Intragroup transactions must be conducted at arm's length—priced similarly to transactions between unrelated companies. The country's auditors are gearing up to enforce Brazil's new rules, sparking some concerns among practitioners that many new auditors will be learning on the job and that these early examinations won't go smoothly. RSM US senior tax manager Nina Baumbach spoke with reporter Caleb Harshberger about the changes and what they mean for companies. She said companies need more guidance and clarity from the government on intangibles and other topics. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Treasury Department and IRS finalized rules requiring crypto exchanges to provide information on taxpayers' buying and selling activities are meeting industry and Republican pushback. Centralized brokers must issue form 1099-DA, starting in 2026 for tax year 2025, and decentralized brokers are to start doing so in 2028 for tax year 2027. The form includes such things as personal data, gross proceeds on sales, and transaction dates. Crypto tax advisers bring up two themes about the new rules: First, it's challenging for some brokers to implement the infrastructure needed to comply with the reporting requirements because tracking transactions is a huge undertaking when trades happen so quickly. Second, some Congressional Republicans don't like the rule and have introduced a joint resolution to nullify parts of the regulations. In this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Rebecca Chen chats with Jessalyn Dean, vice president of tax information reporting at digital asset tax and accounting platform Ledgible, on the requirements and enforcement efforts, and how they might change under the second Trump administration. —Produced by Mo Barrow. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

President Donald Trump threw a major wrench into the fate of the OECD global tax deal on his first day in office, sparking concerns among the international tax community about the deal being fundamentally reshaped. Trump issued a presidential memo Jan. 20 stating the global tax deal has no "force or effect" in the US and instructed the Treasury Department to come up with a list of protective measures to impose on any country that enacts discriminatory or extraterritorial taxes against American taxpayers. This week, Bloomberg Tax reporter Lauren Vella sits down with Scott Levine, Treasury's former deputy assistant secretary for international affairs and top US OECD tax delegate, to chat about the status of the global deal and the impact of the new US administration's position on negotiations. Levine maps out two scenarios he sees playing out in Paris under the new Trump administration and gives some insight into how countries at the OECD might be feeling about the transition of power in the US. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Few of the provisions of the tax code this year have garnered as much attention from industry as the about-to-sunset pass-through deduction. In their 2017 tax overhaul, Republicans allowed owners of pass-through businesses such as partnerships, S-corporations, and LLCs to deduct 20% of certain business income from their taxes. Businesses and their lobbyists say it gives those firms small and large parity with traditional corporations. Critics say its benefits largely flow to the wealthy. That deduction—along with the rest of the individual provisions of that 2017 law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—expires at the end of 2025 absent congressional action and President Donald Trump's signature. On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Zach Cohen spoke with two guests about what the deduction does and prospects for renewal by Congress this year. Jeff Brabant is a vice president of federal government relations at the National Federation of Independent Businesss, and Elena Spatoulas Patel is a nonresident senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and the Sorenson Assistant Professor in the Division of Quantitative Analysis of Markets and Organizations at the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The leader of a top US standard-setter wants his board to take the next step in using emerging technology to craft accounting rules for local and state governments. Joel Black, chair of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, said a key priority for the board this year is shifting gears from monitoring emerging tools such as artificial intelligence to preparing for its future integration. In his final two years as leader, Black said he intends to craft an enduring focus on how technology can make financial reporting more efficient. GASB establishes standards for state and local governments that follow generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. Cities and states' staffing shortages and resource constraints have motivated the board to be especially selective about the projects it takes on, Black said. The board is currently working to update how governments should value infrastructure assets such as bridges and tunnels, as well as develop digital classifications for financial reporting. Black, who previously worked at Mauldin & Jenkins LLC and KPMG LLP, has led the board since 2020. Bloomberg Tax reporter Jorja Siemons spoke with Black about his 2025 priorities. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

