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Congress passes Trump tax bill

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House Republicans passed the wide-ranging Trump tax legislation dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, overcoming resistance from a group of GOP holdouts and united opposition from Democrats.

The bill passed by a vote of 218 to 214, mainly along party lines with only two no votes from Republicans, Thomas Masie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.

The bill would extend the expiring tax breaks from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and make many of them permanent. A summary of the main provisions can be found here. Senate Republicans passed the bill on Tuesday after rejecting all of the amendments from Democrats, and President Trump is expected to sign it into law at 5 p.m. on Friday,

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, spoke out extensively against the bill, which he dubbed the “one big ugly bill” during a record-breaking marathon speech lasting over eight hours and 44 minutes in a last-ditch effort to delay the bill from being passed. He repeatedly denounced the cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to fund the tax cuts.

The legislation makes extensive tax changes and preserves the expiring tax breaks from the TCJA.

“It’s important that some of the provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act not be allowed to expire,” said Tom O’Saben, director of tax content and government relations at the National Association of Tax Professionals. “That’s part of what’s making the headlines. It’s really important legislation to get many of those provisions continued.”

Among the key provisions that have been under negotiation are the expansion of the so-called SALT cap for state and local tax deductions, which is going to be increased to $40,000 for five years. 

“That’s going to give people who have more than $10,000 in state and local taxes, local property taxes, etc, the ability to possibly benefit from that,” said O’Saben. “They’ve still got to get over the standard deduction, which is also increased in the One Big, Beautiful Bill, but not to the extent where standard deductions were basically doubled under the original Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It is possible that many taxpayers may still not benefit from the increase in the SALT limitation.”

“It’s generally looked at as a tax and spending bill, and that is a big portion of what it does,” said Casey Burgat, an assistant professor and director of legislative affairs at George Washington University. “On the tax side, it will obviously extend the Trump tax cuts passed in 2017. Those things will continue to benefit the wealthy disproportionately. It will explode the deficit, despite Republicans claiming that we’re going to grow our way out of this, and then there’s a lot of smaller provisions that will affect a lot of people’s everyday lives, especially those at the bottom of the income food chain.”

He believes the bill will give tax professionals plenty of work in the future to help their clients.

“I’d imagine that accountants and tax professionals will benefit from this, in that there’s going to be changes, and you need businesses to rely on you to explain what’s going on, to talk about the changes in regulations and what type of benefits or tax credits your company or an individual can qualify for,” said Burgat. “While this is an extension of the biggest piece of tax cuts with the Trump income tax brackets, there’s a lot of changes, including eliminating a lot of those tax credits, particularly on the green economy side that were included in the Inflation Reduction Act during the Biden administration.”

The legislation takes aim at the tax credits won for the renewable energy industry from the Inflation Reduction Act.

“Most of corporate America spent 2025 playing defense in Washington, trying to convince lawmakers not to raise their taxes,” said John Gimigliano, co-lead of the federal legislative and regulatory services group in the Washington National Tax at KPMG LLP, in a statement. “In the end, the business community comes away from the Senate bill avoiding most of their worst-case scenarios. One notable exception to this of course is the renewable sector. Wind and solar developers in particular would see a rapid phase out of the tax credits they rely on to support the economics of those investments. For many in that sector, this bill would represent their fears confirmed.”

Tax breaks for tips and overtime are also important tax considerations. “My concern was how that’s going to work, and I think that’s what tax professionals will be mostly interested in,” said O’Saben. “What do we do on Monday morning, July 7, when this becomes the law if you happen to be a company that does payroll, or you work with small businesses? It would appear that the deduction for tips or overtime will truly be at the individual employee level, meaning there’s going to be a deduction on the 1040. What we’re guessing at NATP is how that’s going to be handled. The challenge for employers or payroll services will be to identify on the W-2 when it’s issued at the end of the year on payroll reports as they go through the year as to what amount of cash tips did the employee incur, or what amount of overtime did they incur?”

While Trump’s campaign promises for tax breaks on overtime pay and tips are in the bill. the limits on Social Security aren’t fully there. “The other big proposal that I’m actually disappointed with is that the President talked about Social Security not being taxed, and in both the House and Senate versions, what they’ve come up with is a senior deduction,” sad O’Saben. “The original House version was $4,000 per person, so a grand total for a married couple of $8,000. The Senate version was $6,000, so that would be $12,000 for a married couple if they’re both age 65 or over. That’s a far cry from making Social Security benefits not taxable.”

