Real-Time Corporate Tax Audits and Their Impact on Financial Reporting

The article focuses on the Compliance Assurance Process (CAP) program, a simultaneous auditing process that aims to potentially reduce audit procedures after the corporate tax filing date in the U.S. The process by which the program work is explained, which involves a corporation working an entire tax year with an account coordinator assigned by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Benefits of the CAP program include increased corporate tax compliance, while its disadvantages include resistance by a company to participate in a real-time audit program

Peste des petits ruminants virus transmission scaling and husbandry practices that contribute to increased transmission risk: an investigation among sheep, goats, and cattle in Northern Tanzania

Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) causes an infectious disease of high morbidity and mortality among sheep and goats which impacts millions of livestock keepers globally. PPRV transmission risk varies by production system, but a deeper understanding of how transmission scales in these systems and which husbandry practices impact risk is needed. To investigate transmission scaling and husbandry practice-associated risk, this study combined 395 household questionnaires with over 7115 cross-sectional serosurvey samples collected in Tanzania among agropastoral and pastoral households managing sheep, goats, or cattle (most managed all three, n = 284, 71.9%). Although self-reported compound-level herd size was significantly larger in pastoral than agropastoral households, the data show no evidence that household herd force of infection (FOI, per capita infection rate of susceptible hosts) increased with herd size. Seroprevalence and FOI patterns observed at the sub-village level showed significant spatial variation in FOI. Univariate analyses showed that household herd FOI was significantly higher when households reported seasonal grazing camp attendance, cattle or goat introduction to the compound, death, sale, or giving away of animals in the past 12 months, when cattle were grazed separately from sheep and goats, and when the household also managed dogs or donkeys. Multivariable analyses revealed that species, production system type, and goat or sheep introduction or seasonal grazing camp attendance, cattle or goat death or sales, or goats given away in the past 12 months significantly increased odds of seroconversion, whereas managing pigs or cattle attending seasonal grazing camps had significantly lower odds of seroconversion. Further research should investigate specific husbandry practices across production systems in other countries and in systems that include additional atypical host species to broaden understanding of PPRV transmission

Interactions between four species in a complex wildlife: livestock disease community : implications for Mycobacterium bovis maintenance and transmission

Livestock diseases such as bovine tuberculosis can have considerable negative effects on human health and economic activity. Wildlife reservoirs often hinder disease eradication in sympatric livestock populations. Therefore, quantifying interactions between wildlife and livestock is an important aspect of understanding disease persistence. This study was conducted on an extensive cattle farm in southwest Spain, where cattle, domestic pigs, wild boar and red deer are considered to be part of a tuberculosis host community. We tested the hypothesis that the frequency of both types of interactions would be greater at food and water sites, due to the aggregation of individuals from multiple species at these locations. We measured direct and indirect interactions between individuals using GPS and proximity loggers. Over 57,000 direct interactions were recorded over a 2-year period, of which 875 (1.5 %) occurred between different species and 216 (0.38 %) occurred between wildlife and livestock. Most direct and indirect interactions occurred at water sites. Over 90 % of indirect interactions between wildlife and livestock took place within the estimated 3-day environmental survival time of Mycobacterium bovis in this habitat. Red deer home ranges and daily activity patterns revealed significant spatial and temporal overlaps with cattle, particularly in autumn. Suids and red deer also cross the farm boundary regularly, introducing a between-farm interaction risk. The infrequent occurrence of direct interactions between individuals from different species suggests that they are unlikely to be the sole mode of disease transmission and that indirect interactions may play an important role

Insiders\u27 Perspectives of the Effects of Recent Regulation on Corporate Taxation

Recent legislation and standard interpretations promulgated by governmental bodies and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) have attempted to address several issues related to corporate taxation. These issues include the lack of transparency regarding specific tax transactions, the difficulty in reconciling the corporate tax return with the corporate income statement, the relative lack of disclosure of tax contingencies in the financial statements, and the impact of internal control on the reliability of the corporate tax return. While the stated objectives of several recent regulations have included improvements in the areas of corporate tax compliance and transparency of financial statements, it is unclear whether these regulations have resulted in the desired effects. This study analyzes the perceptions of 223 corporate tax executives regarding the effects of Internal Revenue Announcement 2002-63, Schedule M-3 of IRS Form 1120, FASB Interpretation Number 48 (FIN 48), and Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The findings indicate that the respondents perceive an overall increase in tax return transparency and corporate tax compliance as a result of Schedule M-3 and FIN 48; yet the ability of corporations to engage in tax planning has decreased as a result of FIN 48. The respondents also perceive that both FIN 48 and Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act have increased their reliance on outside sources for tax compliance work

Code Comprehension and Aggressiveness Among Corporate Tax Executives: The Impact of Certification and Licensure

Research has shown that corporate tax executive certification and licensure (credentials) are important indicators of tax resource allocation within a corporation. This study investigates the overall impact of corporate tax executive credentials on job performance. We measure tax executive job performance in the following ways: understanding of tax guidance, perception of time constraints imposed by tax code changes, and reported aggressiveness of the corporate tax return. Corporate tax noncompliance can result from aggressive positions taken on a tax return or from the misunderstanding of relevant tax guidance, including the Internal Revenue Code, tax regulations, and tax law. Therefore, it is important to identify the differentiating factors related to corporate tax aggressiveness and comprehension of tax guidance by corporate tax professionals. Two hundred twenty-three experienced corporate tax executives responded to a detailed questionnaire regarding corporate tax compliance. Results of the study indicate that tax executive credentials significantly impact understanding of the tax code, perceptions of tax laws and regulations, and aggressive filing. Specifically, tax executives without credentials are more likely to report difficulty with tax code readability and more likely to report aggressive filing behavior

The Impact of Corporate Tax Executive Credentials on Person-Organization Fit

Researchers have examined several factors that influence the extent to which the values of individuals are congruent with the values of the organizations in which they are employed. These factors include personal characteristics, satisfaction with corporate policies, and job/task competence. Additionally, recent studies have suggested the importance of such person-organization (P-O) fit measures in overall employee effectiveness and performance. This study examines the impact of a specific personal characteristic--certification and licensure (credentials)--on the person-organization fit between corporate tax executives and their work environments. Two hundred twenty-three corporate tax executives provided questionnaire information regarding P-O fit in four resource areas--staffing preferences, continuing professional education, availability of inside and outside tax guidance, and support for participation in professional organizations. Our overall finding is that tax executive credentials impact person-organization fit in terms of resource allocation and availability. A significant credential effect is found in three of four P-O fit areas--satisfaction with staffing levels of tax professionals, availability of outside tax consultants, and participation in professional organizations. Implications for tax executive performance and effectiveness are discussed