Accounting
Taxpayer Advocate criticizes IRS move to shorten third-party notice requirements
National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins is objecting to proposed regulations that would enable the Internal Revenue Service to shorten its third-party notice requirements to as little as 10 days, saying they would unfairly erode the taxpayer notice requirements.
In a
In 2019, the Taxpayer First Act strengthened 1998 law’s taxpayer third-party contact protections, substituting the “reasonable notice” requirement for a 45-day notice requirement before contacting a third party. Collins noted there are three statutory exceptions to this 45-day notice requirement:
- When the taxpayer authorizes the contact;
- If the IRS determines for good cause a notice would jeopardize tax collection or may involve reprisal against any person; or,
- If the contact is made with respect to any pending criminal investigation.
However, the proposed regulations that the IRS posted this spring would implement exceptions to the 45-day notice requirement, allowing the IRS to shorten the statutory 45-day notification period to 10 days when there’s a year or less remaining on the statute of limitations for collection and certain other circumstances exist. That includes when the case involves an issue where the IRS would have the burden of proof in a court proceeding, and the IRS has requested but the taxpayer has refused to extend the statute of limitations by agreement. Or, the 45-day notice requirement could be reduced to 10 days if there’s a year or less remaining on the statute of limitations and the IRS intends to ask the Justice Department file suit to reduce assessments to a judgment or to foreclose a federal tax lien.
Those exceptions could unfairly punish taxpayers for the IRS’s own delays, according to Collins.
“The IRS typically has three years to assess additional tax and ten years to collect unpaid tax,” she wrote. “The Taxpayer Bill of Rights includes the taxpayer’s right to finality — meaning, the right to know the maximum amount of time the IRS has to audit a particular tax year or to collect a tax debt. The statute of limitations is an important component of the right to finality because it sets forth clear and certain boundaries for the IRS to act to assess or collect taxes.”
She believes the IRS could find itself trying to assess or collect taxes within one year of the statute of limitations for a number of reasons that have nothing to do with the actions or events controllable by the taxpayer. Collins called on the IRS to reconsider the proposed regulations and said Congress should consider enacting additional taxpayer protections for third-party contacts.
Finance platform
Essentially, the solution delivers Rho’s cash and spend management capabilities, with the added benefit of providing accounting partners a consolidated view of their entire book of business.
Users can:
- Manage team access to client accounts with fixed roles for security and efficiency;
- Request client account access, set user permissions, and manage connections from a single dashboard;
- Invite clients to Rho and track status with real-time updates for onboarding clients with minimal friction;
- Use two-factor authentication to access the portal;
- Chat, email or talk on the phone with dedicated points of contact; and,
- Access a consolidated snapshot of the team, and which accounts they can access.
Rho developed the portal in response to feedback from accounting partners, who talked about the challenges of provisioning users in and out of client accounts as staffing changes, especially if they cannot self-serve the process.
Firms wanted a simple repeatable way to get their clients onboarded to the solution they are recommending, as errors or lack of guidance in the onboarding phase start a relationship on a weak note.
The security measures, such as two-factor authentication, were added in response to feedback from accounting partners, as they wanted to ensure data is protected during the onboarding process and that the right permissions are granted at the onset without having to chase specific people or reuse shared credentials that are vulnerable to exploitation.
“The Rho Partner Portal marks the latest step in our commitment to building the finance platform that accountants love—one that makes it easier for partners to introduce staff and new clients to Rho and deliver more client value faster,” said the company’s
While the feature is called Partner Portal for Accountants, a spokesperson said Rho intends for more than just accountants to use it in the long term.
The International Accounting Standards Board is looking for feedback on some targeted improvements it’s proposing to make to improve the requirements for recognizing and measuring provisions on corporate balance sheets.
These provisions are usually liabilities of an uncertain timing or amount, so investors would like to see more transparent and comparable information about companies’ provisions for assessing future cash flows and financial positions. The IASB’s targeted improvements aim to help companies apply the requirements more consistently and give investors more useful information.
The
“Our proposals clarify the accounting requirements for provisions, helping companies provide better information for investors,” said IASB chair Andreas Barckow in a statement Tuesday.
The IASB is presenting the proposals in three documents:
The IASB is asking for feedback on the proposed amendments by March 12, 2025.
Accounting
Navan releases dedicated travel and expense solution for accounting firms via virtual cards and dashboards
Travel and expense solutions provider
The centralized dashboard handles spend management for accounting firms that support multiple clients, users and products. It can enable accounting firms to standardize client spend processes, regardless of clients’ existing bank and credit card partners. This means, for users, that they will not need to face tradeoffs between becoming resellers of others’ cards or manually reconciling transactions of any number of clients’ card providers. The solution instead consolidates multiple card feeds into a single dashboard. Combined with Navan’s travel and expense management platform, the automated experience enables accountants to advise clients on T&E spend and focus on other higher-value tasks.
“This feature lets firms’ clients maintain their current banking relationships and credit card rewards,” said a
Beyond support for spend management, the dashboard provides a centralized view of all clients, including onboarding status, and has the ability to invite, assign and manage accountants and their access to specific clients. It also supports distinct roles for Console Admins and Console Users with appropriate permissions and the ability to log in as clients with role-specific permissions. The solution also features aggregated monthly billing for all clients, with options for customizable payment responsibilities as well as the ability to view individual client pages showing account information, assigned team and monthly platform fees
The Navan Accountant Console also enables firms to standardize spend management with dynamic spend policies, real-time transaction feeds, and direct GL integrations, including with NetSuite, QuickBooks and Xero.
“Navan works side by side with accounting and finance teams across our customer base and has for years listened to their frustrations with the options available to them,” said Navan Expense CEO Michael Sindicich in a statement. “Most expenses come from travel, and with the breakthrough tech of Navan Connect, CPAs and accounting firms can now automate expense reconciliation across their clients’ various banking and corporate card programs using a single dashboard, saving days of work.”
Navan Accountant Console, as part of Navan Connect, is currently available in 140 countries across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. The technology supports 100 different currencies and more than 250 global banks, including Citi, regional banks like Citizens, and fintechs such as Brex and Rho. For more information,
Rho offers Partner Portal for Accountants, for client management, onboarding
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