President-elect Donald Trump's plans to deconstruct the federal workforce would take a bite out of IRS efforts to answer taxpayer phone calls and enforce compliance for tax cheats. After getting billions in funding from the 2022 tax-and-climate law, the IRS started a long-needed rebuild, including bringing on more workers. Between Oct. 1, 2021 and Sept. 30, 2023, the IRS processed nearly 53,000 new hires, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in a September report. But Trump's promises to end remote work for federal workers and reinstate a policy that would make it easier to fire certain employees are seen as ways to end the IRS's competitiveness in the job market and ability to keep employees who are flight risks. Bloomberg Tax reporter Erin Slowey spoke with Kelly Reyes, executive director of the Professional Managers Association that represents the interests of IRS managers, about what a presidential transition means for IRS employees and how agency managers are preparing for next tax filing season. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Jan. 3 marks the beginning of the next Congress, where Republicans will lead both chambers and control the White House. Democrats being out of power has big implications for tax policy, as GOP lawmakers heading into the new year debate what to renew from the 2017 GOP tax law, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The TCJA was passed with no votes from Democrats and benefits skewed toward the wealthy and corporations. Incoming GOP leaders have proposed breaking their top priorities into two bills and moving them through Congress using the reconciliation process. The first would jump-start President-elect Donald Trump's priorities on immigration and gas drilling, and the second would include tax and other legislative priorities. Republicans say moving tax legislation to later in the year would give them more time to decide what to do about many of the law's individual provisions that expire at the end of 2025. They also will have to decide what Trump campaign promises to include. On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporters Chris Cioffi, Zach Cohen, and Lauren Vella discuss what to expect in the 2025 tax fight, and the policy issues that likely will define the debate. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Online retailers that rely solely on third-party logistics providers like Amazon for tax compliance may still face tax liability for direct sales through their own websites. Many states enacted marketplace facilitator laws in the years since the Supreme Court's 2018 ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair, shifting tax collection responsibilities to platforms like Amazon or Walmart. But individual vendors can still face additional tax obligations because of direct sales, how their inventory is controlled, or state-specific sales thresholds. As of October, most of the 24 states in the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which aims to simplify sales tax codes, said inventory in a third-party warehouse creates a physical nexus—a connection that triggers tax responsibilities. Rules vary even more outside the Streamlined pact. In New York, for instance, storage alone is sufficient for nexus, while in Arizona, inventory beyond a seller's control likely doesn't. Bloomberg Tax reporter Angélica Serrano-Román and Diane L. Yetter, founder of the Sales Tax Institute, discussed how businesses using third-party logistics services navigate tax compliance, the inconsistency in court decisions on who is liable for tax collection and remittance, and the contentious issue of retroactivity where states might seek uncollected taxes from before the Wayfair decision. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690

A new White House administration and Republican-led Congress are slated to disrupt how the IRS operates. Republicans' taste for cuts to the agency's annual appropriations and the tens of billions of added funding from the 2022 tax-and-climate law is putting the IRS and the Treasury Department on offense, as they make a case for why a well-funded IRS is good for everyone. The Treasury Department has warned that further clawbacks would mean customer service—a bipartisan concern—as well as enforcement efforts, would take a hit. Bloomberg Tax's Erin Slowey spoke with Charles Rettig, a shareholder at Chamberlain Hrdlicka, on why the IRS needs its funding and how a new commissioner could shake up the agency. Rettig, who served as commissioner during the first Trump administration, also addressed what he is telling his clients amid the uncertainty. