Death Taxes In The United States: A Brief History

Death taxes have been used in various forms in the United States, from a simple stamp tax to the complex estate tax currently in use. On June 7, 2001, President George W. Bush signed legislation that would abolish the federal estate tax in 2010. This would end a 200 year history of death taxes in the U.S., at least for one year, unless Congress changes that legislation. Experts are still debating whether Congress will take such action.  This paper examines the history of death taxes, including stamp taxes, inheritance taxes, and estate taxes, in the U.S. and the reasons that death taxes were enacted. They were usually enacted as revenue raising provisions, but some feel that their potential for redistributing wealth is a better reason for their existence. This paper also examines the current estate tax and why such a tax on the wealthy has had the support of several wealthy and influential individuals

The Importance Of The Control Environment: Expense Account Fraud At Blue Grass Airport

COSO’s Internal Control Framework discusses the components of internal control and how the control environment is the most important component. This paper analyzes how a non-existent control environment led to a massive expense account fraud at a regional airport. This fraud eventually led to the resignation and prosecution of the airport’s top four executives. The paper discusses the findings of the State Auditor’s investigation and outlines the red flags that should have been obvious to the external auditors. The paper concludes by discussing the changes made to the airport’s internal controls in the aftermath of the fraud

Educating Accounting Students On Computer Crime And Ethics

Accounting fraud has been prevalent in the popular press for the past several years.  The accounting profession has begun to stress the importance of ethics because of this negative press.  Some state boards of accountancy have begun requiring ethics courses as part of continuing education to maintain certification and licensing.  Many accounting frauds are in the form of computer crime.  Accounting students must be made aware of various types of frauds, including computer crimes, how frauds are prevented and detected, and why ethics are important in the accounting profession.  This paper describes several categories of computer crimes and technological means of preventing and detecting these crimes.  Computer crimes and prevention and detection means are as varied as the perpetrators who commit these crimes.  Finally, this paper suggests using a combination of three courses to educate accounting students on computer crime and ethics for preparation for their accounting careers.  These three courses are a traditional Accounting Information Systems (AIS) course, a fraud prevention and detection or forensic accounting course, and an accounting or business ethics course.  These three courses, used in concert, will provide accounting students with the tools they need when they are faced with incidents of fraud or ethics decisions during their accounting careers

The Consideration Of Fraud In A Financial Statement Audit: Some Study Questions

In October 2002, the Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 99, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit in response to recommendations from the Fraud Task Force. SAS No. 99 is intended to improve auditor performance during audits and to increase the likelihood that the auditors will detect fraudulent financial reporting if any is present. Since fraud awareness is such a major part of any audit, accounting students should be well versed on the content of SAS No. 99. However, not all accounting students read SASs in detail. Then how do accounting educators get this important content to these students

The Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit: Some Study Questions

In October 2002, the Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 99, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit in response to recommendations from the Fraud Task Force. SAS No. 99 is intended to improve auditor performance during audits and to increase the likelihood that the auditors will detect fraudulent financial reporting if any is present. Since fraud awareness is such a major part of any audit, accounting students should be well versed on the content of SAS No. 99. However, not all accounting students read SASs in detail. Then how do accounting educators get this important content to these students

Tax Issues Surrounding Children in Divorce

Published in Forensic Accounting in Matrimonial Divorce, Volume I

The Effect of the Level of Accounting Degree Obtained on Recruiters’ Perceptions of Accounting Graduates

Most states have a 150-hour coursework requirement to qualify to take the CPA exam or become licensed, but the requirements do not mandate a master’s degree. Students planning to take the CPA exam must obtain additional hours by taking more courses, but not all students pursue a master’s degree. This study is divided into two phases. The first phase examines whether recruiters of accounting graduates pursue a student receiving a master’s degree more aggressively than a student receiving a bachelor’s degree. The results show no difference in how actively a graduate is recruited based on the level of degree obtained. The second phase examines the relative importance that recruiters place on certain characteristics of the recruit. The results show that recruiters feel that a master’s degree is not important, but communication skills and computer skills are important. Master’s degree programs need revision to make them valuable to recruiters, and accounting programs need to broaden the goals of their curricula. The results provide useful information to administrators who are making changes to their curricula because of the 150-hour requirement. The results also provide students and companies that plan to hire accounting graduates with useful information to plan their education and recruiting tactics, respectively