Accounting
Expect a tempest in tax under Trump
Expect plenty of changes in the world of tax under the new administration.
On Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for a longer
Republicans in Congress are currently negotiating the contours of an extension of Trump’s signature tax legislation, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, along with his campaign promises of exempting certain kinds of income, such as tips, Social Security income and overtime, from taxes.
Mark Everson, a former IRS commissioner who is currently vice chairman of Alliant, a tax consulting firm in Washington, D.C., believes the administration under Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will focus on the international front with tariffs and sanctions.
“It will be relatively more aggressive in the international arena,” said Everson. However, he believes the OECD tax deal would only be implemented through an act of Congress in the aftermath of Trump’s executive order.
(For insights on the new administration’s impact on other areas of regulation, like the PCAOB, see
He also expects to see changes at the IRS, with less emphasis on enforcement and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. “Consistent with the move against DEI, my guess would be a return to enforcement without scrutiny of results by racial grouping,” said Everson. “There’s a lot of discussion of the impact disproportionately on minorities through the Earned Income Tax Credit in terms of audit rates. I don’t think that will be considered in this approach going forward, given what they’ve already done with the abolition of the DEI offices, including, as I understand it, at the service.”
However, he expects to see continuing improvements in taxpayer service. “I do think that there will be common ground in terms of emphasis on service improvements,” said Everson. “I’m not suggesting that everything at the IRS is going to stop. Hardly. The Republicans feel very strongly about the need for good service, and I think that will be a focus of the administration once, presumably, Commissioner [Billy] Long is in office. I think there will be continuation and a great deal of focus on privacy versus efficiency. They’ll want to make the improvements on the system side, which are already underway, but I do think there will be a great deal of focus on privacy.”
Hiring freeze
The hiring freeze at the IRS could be a concern, however.
“Will they be able to maintain adequate personnel? Time will tell on that, but I think we’ll know fairly quickly,” said Everson. “The filing season has already started, and I think that the impact of departures on the workforce will be felt over time. I’m not overly concerned about the filing season, per se. Over a period of time, if people are leaving government — and the IRS does have a very high component of people who have been working from home — because that is no longer allowed, what will the impact be there? That’s very much in the mix, but it will take time to feel the effects of that.”
He expects to see more of a focus at the IRS on process in terms of enforcement activities. Trump’s proposal to create an “External Revenue Service” to collect tariffs and duties could also introduce complications, since many of those functions are already performed at the Department of Homeland Security rather than the Treasury Department.
Al Drago/Bloomberg
After the election, Trump named former Rep. Billy Long, R-Missouri, to be the
The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have been moving to
“Without the IRA funding — and as it stands today, there’s no funding coming from any additional sources — it is certainly less likely that the IRS will be able to conduct effective audits of partnerships,” said Colin Walsh, principal and practice leader of tax advocacy and controversy services at Top 10 Firm Baker Tilly. “Something could change tomorrow, and Billy Long could become commissioner and figure out a different way to finance it. Billy Long will have his own ideas, and we’re all curious to see how he’d like to build the IRS. There’s a big push to get federal workers back into the office. What impacts might that have? Maybe the theory could be that people working in an office are going to be more effective and more efficient than people working remotely. I don’t think at this stage we can even predict, if Billy Long becomes the commissioner, what that will look like, but we can say that it is going to be different. I think comfortably, we could say it’s going to be different than what it would have been like if the IRS had $80 billion and Danny Werfel, versus $40 billion and Billy Long. It is different objectively.”
“It doesn’t mean that it will necessarily be less stringent,” he noted. “We just don’t know, whereas six months ago, we all had a pretty good idea of where this was headed, because the IRS was explicit in saying what they were going to do, creating a partnership audit task force, auditing 80 of the largest partnerships, and in practice, we were seeing that last year.”
The IRS and the Treasury may also cut back on labeling tax transactions such as micro-captive insurance as “transactions of interest.”
“The IRS lost all those cases on making things transactions of interest or reportable transactions by notice,” said Bill Smith, managing director of the national tax office at Top 25 Firm CBIZ Advisors. “They now have to go through the regulatory process, with proposed regulations, a notice and comment period, all of that. Having nothing to do with the change of administration, they suffered a pretty serious setback there. They suffered a setback with the elimination of Chevron deference. It’s all taxpayer favorable, but is it good, sound policy? The IRS collects something like 97% of the revenue for the United States. I don’t know if Elon Musk is going to be able to cut that much out. If you’re going to eliminate a lot of the income, you’d better start eliminating the expenses too.”