“I’m a tax professional , and clients have said at least I don’t have to claim my Social Security benefits this year. Not so,” O’Saben cautioned. “You’re still going to have to claim your Social Security benefits, but if you’re a senior receiving Social Security benefits, then you’ll have this senior deduction.”

Businesses will be able to benefit from the return of 100% bonus depreciation. “Bonus depreciation was phasing out, and in 2025, I believe, was down to about 40% of the cost of an item placed in the service during the year,” said O’Saben.

Another provision involves Trump savings accounts for children. “If there’s children under the age of five, born in 2025 to 2028, there’s going to be a savings account opened for babies fed by the government with $1,000 and then families or grandparents can add to these accounts to a limit of $5,000,” said O’Saben. “That might be an interesting thing to see to help spur some savings for children as time goes on.”

The NATP had worked with the AICPA on beating back a provision in the House version of the bill that would have limited the SALT deduction for pass-through businesses like accounting firms, and it wasn’t preserved in the Senate version of the bill that was passed by the House.

The American Institute of CPAs issued a statement lauding passage of the bill. “The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which includes a number of important provisions beneficial to the accounting profession, is a win for millions of businesses, taxpayers and tax practitioners across the country,” said AICPA president and CEO Mark Koziel in a statement. “Among the numerous provisions supported by the AICPA, this bill expands the use of section 529 accounts for costs associated with obtaining a post-secondary credential; repeals the lowered threshold for Form 1099-K; makes permanent 100 percent bonus depreciation; makes permanent the section 199A qualified business income deduction; extends and enhances the Paid Family and Medical Leave Tax Credit; removes the restriction on the regulation of contingency fees; retains current rules around the excess business losses limitations; and removes the limit on pass-through businesses’ state and local tax (SALT) deductions.

“We are thankful to the members of Congress who supported millions of businesses’ ability to retain pass-through entity tax SALT deduction and our partners throughout the state CPA societies and other professional service businesses for their diligent advocacy on this important issue,” Koziel added. “No bill is perfect — however, there are many beneficial tax provisions in this bill that I believe support the business community and will help grow our economy. The tax provisions in this bill will help facilitate tax planning earlier in the year, which can help reduce the anxiety of the unknown for many taxpayers. We look forward to continuing our work with Congress and the Administration to improve these provisions as they are implemented.”

“It appears that the Senate heard the AICPA and they heard us in saying that we found that was not fair,” said O’Saben. “If your friend has a flower shop right next to you, and you’re an accountant in the next building, the flower shop qualifies for a higher SALT limitation, and you don’t, so that didn’t seem to make any sense.”

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Continuous Auditing Transforms Corporate ERPs

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continuous auditing transforms corporate erps

As corporate accounting departments cross the threshold into late July 2026, the adoption of continuous, automated auditing systems has reached a definitive turning point. Driven by advances in artificial intelligence and deep integration with modern Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms, leading finance organizations are moving away from traditional, periodic post-hoc audits in favor of real-time, 100% transactional verification. This technological transition is redefining internal control environments, reducing compliance costs, and eliminating the structural delays inherent in legacy quarterly closing processes.

Unlike traditional auditing frameworks that rely on statistical sampling—a process that inevitably leaves operational blind spots—continuous auditing software monitors operational data feeds continuously. Every purchase order, electronic invoice, payroll disbursement, and cross-border wire transfer is automatically cross-referenced against established corporate governance parameters, regulatory tax schedules, and anti-fraud algorithms in real time. Anomalies or unauthorized ledger entries are flagged instantly, allowing internal audit teams to investigate and remediate compliance gaps immediately rather than months after the close of a financial period.

The implications for executive financial management are far-reaching. By embedding continuous verification directly into daily transaction workflows, chief financial officers gain uninterrupted visibility into the organization’s true financial standing. Real-time balance sheet auditing eliminates the severe operational bottlenecks associated with month-end and quarter-end financial reconciliations, freeing accounting professionals to focus on strategic financial modeling, tax planning, and capital allocation rather than manual data entry and spreadsheet consolidation.

However, implementing continuous auditing requires accounting leadership to invest heavily in data governance and technical upskilling. Internal audit teams must evolve from manual ledger reviewers into system architects capable of auditing complex algorithms and validating automated data pipelines. Accounting firms and corporate controllers that master continuous auditing will establish a resilient compliance framework capable of meeting stringent international regulatory standards with total transparency.