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Fuel producers are trying to prepare for a tax credit regime change, even though the Treasury Department has failed to issue rules around those credits. The clean fuel production tax credit under Section 45Z takes effect next year, replacing a longstanding blenders credit. The new credit gives tax breaks to fuel according to its carbon intensity score. But the yet-to-be-released Treasury and IRS rules will explain how to calculate that score. Debbie Gordon, leader of RSM US LLP's excise and energy tax practice, told reporter Erin Schilling on this week's episode of Talking Tax podcast that fuel producers are still trying to prepare for the new credit, even amid that uncertainty. It's unclear when the clean fuel production tax credit rules will come out, though a Treasury spokesperson said the Biden administration expects to put out some guidance before the administration change in January. Many also are trying to push to start construction on clean fuel projects before the end of this year to qualify for the current credits. Gordon gives insight on what fuel producers are doing to safeguard their projects, how they're preparing for the new credit, and what the new administration means for the future of the credit. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690

US companies are ramping up their efforts to lobby Congress on the international tax provisions they'd like to see in a comprehensive 2025 tax bill.   Among their priorities is retaining the current rates on foreign income, which were included in Republicans' 2017 tax law and are poised to increase in 2026. But there are open questions about how lawmakers can pay for these extensions and make good on President-elect Donald Trump's domestic corporate tax proposals. On this week's episode of "Talking Tax," reporter Lauren Vella sits down with Rohit Kumar, co-leader of PwC's National Tax Office, to discuss which international tax provisions could be addressed in a 2025 bill. He also offers insight into how companies are thinking about the 15% global minimum tax with Republicans taking full control of the White House and Congress. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690

The re-election of Donald Trump and Republican sweep in Congress makes an extension of the 2017 GOP tax cuts more likely, but there will be hurdles. Republicans want to use a fast-track process to move legislation—but that maneuvering comes with various rules and procedures. Meanwhile, senators in the party elected John Thune (R-S.D.), a long-time member of the Finance Committee, to become majority leader in January, succeeding Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Thune's experience on the Finance panel when the law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was crafted could help smooth the process. On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax Deputy Team Leader Kim Dixon and reporter Zach C. Cohen discuss the new GOP Senate leader and how the fast-track process known as reconciliation could play out when Republicans take power in Washington next year. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690

The IRS is winning more cases in the US Tax Court over companies' valuation of intangible assets, such as patents and trademarks, through transfer pricing. The wins have caught the attention of companies and practitioners as they mull the growing risks of transfer pricing, which governs transactions between related companies that are part of the same multinational group. Disputes between the IRS and companies such as Coca-Cola and 3M have showcased the agency's newfound ability to audit their positions and win in Tax Court when challenged. Both cases are being appealed. In addition, a new IRS policy to assess more penalties when documentation is lacking could make companies' transfer pricing positions much riskier than in the past, practitioners say, and taxpayers may have to start factoring that in. In this week's Talking Tax podcast, Bloomberg Tax reporter Caleb Harshberger spoke with Grant Thornton LLP Transfer Pricing Technical Leader Steve Wrappe and Greenberg Traurig LLP shareholder Sharon Katz-Pearlman about how the IRS has changed its approach and what additional funding from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act means for taxpayers moving forward. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The nation is unpacking what comes next with Donald Trump's second presidency and with a Senate that flipped from Democratic to Republican. One of the biggest questions that remains unanswered is how this impacts upcoming talks over myriad provisions in the GOP's signature 2017 tax law that expire at the end of 2025. Idaho Republican Sen. Mike Crapo—no stranger to tax policy and negotiations—becomes chair of the Senate Finance Committee and will have a major hand in what happens with those expiring provisions that were part of the legislation known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Crapo is seen as a behind-the-scenes operator but his new role puts him at the center of talks to decide what to keep and what to jettison from a tax package that could have a price tag in the trillions of dollars. A second Trump presidency also has implications for the IRS. Republicans have threatened to claw back supplemental IRS modernization funding, and have criticized the agency's focus on the Direct File program, offering free filing to certain taxpayers who qualify. In this week's Talking Tax podcast, Bloomberg Tax reporters Erin Slowey and Chris Cioffi discuss what changes at the Senate Finance Committee, Trump's presidency, and new players in the landscape could mean for tax policy this year and into the next Congress. They spoke with Bloomberg Tax Deputy Team Lead for Federal Tax Kim Dixon. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