President Donald Trump backed a House budget plan calling for a $4.5 trillion tax cut, slapping back Senate Republicans’ efforts to rush through funds to help bolster his immigration crackdown in favor of a larger bill that will likely take months to negotiate.
Trump intervened in the ongoing budget conflict between House and Senate Republicans with a social media post Wednesday just before a key congressional vote.
The Senate plans to vote this week on a budget that would add $150 billion to military spending and increase immigration and border enforcement by $175 billion. Senate Republicans say they prefer to act on those priorities quickly and wait to resolve contentious disputes over tax cuts and the raising the debt ceiling.
Trump instead endorsed a more sweeping House budget plan that raises internecine Republican conflicts over how much to cut federal spending and how large a tax cut should be.
“We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to ‘kickstart’ the Reconciliation process, and move all of our priorities to the concept of, “ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL,” he said.
Trump’s statement complicates Senate Republicans’ efforts to muster support for a planned budget vote this week.
Senate Republican leader John Thune said the president’s late intervention took him by surprise but he planned to proceed with the scheduled budget vote.
“I did not see that one coming,” Thune said of Trump’s statement.
Trump’s public declaration could help Speaker Mike Johnson gather the votes he needs to pass the budget. Some fiscal conservatives are holding out for deeper spending cuts while some GOP moderates in the House are already expressing reservations about the size of the cuts likely to be directed to Medicaid.
“House Republicans are working to deliver President Trump’s FULL agenda – not just a small part of it,” Johnson
The House is on a one-week break for the President’s Day holiday and Republican leaders are struggling to come up with enough votes for the budget plan because of the party’s narrow majority in the House. The House is planning to hold its budget votes next week, according to a person familiar with the plan.
Adopting the budget is the first step in a special process Republicans intend to use to bypass minority Senate Democrats on tax and spending legislation. A budget plan would allow Republicans to overcome procedural obstacles in the Senate with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes it would otherwise take.
The House has drafted a plan to allow $4.5 trillion in tax cuts in exchange for $2 trillion in spending cuts and a $4 trillion increase in the debt ceiling. The House plan would direct $300 billion to military and border spending but the larger bill is expected to take months to hash out.
The House plans to extend individual and business tax breaks enacted in 2017 that are set to expire at the end of this year. It is also looking to increase the $10,000 limit on the state and local tax deduction, and end taxes on tips and Social Security benefits as called for by President Trump. But the cost of doing all those items for a full decade exceeds $4.5 trillion so lawmakers would either need to find deeper spending cuts or have them expire sooner.
That plan was approved in committee ahead of possible floor votes later this month. House leaders say their tiny majority means it is much easier to pass one bill rather than breaking it into pieces.
Hiring and salaries grew more quickly for accountants than any other job group last year, according to a new report.
The
The shortage of accounting talent and the financial complexity of managing a global workforce resulted in accountants seeing bigger salary gains than software engineers last year.
The report aggregates data from Deel’s more than 1 million contracts and over 35,000 customers across more than 150 countries.
“For most of the past decade, companies couldn’t hire software engineers fast enough,” said the report. “The fierce competition drove up their salaries. While software engineers are still the most-hired occupation for Deel clients, accounting is becoming the new must-have skill for global organizations. Declining interest in the profession from early-career workers and the increasingly complex tax requirements of a global workforce have made accountants a precious, and increasingly pricy, commodity.”
The United States, Australia and Great Britain were the most likely countries to hire accountants abroad. Accountants are most likely to be hired in the Philippines, the United States and Argentina. Mexico and Singapore follow closely. Deel saw a 17% increase in salary over the year for cross-border workers, and 9% increase for domestic workers.
The report also found that while organizations are still hiring globally, there has been an uptick in the number of employers who are favoring candidates closer to home. Companies are especially focused on keeping younger workers happy, with Gen Z receiving bigger raises in 2024 than other generations.
When it comes to the digital asset world, one thing is certain: There’s never a dull moment! Take, for instance, President Trump’s announcement to implement high tariffs on goods from Canada, China and Mexico. This sent shockwaves through the digital asset market, causing bitcoin to fall below $100,000. Although the value eventually rebounded, chances are we’ll continue to see extreme price fluctuations.