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U.S. Imposes New 50% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Under Rare Legal Provision

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U.S. Imposes New 50% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Under Rare Legal Provision

WASHINGTON — In a major escalation of cross-border trade friction, U.S. President Donald Trump has signed executive orders imposing new 50% tariffs on a wide selection of Canadian exports, citing discriminatory practices by Ottawa targeting American auto, dairy, and beverage industries.

The new duties, announced Monday, will take effect in 30 days. They target a broad spectrum of consumer and industrial goods—ranging from wine, liquor, and milk products to commercial cement, furniture, clothing, and hockey equipment.

Untested Legal Mechanism

To enact the sweeping measures, the administration invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930—a rarely used legal provision allowing the executive branch to levy additional tariffs of up to 50% on foreign nations deemed to discriminate against U.S. commerce.

White House officials noted that Section 338 addresses trade discrimination rather than national security or economic emergencies. The move comes months after prior global emergency tariffs faced legal challenges in domestic courts, signaling Washington’s pivot toward alternate statutory authorities to maintain import duties.

Senior administration officials briefed reporters that the measure directly responds to Canadian provincial bans on U.S. alcohol, restrictions on American vehicle exports, and import quota disparities affecting U.S. dairy and cheese producers relative to third-party trading partners.

“While the administration continues to secure reciprocal trade agreements globally, Canada retaliated against efforts to protect domestic industry,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated.

USMCA Impact and Carve-Outs

Significantly, the newly ordered 50% duties will apply to designated items even if they otherwise comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

However, the administration confirmed key targeted exemptions:

  • Energy products (including oil and natural gas)
  • Potash and critical minerals
  • Fish and seafood
  • Goods already governed by sector-specific duties (such as existing steel and aluminum tariffs)

Administration representatives emphasized that the tariffs do not stem from recent disputes concerning drifting Canadian wildfire smoke, noting that policy options regarding environmental spillover remain under separate review.

Canadian Response and Market Reaction

Following the White House announcement, the Canadian dollar experienced a sharp decline against the U.S. dollar, falling approximately 0.4% during evening trading.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a statement emphasizing that Canada’s earlier counter-duties had merely matched previous U.S. trade actions. “Canada stands ready to engage intensively to address outstanding issues with the U.S. to the mutual benefit of our citizens,” Carney stated, pointing to detailed proposals Ottawa submitted to modernize the USMCA framework.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford took a firmer stance, urging a “dollar-for-dollar” reciprocal response if the measures go into effect on August 19.

With a 30-day implementation window before the duties officially lock in, industry associations and trade groups on both sides of the border are calling for urgent bilateral negotiations to avert further supply chain disruption across North America.

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Accounting

Automated Continuous Auditing: Transforming Compliance and Real-Time Financial Oversight

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Transforming Compliance and Real-Time Financial Oversight

The traditional accounting paradigm—defined by periodic monthly closures and post-hoc annual audits—is rapidly giving way to continuous, automated financial oversight. As of July 2026, forward-thinking accounting practices and multinational corporate finance departments are leveraging continuous auditing systems powered by advanced machine learning models. These systems monitor operational transactions in real time, shifting audit methodologies from sample-based post-analysis to absolute, 100% transaction-level verification.

The operational advantages of continuous auditing are transformative. Standard auditing procedures historically relied on statistical sampling, which, despite rigorous methodology, inherently left gaps where anomalies or fraudulent transactions could go undetected for months. Modern continuous auditing platforms integrate directly with enterprise resource planning (ERP) databases, instantly cross-referencing purchase orders, invoices, bank feeds, and tax records. Any deviation from established control parameters or unusual transaction behavior triggers immediate flags for internal audit teams, dramatically reducing detection lag from quarters to seconds.

Beyond fraud prevention, continuous auditing fundamentally alters internal reporting and decision-making. Executive leadership no longer has to wait weeks after the close of a quarter to evaluate precise financial standing; real-time verified ledger data provides an uninterrupted view of operating margins, tax liabilities, and cash flow dynamics. This real-time visibility enables corporate controllers to adjust capital allocation strategies dynamically, mitigating liquidity constraints and capitalizing on emerging commercial opportunities far more efficiently than competitors bound to legacy reporting cycles.

However, implementing continuous auditing requires accounting professionals to acquire new analytical capabilities. The role of the auditor is evolving from manual data reconciliation toward system validation, algorithmic model governance, and strategic risk interpretation. Accounting firms and corporate finance departments must invest in continuous technical education, ensuring that audit staff possess the data engineering skills necessary to design, maintain, and evaluate complex automated compliance systems.

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