California regulators are prepared to walk away from strict licensing rules that require accountants to earn the equivalent of five years of college to qualify. The California Board of Accountancy has proposed reforms that would grant the certified public accountant license to candidates with a traditional bachelor's degree plus two years of work experience in addition to passing the CPA exam. The proposal would unwind current rules that call for 150 hours of college credits to qualify—a requirement that is seen as a barrier to entering the profession. Instead, the board's draft legislation would strip the specific number of college credits from its rulebook to focus on the degree earned or the candidate's coursework. State lawmakers would have to approve any changes. Bloomberg Tax senior reporter Amanda Iacone spoke with Dominic Franzella, the executive officer of the state accountancy board, about how California's proposal matches up against related reforms the American Institute of CPAs introduced in September and whether the state's plans could help address the shrinking pipeline of future accountants. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Artificial intelligence is becoming a bigger part of tax practice and policy every day. The Big Four are spending billions of dollars on AI models, and even mid-tier accounting firms seem willing to at least tread into generative AI transformation, albeit slowly. These investments raise questions about how corporate in-house tax departments are evaluating AI integration. In this special edition of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax Insights editor-at-large Rebecca Baker chatted with three different in-house tax leaders to hear their views on the emergence of AI in the profession, and in their lives. While they all agree AI must be part of the conversation now, they have different takes on how it should be used—or if it should even be used at all. Kurt Lamp, vice president of global tax at Amazon, is the most bullish on pulling AI tools into the corporate tax function, noting the ability to extract data and automate tasks. Jessica Reif-Caplan, legal principal in tax and business development at Edward Jones, takes a longer view on understanding functionality before moving to simplify. Then Sandhya Edupuganty, vice president of tax at Sabre Corporation, grapples with what can be gained from using AI and also what can be lost. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The fate of the 2017 GOP tax overhaul is top of mind for corporations in the weeks leading up to the election. Many of the law's provisions are expiring in 2025, setting Congress up to negotiate another major tax law. Corporations are closely watching what happens to bonus depreciation, interest expense deductions, and research and development expensing, S&P Global Rating Managing Director Shripad Joshi said. Plus, both presidential candidates have campaigned on changing the corporate tax, which the 2017 law permanently lowered to 21%. Without knowing who will control the White House and Congress next year, it's difficult for corporations to plan ahead. Right now, they're reviewing tax proposals that may be considered and modeling how different scenarios could impact them. That means figuring out where their tax weaknesses lie and parsing out which changes could hurt or help cash flow the most. On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Erin Schilling talks with Joshi about how corporations are dealing with this uncertainty and which tax policy changes will affect them the most. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

After more than two years, the Treasury Department has proposed rules to implement the new minimum tax on companies' book income. Now comes the hard part. The regulations, which Treasury issued last month, would govern how the corporate alternative minimum tax is applied and calculated. CAMT, enacted in 2022, requires big companies to pay at least 15% in taxes on the income they report on their financial statements—a crackdown on companies that have been able to pay little or nothing in the past by taking advantage of tax breaks and tax-planning strategies. The proposed regulations run to more than 600 pages, and set up a highly complex regime for companies that fall under CAMT. Tax professionals and companies continue to pore over the rules, to see what kind of effects they'll have. Bloomberg Tax senior reporter Michael Rapoport spoke with Monisha Santamaria, a principal in KPMG LLP's Washington National Tax practice about the complexity of the CAMT regulations; some notable aspects of the rules; how CAMT will affect more than just the 100 or so companies that Treasury says will have to pay it; and the chance for companies to persuade Treasury to revise its plans.