As the digital asset landscape becomes increasingly unpredictable, it’s important to encourage clients to diversify their holdings across sectors and digital asset types. Not only will this help with tax planning, but it will also propel you into a more advisory role. Here are four strategies you can recommend to clients to diversify their digital asset portfolio:
Purchase different coin and token types
Perhaps the easiest way clients can diversify their digital asset portfolio is to acquire different types of coins and tokens. Advise clients to start with well-established cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ether. Because these cryptocurrencies have a large market cap, they’re typically considered lower-risk investments.
After that, encourage clients to consider altcoins. These are cryptocurrencies that aren’t bitcoin. Although altcoins are riskier, they have the potential to quickly appreciate in value. But be careful — their values can suddenly plummet as well. As a rule of thumb, when investing in lesser-known altcoins, clients should only put in what they’re willing to lose.
There are other types of coins and tokens that may help with diversification, including the following:
- Stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies whose value is tied to another asset. USD coin is a popular stablecoin that’s pegged to the U.S. dollar.
- Security tokens, which are tokens that represent ownership or participation in a real-world asset (like stocks, bonds or real estate).
- Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, which are tokens that represent ownership of a unique digital item, such as art, music, animated GIFs, articles and social media posts.
Many clients will be unfamiliar with these items, so taking the time to explain the benefits and potential risks of each investment will solidify client relationships and elevate your advisory practice.
Invest in a crypto exchange-traded product
A crypto ETP is the digital asset world’s version of a mutual fund. It’s essentially a way to invest in cryptocurrency without purchasing the coins directly. Like other ETPs, crypto ETPs are securities that track the value of underlying assets. However, in this case, the underlying assets are cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ether.
To help get clients started, you can recommend a reputable broker. Most major online brokers offer crypto ETPs; however, ETP types and fees will vary. Also, it’s important to educate clients on the risks of investing in a crypto ETP. One potential drawback is trading can only occur during regular market hours, meaning your client may miss out if cryptocurrency values significantly change during the weekend (which, as we’ve seen, is highly likely). This wouldn’t happen if your client purchased cryptocurrency directly since online exchanges are always open (unless briefly shut down for maintenance).
Try a crypto-related exchange-traded fund
Clients who go down this route have two options to consider: a stock-based ETF and a futures-based ETF. In a stock-based ETF, the client holds a collection of crypto-related stocks. These are the stocks of corporations that operate in the digital asset space, such as Coinbase Global, Inc. If your client decides to invest in a futures-based ETF, they will be exposed to the price movements of cryptocurrency futures contracts, which are agreements to exchange the fiat-equivalent value of a digital asset (or the asset itself) on a future date.
As with ETPs, ETFs won’t give your clients direct ownership of cryptocurrencies — they will simply own units within the funds. This could be a problem if a particular cryptocurrency or company increases in value, but that growth isn’t fully reflected in the ETF. However, crypto-related ETFs are still a great way to diversify a digital asset portfolio.
Hold digital assets in a self-directed IRA
As a tax and accounting professional, you’re probably familiar with self-directed IRAs that hold real estate, precious metals, foreign currencies, commodities or hedge funds. But did you know they can also be used to hold digital assets? There are crypto IRA platforms out there that can help with the administrative burdens typically associated with self-directed IRAs.
Advising clients to establish a self-directed IRA can be a smart move; however, setting one up that invests in cryptocurrency is often complex. In many cases, you will need to direct the client to create an LLC that’s solely owned by the IRA. After that, a checking account should be opened in the LLC’s name. The LLC will also need to acquire a digital wallet. After the IRA is funded, the plan should be directed to transfer the funds to the LLC’s checking account to purchase cryptocurrency through the digital wallet. This isn’t always needed, however, as some account managers allow the IRA to invest directly in cryptocurrency without the need for an LLC. You can help your client find a cryptocurrency exchange that allows IRAs to open accounts.
Don’t forget the tax implications
In addition to advising clients on digital asset diversification, you’ll need to ensure clients fully understand how their investments are taxed. The guiding principle behind digital asset taxation is digital assets are treated as property for federal income tax purposes. This means that every time a digital asset is sold or exchanged for goods or services, gain or loss will be recognized (subject to limitations under the Internal Revenue Code, if applicable). Some clients have the misconception that cryptocurrency is treated just like cash for tax purposes. You can clear that up and, with proper tax planning, help clients efficiently manage their digital asset transactions.
Be strategic
Navigating the ever-evolving digital asset landscape requires a strategic approach to diversification. With your guidance, clients will be able to make informed decisions, mitigate risks and seize opportunities in a dynamic market.
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