Suspending Tick Marks

In what I hope to be a temporary situation, I will be suspending Tick Marks until probably mid-February. I thank all my readers and give special thanks to Rick Telberg and Rasmussen College for their recent kind words about this blog. I apologize to those who have become used to "The Twelve Blogs of Christmas;" hopefully, that feature will run next year. I have had an extremely busy semester this fall and am a little burned out--I hope that 2-3 months away will help. A sign that I am likely to be back--if you see me post on blogs such as Roth CPA Updates or update my blogroll--most likely after Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. If I am not back by the end of March, you can consider the situation ominous. While I am away; I encourage you to read the very good blogs and other material referenced at right. Anticipate that any comments to this post left after Thanksgiving are likely to be spam.

The Deficit Commission (Bowles--Simpson) Speaketh

President Obama's Deficit Reduction Commission--co-chaired by Erksine Bowles of the Clinton administration and former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY) brought forth their first recommendations today--and the report was nothing if not breathtakingly audacious by Washington standards. There were numerous budget-cutting proposals such as an increase in minimum age for full Social Security benefits to 69 by 2075 and a three-year freeze on most spending which brought catcalls from the more liberal parts of the Democratic House and Senate. Nevertheless, the more salient part of the proposal for this post was the tax language. A la 1986 rates would be lowered and limited to three rates, but virtually all deductions and credits, including the popular mortgage interest deduction, would be eliminated.

It is probably wise for the chairmen to claim this as a starting point--even given the results of last week's election, there is little chance that the present proposal will survive intact. While the proposal deserves high praise for attempting to simplify tax law, I am somewhat concerned that the proposal appears to eliminate deductibility of charitable deductions. Given the present shaky economy, the not-for-profit sector needs to grow, not shrink.

If You Can't Make March Madness,,,

Thanks to Rick Telberg for including Tick Marks in his "64 Tax Blogs for Geeks and Wonks"--though I am probably closer to a nerd myself.

SEC: Where We Stand on IFRS Convergence

SEC Chief Acccountant Jim Kroeker recently announced the first progress report on incorporation of International Financial Accounting Standards into American standards. Six key areas were addressed: sufficient development of IFRS for use in American reporting; maintaining independence under IFRS; investor education regarding IFRS; determining the impact on accounting regulation that IFRS would create; the separate impacts of IFRS on small and large businesses, including information systems, governance and litigation and finally the impact on human capital. Kroeker believes that the SEC is making good progress, but expressed some concern that federal regulatory bodies, including those overseeing the financial industry, might have difficulties meeting present targets.

I still have misgivings about rushing into IFRS, but realize that the U. S. is to adopt international GAAP that the work described here is necessary. Hopefully, a full plan, including a framework for accounting standards for small and privately-held businesses, will be implemented before committing to IFRS.