The European Court of Justice's ruling against Apple Inc. over a $14.4 billion Irish tax bill stunned members of the international tax community, who said it throws the high court's precedent on tax state aid cases into disarray. The EU high court ruled last month that the company's tax positions in Ireland, which were agreed to by Irish authorities in 1991 and 2007, amounted to illegal state aid. EU law stipulates that member states shouldn't give companies preferential treatment—state aid—over other businesses. Unlawful state aid could come in the form of preferential tax benefits. The decision was particularly perplexing to tax observers because it didn't rely on rulings in similar, previous high-profile cases involving Fiat Chrysler or Amazon, where the ECJ sided with the companies rather than the European Commission. This week, Bloomberg Tax reporter Lauren Vella chats with University of Virginia professor Ruth Mason and Stephen Daly, reader in tax law at King's College in London, who say that there is a possibility companies with structures similar to Apple aren't safe from EU probes into their tax positions. They also discuss what effect the decision could have on the court's reputation and the European Commission's power to investigate tax matters. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The Multistate Tax Commission dates to the 1960s, yet the intergovernmental tax agency and its mission on behalf of state revenue departments are often not well understood. The map of tax laws and regulations across the 50 states would be much more complicated and inconsistent without the efforts of committed attorneys, auditors, and administrators working on behalf of the commission. On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax senior reporter Michael J. Bologna discusses the MTC's goals and achievements with former general counsel Nancy Prosser, who retired Sept. 24. Prosser talks about the agency's essential mission to promote uniform and consistent tax policies across the states, and assist taxpayers in achieving full compliance. She also stresses the MTC's efforts to advocate for state and local sovereignty in the development of tax policy. Prosser retired after four years as general counsel and a 16-year career in tax administration with the Texas Comptroller for Public Accounts, including two years as the Texas tax agency's general counsel. In the interview, Prosser also talks about her career in state tax administration and her hopes for improved state tax uniformity going forward. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The GOP's 2017 tax law—the biggest change in the US tax code in three decades—left a mammoth task for the IRS and Treasury Department. It resulted in the Treasury and a severely underfunded IRS creating the blueprint for taxpayers and tax practitioners trying to follow the law, releasing over 200 pieces of formal guidance and more than 300 pieces of informal guidance. Many of these provisions are set to expire next year and face an uncertain fate as the November election approaches with control of the House and Senate in play. Dave Kautter, a partner at RSM US LLP, spoke with Bloomberg Tax reporter Erin Slowey on his time as the Department of Treasury's assistant secretary for tax policy and acting IRS commissioner during that major tax code overhaul. He also spoke about the agencies' role in policy making and how they can prepare for changes in 2025—if at all. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) likes to be prepared. Schneider and fellow House Democrats are getting behind-the-scenes briefings that started this summer to bone up on their tax policy knowledge ahead of what's likely to become a big battle in 2025. The Illinois Democrat is a member of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee and he's running to lead the influential New Democrat Coalition. The hope, he said, is to find agreement on tax policy that will be permanent so lawmakers don't once again find themselves addressing provisions such as pieces of the 2017 GOP-led tax law that expire next year. Schneider, a critic of the state and local tax deduction cap, said he's optimistic that lawmakers can come together on policy areas ranging from global tax to the child tax credit. On this edition of Talking Tax podcast, Bloomberg Tax reporter Chris Cioffi talks with Schneider about the upcoming talks over expiring provisions in that 2017 tax overhaul and other priorities. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Lawmakers return to Washington next week for the final sprint of legislating before the November elections, on the heels of a failed tax bill vote, and with an appropriations deadline fast approaching. Congress will be under pressure in the next few weeks to reach a deal on government funding to avoid a shutdown on Sept. 30. The Democratic-controlled Senate is set to clash with the GOP House over whether to slash IRS funds or keep them steady, though with so little time left in session lawmakers will likely use a short-term continuing resolution to punt the fight. Also up in the air is whether tax writers will come back to the negotiation table on the $78 billion bipartisan tax package that failed to clear a procedural vote in the Senate just before the August recess. Some lawmakers already are attempting to peel off parts of that tax package—including disaster tax relief and an expansion to the low-income housing tax credit—and it's unclear if those efforts will heat up in September or the lame-duck session. On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax congressional reporters Chris Cioffi and Samantha Handler discuss the weeks ahead in Congress, and how lawmakers are preparing for the 2025 tax cliff. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The market for clean energy tax credits has been booming, with demand and supply skyrocketing since the 2022 tax-and-climate law established new credits and launched a way for energy developers to easily sell those credits to investors. A midyear report by the energy tax marketplace Crux forecasts that energy tax credit transfer deals could total between $20 billion and $25 billion this year, while financial services firm Evercore ISI estimates that more than $100 billion in transferable credits will be generated annually by 2030. Still, risks remain around certain energy tax credits that have yet to see final rules from the Treasury Department, and 2025 will bring additional changes, including the launch of so-called "tech-neutral" credits that aren't tied to any one piece of technology. On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporter Caleb Harshberger talks to Crux CEO Alfred Johnson and Hannah Hawkins, principal at KPMG, about how the new market for these credits is developing and what uncertainty remains. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

When Microsoft Corp. won a $94 million income tax refund from the California Office of Tax Appeals in February, it was considered one of the biggest victories for corporate taxpayers ever in California. Now it's unclear if Microsoft will get that refund, or if other multinationals with similar claims will either. A law passed in June reversed the ruling upholding Microsoft's refund, and the first two lawsuits challenging the reversal landed last week. The intent of the new law (S.B. 167) is to avoid $1.3 billion in refunds to companies with similar claims pending for past tax years and $200 million a year in refunds going forward. The law does this by declaring that the California Franchise Tax Board's position in Microsoft's case pertaining to the tax treatment of income repatriated from abroad has been law since it issued a legal notice on the subject in 2006. The newly filed lawsuits from the California Taxpayers Association and National Taxpayers Union make it unclear when the dust will settle. On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax senior correspondent Laura Mahoney talks to Gina Rodriquez and Josh Booth, principals in the Sacramento office of global tax services firm Ryan LLC, about what the tax changes mean for other multinationals and for California. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Ernst & Young LLP is developing a generative AI tool for tax professionals that's meant to automate repetitive data work and make tax planning more efficient. The Big Four company is investing $1.4 billion into gen AI globally. Other Big Four firms have made similar pledges. The investments are in part a bet that the technology can fill in some gaps from the longstanding accounting shortage. But implementing the technology in tax departments is difficult, in part because of how often policies change and the vast amount of data. Daren Campbell, leader of EY Americas Tax Technology and Transformation team, gave Bloomberg Tax an inside look at how his team seeks to overcome these challenges, where the technology is today, and what's next. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Nearly 75% of cannabis businesses operate at a loss, and many in the industry point to a feature of the Internal Revenue Code as the reason why. Cannabis companies are prohibited from deducting ordinary business expenses—like rent or payroll—from their federal taxes as long as marijuana remains under the most restrictive portion of the Controlled Substances Act. That could change if marijuana is moved from Schedule I to Schedule III of the act, as the Biden administration has proposed. But in the meantime, 22 states plus Washington, D.C., have allowed medical or recreational cannabis businesses to take some deductions on their state returns, by decoupling their tax codes from Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code, which imposes the federal ban. Pennsylvania was the most recent to make that change with a state budget adopted last month. In this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax reporters Angélica Serrano-Román and Owen Racer talk about their recent look into how states are increasingly decoupling their tax from 280E at the state level. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Italian economist Pasquale Tridico, newly elected chair of the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Tax Matters, has some fresh ideas to curb tax avoidance, which he says will be one of his top priorities. His committee can't propose legislation or substantially alter it in any way. But the panel has gained influence and exposure over time. Set up soon after the Panama Papers leaks, the committee has become a forum for politicians, companies, researchers, and activists to share opinions and research. And increasingly, policymakers are tuning in. That's the momentum Tridico wants to maintain. He proposes a European registry of assets to limit tax avoidance and to help improve the effectiveness of the global minimum corporate tax rules. Tridico says such a ledger could help ensure the minimum tax rules have more bite. Bloomberg reporter Saim Saeed spoke with Tridico about these plans for the subcommittee, and how they can impact European tax policy. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The corporate tax rate is coming up in nearly "every conversation" House Ways and Means Committee Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.) has been at recently. Miller is leading one of the ten House Ways and Means GOP tax teams, created to collect information and prepare for tax discussions in 2025, when much of the 2017 tax law expires. Miller's "Supply Chains" team is focusing on energy tax credits and the corporate tax rate, among other issues. This week members met with former Ways and Means Chair Kevin Brady (R-Texas) to discuss the 2017 tax law. Brady and lawmakers reviewed why certain decisions were made in drafting the law, and what provisions may be worth looking into, Miller told Bloomberg Tax. While the 21% corporate tax rate set by Republicans in 2017 does not sunset at the end of 2025, it's set to be a sticking point in negotiations no matter which party wins out in November. Some Republicans have floated raising the rate, and former President Donald Trump has proposed lowering it even further. Bloomberg Tax reporter Samantha Handler spoke with Miller about discussions surrounding the corporate rate and other priorities of her tax team heading into 2025. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The state tax gap—the difference between the true tax liabilities owed to a state and the amount voluntarily submitted to revenue agencies—is possibly the most stubborn and perplexing problem facing tax administrators. For decades, revenue commissioners have tried to close the gap through audits and enforcement sweeps, but the process is slow, costly, and uncertain. Janette Lohman, a former director of the Missouri Department of Revenue, believes there is a way to collect more delinquent taxes faster, cheaper, and with less hostility: a strategy she describes as “prospective voluntary disclosure.” The states generally allow delinquent businesses to voluntarily come forward and pay their back taxes plus interest for a specified look-back period, but Lohman has proposed a process that allows delinquent taxpayers to submit their taxes on a going-forward basis without paying any back taxes or penalties. On this episode of Talking Tax, Bloomberg Tax senior reporter Michael J. Bologna caught up with Lohman to discuss her efforts in Missouri to boost compliance using prospective voluntary disclosure. Lohman, a tax partner in the St. Louis office of Thompson Coburn LLP, recently presented her strategy during the annual meeting of the Federation of Tax Administrators. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Training for CPAs must evolve to focus on the skills and experiences necessary to meet future market demands, the leader of the largest US accounting industry group said. Barry Melancon, president and CEO of the American Institute of CPAs, also defended a required fifth year of college for CPA candidates, saying current rules have achieved their purpose of elevating the role of accountants and turning out better-educated professionals. Melancon, who is preparing to retire in December, spoke to Bloomberg Tax reporter Amanda Iacone about ongoing efforts to restore what is now a shrinking pipeline of future accountants. Proposed reforms could soften the bite of the mandatory 150 college credit hours for CPAs to earn their license by offering alternatives such as employer-provided training or work-study programs. He also discussed the role artificial intelligence could play in closing the talent gap and the impact of private equity investors as CPA firms look to keep pace with technology advancements. —Produced by Matthew S. Schwartz. Do you have feedback on this episode of Talking Tax? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The new chief of the IRS criminal division wants America to know he's hiring special agents, and they're fulfilling their mission to investigate tax and financial crimes. Guy Ficco started his new gig in April following an almost three-decade career at the agency. He comes into the position at the same time the IRS is flush with tens of billions in funding from the Democrats' 2022 tax-and-climate law. In fiscal year 2023, CI initiated more than 2,676 criminal investigations and identified over $37.1 billion from tax and financial crimes. The division has an 88.4% conviction rate on cases accepted for prosecution. Bloomberg Tax reporter Erin Slowey spoke with Ficco about how CI is handling its pandemic-era tax credit cases, what retention at the division looks like, and how the volume of investigation referrals has changed in the past couple of years. Produced by Matthew S. Schwartz.